Lenovo tablets bring Android for work and play

Lenovo has announced its first Android tablets: a business model under the ThinkPad brand and the consumer-focused IdeaPad K1.

Lenovo has launched the 10.1-inch Android ThinkPad tablet, along with the IdeaPad K1. Photo credit: Donald Bell/CNET News

The Corning Gorilla Glass-equipped 10.1-inch WXGA (1280 by 800-pixel) ThinkPad tablet weighs 725g, will run version 3.1 of the Honeycomb Android operating system and has a full-size USB port, full-size SD card support and a mini-HDMI output for connecting to an external display or projector. It comes with bundled applications, including Citrix Desktop Receiver for virtual desktop support, secure email support from Good Technology and the ability to remotely disable the tablet if it is lost or stolen via Computrace.

"Users can utilise corporate network passwords and access devices and connect to corporate email — with the specially certified app, Good for Enterprise," the company said in a statement on Wednesday. "Most importantly, users will have the ability to protect confidential data with robust security features including SD card encryption, lost device disablement and anti-theft software." An optional Folio case adds keyboard and mouse.

The IdeaPad K1 weighs the same as the ThinkPad and runs the same Android 3.1 OS but has consumer applications bundled from companies such as Amazon, Electronic Arts and Rovio. Both tablets have an Nvidia Tegra 2 dual-core processor and can manage HD video playback either on the device or via the mini-HDMI output. The K1 has a 5-megapixel camera on the rear and a 2-megapixel forward-facing camera for video calling.

In addition to the Android Market, both tablets also connect to the Lenovo App Shop, which the company said offers country-specific applications that have been specifically tested for Lenovo ThinkPad and IdeaPad tablets.

The IdeaPad will be available in August, priced from £369. The ThinkPad tablet will follow in September with prices ranging from £399 to £549, depending on configuration. The Folio case is sold separately at £53.

When the ThinkPad arrives it will go up against other business-focused tablets such as the BlackBerry Playbook, HP TouchPad and the Cisco Cius Android tablet. Like the ThinkPad tablet, the Asus Eee Pad Transformer offers a 10.1-inch display, runs Android Honeycomb and can be used with a dock to add keyboard and touchpad functionality.