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Lenovo LePad Android tablet ordinateur coming in 2011

The, 'ow you say, Lenovo LePad, is an Android tablet set to take on the Apple iPad as one half of an innovative computing double act.

Richard Trenholm Former Movie and TV Senior Editor
Richard Trenholm was CNET's film and TV editor, covering the big screen, small screen and streaming. A member of the Film Critic's Circle, he's covered technology and culture from London's tech scene to Europe's refugee camps to the Sundance film festival.
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Richard Trenholm

The latest Android tablet is the, 'ow you say, Lenovo LePad. It's an Android tablet set to take on the Apple iPad as one half of an innovative double act with the Lenovo IdeaPad U1.

The LePad is a 10.1-inch slate that will run Android and be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor.

The gallic-sounding slate is the screen component of the innovative Lenovo IdeaPad U1 Hybrid. The U1 is a Windows laptop shell with a screen that can be removed, giving you a tablet that runs Android separately. We first saw itat trade show CES in January this year, and were starting to worry that the charmingly bonkers design would never make it onto shelves.

If the LePad arrives in the form we saw at CES, it'll pack 802.11n Wi-Fi, an integrated 3G module, stereo speakers, a webcam and 16GB memory.

The LePad will be released in 2011, with the U1 laptop element following exactly a year since it first appeared. So far it's set to be available in China first, as Lenovo won't confirm a release date for the US -- and presumably Europe -- until there's a proper tablet version of Android.

The delay was revealed by Lenovo chief Rory Read -- no relation to CNET UK's Ferrari-drivin', off-roadin', Car Tech ladykiller Rory "Reckless" Reid.

Lenovo shouldn't hang around if it wants to get in the tablet game: the Samsung Galaxy Tab hit shops this month, and will be followed by a raft of Android tablets.