Lenovo Gets into the 12-Inch Netbook Market with Its S12†Offering
The company breaks ground with inclusion of NVIDIA’s ION graphics processor option.
Lenovo has announced the IdeaPad S12, its first 12-inch netbook. The Research Triangle Park, N.C.-based company draws on its other netbook offerings in connectivity, style, and entertainment features, according to Lenovo, and features a 12.1-inch screen, full-size keyboard, and new graphics options with the NVIDIA ION platform.
“We’ve heard from consumers loud and clear about the need for affordable and extremely portable computing devices, and we’ve responded by introducing our third netbook with a completely new form factor, making mini-computing more usable and redefining value in today’s market,” says Dion Weisler, vice president, Business Operations, Idea Product Group, Lenovo. “We are pioneering new territory in the developing netbook arena by being the first vendor to give customers high-quality video and entertainment capabilities in a netbook with optional NVIDIA ION graphics.”
The Lenovo IdeaPad S12 netbook offers a choice between the Intel Atom processor with Intel integrated graphics or the Intel Atom processor with NVIDIA ION graphics. Also, with NVIDIA’s ION graphics platform, users will experience 1080p high-definition video.
The IdeaPad S12 offers up to six hours of battery life (with a six-cell battery), comes with WiFi connectivity, and is ready for 3G with an ExpressCard slot to enable connectivity. The netbook also offers up to 160 GB of storage and 1 GB of memory. The company’s OneKey Rescue System can help recover user data or device settings should that data become corrupted.
Lenovo’s expanded VeriFace facial recognition technology simplifies logging in by recognizing the user’s face. If users want “on demand” functionality, they can go into the Lenovo Quick Start environment and check email and browse the Internet without waiting for the full operating system to boot. They can also use any set of headphones and listen to surround sound audio with Dolby Headphone technology. Or, if they opt to watch video on an external monitor, they can connect through the netbook’s VGA port or HDMI port on select models. They can also choose among several multimedia formats to upload through the 4-in-1 multicard reader.
The netbook measures less than an inch thick at its thinnest point and weighs in at three pounds with a three-cell battery. It will be available in June with pricing that starts at $449. NVIDIA ION graphics will be available later this summer.
