Lenovo overtakes Apple in US PC sales for the first time
Apple has rightly made a big deal of the fact that its Mac sales have continued to grow, in spite of a contracting PC market. But Cupertino certainly isn’t alone in having figured out how to win at desktops and laptops: Lenovo has just reported big gains in its full-year revenue and profits, and it claims that its PC shipments in the US overtook Apple’s for the first time, grabbing the No. 3 spot behind the more stagnant giants, HP and Dell. This claim is based on data for the last three months, likely with a bit of help from analysts at IDC, although it’s worth pointing out that Gartner still had Lenovo in fourth place in the US as recently as April. Whichever pundits you listen to, Lenovo has now dominated the PC market globally for around a year, thanks to its ever-expanding ThinkPad line, while also growing its non-Windows tablet and smartphone sales — with the latter soon to become a lot more prevalent in the US now that the company owns Motorola.
Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, Tablets, Mobile, Lenovo
Source: BusinessWire
Apple and Motorola agree to drop lawsuits against each other, work on patent reform
And just like that, the longstanding legal battle between Apple and Motorola appears to be winding down. The two smartphone giants have reached an agreement that will see them drop patent lawsuits against each other. The truce doesn’t involve technology licenses, but Apple and Google (still Motorola’s owner at this point) say they’ll “work together in some areas of patent reform.” Neither side is revealing what this entails, although it won’t be surprising if it involves efforts to curb the patent trolls that they face.
The companies haven’t said what prompted the change of heart. However, it comes hot on the heels of an appeals court reviving patent claims from Apple and Motorola that had been dismissed in 2012. The phone makers faced the prospect of renewing a fight over some relatively old (and no longer very valuable) infringement allegations — peace may simply be the more pragmatic option. Whatever led to the decision, it’s good news for those who’d rather see phone makers compete in stores than in the courtroom.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Apple, Google, Lenovo
Source: Reuters
Motorola’s smartphones can now alert your close contacts in an emergency
You’ll usually want to call emergency services if you’re in truly dire straits, but the odds are that your friends and family also want to know if you need help. How do you reach them quickly? If you pick up the Moto E or Moto G LTE, you’ll have Motorola Alert at your disposal. The new app lets you trigger an emergency mode that sends regular alerts and location updates to important contacts. You can also tell people to meet up (at a shelter, for instance), and you can define your home or workplace to let people know that you’re in a familiar area. Alert won’t work on the Moto X or original Moto G until an update arrives in the near future, but you can still get a peek at it on Google Play if you’re curious.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Google, Lenovo
Via: Phone Arena, Mobile Syrup
Source: Google Play
Motorola adds LTE to its mid-range Moto G handset
Motorola’s Moto G was a great handset, but if we had a gripe, it was that it lacked a 4G modem. Last night, however, Amazon let it be known that a tweaked version of Motorola’s mid-ranger was coming, and this time it would be able to take advantage of super-fast mobile speeds. At the London launch of the Moto E, the company confirmed that the Moto G with LTE is real, and is even packing a microSD card slot, too. The unlocked handset is priced at £150 in the UK, while Amazon believes US pricing to be around $220 with a choice of black or white bodies — and both should be hitting retailers in the next few weeks.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Google, Lenovo
Motorola launches the Moto E, a durable and affordable Android smartphone
It’s hard not to love the Moto G, it being an incredible handset for the asking price and the benchmark against which other affordable smartphones should be judged. A lot’s happened since that phone’s release, though, namely Lenovo’s acquisition of Motorola from Google. Motorola may be under new leadership now, but recognizes it’s on to a good thing with low-cost, high-value Android hardware, today announcing another smartphone of that nature, the Moto E. As a retailer leak suggested, the Moto E has slightly weaker specs than that of the G, with a 4.3-inch, 960 x 540 display, 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon 200 processor, 1GB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage, 1,980mAh battery, a 5-megapixel main camera and the dual-SIM capability that’s particularly popular in developing countries.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Lenovo
Lenovo’s ThinkPad 10 tablet brings a sharper screen, loads of accessories
Some companies throw gadget spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks. Others… keep the same tablets around for nearly two years. We’ve seen Lenovo be both those companies, frankly, but when it comes to its business line, at least, it tends to move at a more glacial pace. Case in point: Nearly two years after announcing the ThinkPad Tablet 2, Lenovo has finally unveiled its successor, the previously leaked ThinkPad 10. Even then, it feels like more of the same: a 10-inch tablet with an Intel Atom processor, dual 2MP/8MP cameras and a 10-hour battery. This time, though, it brings a sharper, 1,920 x 1,200 display, effectively matching rival tablets in this price range. Like its predecessor, it’ll be offered with options for pen support, TPM, 4G and fingerprint/Smart Card readers, though we’re told most of those features, save for pen support, won’t be available at launch. Under the hood, it runs Windows 8 Pro, with a quad-core Bay Trail CPU and 64GB-128GB of storage (expandable via microSD). Prices start at $499, with shipments starting sometime in June.
Got it? Good. Even more than the tablet, we think you’ll be interested in the accessories — and there are lots of them. First up is a $129 keyboard case, with chiclet-style keys, a multitouch trackpad and a slot for the pen (you know, should you get one of the pen-enabled models). Then there’s the lighter-weight folio case, which has a flatter, Surface-style keyboard — one with concave, space-saving buttons. That, too, has a pen holster, and will retail for $119 when it arrives this summer.
Moving on, there’s yet another case — a ruggedized model with an adjustable hand strap on the back, gaskets around the ports and, yes, a place to stow your pen. And, because it’s difficult to remove and put on (we can vouch for that), it’s designed so that you can dock it with the case still on. That will arrive sometime this summer for $69. Speaking of docking, by the way, there will also be a $119 base station (the one you see in the photo above), which adds three USB 3.0 ports, with one always on so that you can charge something else, like your phone. In addition, it features an HDMI socket along with an Ethernet jack.
Wrapping up, Lenovo is making a bigger version of its Quickshot case — the same one it already sells alongside its ThinkPad 8 tablet. As ever, the hook there is that when you pull back the dog-eared corner, the camera app automatically opens so that you can — wait for it — quickly take a shot. That will retail for $59. Finally, if you want to buy the pen on its own, that’ll be $50. So, uh, don’t lose the pen that comes with your tablet, OK?
Unannounced Moto G with LTE pops up on Amazon
As good a deal as the Moto G might be for frugal smartphone shoppers, it doesn’t have speedy LTE data; for some, that’s practically a deal-breaker. However, it might get that often-sought upgrade relatively soon. Amazon has posted listings for two unannounced Moto G variants with “universal LTE,” including one in a previously unavailable white hue. Detailed store pages are sadly missing, but both entries mention a $220 price (slightly above the $200 you’d pay for a 16GB 3G model) and a June 30th ship date. We’d also expect these to work only with GSM-based networks like AT&T and T-Mobile, so don’t count on there being a Verizon equivalent.
Sounds good, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, it’s hard to determine how much Amazon really knows. The picture of the Moto G LTE clearly isn’t for the current edition, but the launch details could easily be little more than placeholder info. A June release would line up with earlier rumors from Xataka, though, and it’s not far-fetched to see this model carrying a slight price premium. We may get the full scoop before long, at any rate. Motorola is holding a big event on the 13th — many expect it to focus on the Moto E, but there’s nothing precluding an update to the company’s existing budget handset at the same time.
[Thanks, anonymous]
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Google, Lenovo
Source: Amazon, Juan Garzon (Google+)
How would you change Lenovo’s ThinkPad Tablet 2?
When it comes to Windows laptops, Lenovo has the knack of making some of the best. It’s a talent that the company has put to good use in its tablet and hybrid devices, like the ThinkPad Tablet 2. When we reviewed it, we’d have handed it an editor’s choice — if we did that sort of thing. Great battery life, fantastic keyboard dock, a great pen and wide viewing angles, what more could you want? Admittedly, the Bluetooth was a bit wonky, Pen support too, and the USB port didn’t support external drives, but was that enough to turn you away? This is How Would You Change, where we ask people to… well, clue’s in the name, really.
Source: Engadget Product Forums
Gadget Rewind 2005: Lenovo X41 Tablet
Lenovo made headlines earlier this year when it took Motorola Mobility off of Google’s hands, giving it a boost in smartphone markets outside of its usual stomping grounds. But that wasn’t the first time it snatched up another company for industry leverage. In 2005, IBM gave up majority control of its PC business, allowing Beijing-based Lenovo to take over and effectively expand its reach to a global audience. The timing of the deal was a little bit off, however. One of the first products to launch under Lenovo’s new ownership was the ThinkPad X41 Tablet, a laptop/tablet hybrid, which had already rolled off the assembly line and was still sporting an IBM logo.
It was a niche product back in 2005, but if you were an early adopter, it might have been the perfect tool. Though the X41 wasn’t the first hybrid tablet/PC to debut in the ThinkPad line, it did arrive with significant upgrades over its predecessors, like wireless networking, a 12.1-inch display, vastly improved processor capability and a 180-degree rotatable display.
The X41 Tablet also sported many familiar ThinkPad flourishes, including the iconic red TrackPoint nub, a stowable stylus and an irksome display latch that got caught on just about anything when the device wasn’t snapped shut. Lenovo eventually eradicated that latch from the ThinkPad’s oeuvre of quirks during its 2013 overhaul, and continues to make progressive changes to the line’s design.
At the time of its launch, consumers appreciated the X41′s relatively slim 3.5-pound weight and the pleasant paper-like feel of its screen when used in tablet mode. Its software experience, however, wasn’t exactly polished — it was the first ThinkPad to run Windows XP Tablet PC Edition software. Sure, it had a dose of digital pen support, handwriting recognition and speech input added to the mix, but it was still undeniably Windows XP underneath. Some users who tried the X41 Tablet remember it more for its glitchy software experience than the convenience of its combined form factors.
The X41 Tablet may have been an ungainly oddity when it first launched, but its hybrid form has gone on to become something of an industry standard for today’s post-PC devices.
Did you own a ThinkPad X41 tablet PC? Add it to your Engadget profile as a device you had (or still have) and join the discussion to reminisce or share photos of your device with other like-minded gadget fans.
Motorola’s first post-Google phone looks to be another low-end wonder
Motorola was planning a big shindig for May 13th, where it’ll launch its first phone after being sold to Lenovo by Google. Unfortunately, any big surprises that were being kept for the day look to have been spoiled thanks to trigger-happy Brazilian retailer FastShop. The site has posted a full listing for the handset, and if it’s genuine, then the Moto E will sit beneath the Moto G as the company’s new ultra-budget device. Specs-wise, there’s a 4.3-inch display, 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon paired with 1GB RAM, 4GB storage, a 1,980mAh battery and dual-SIM slots. On the expansion front, the microSD slot will only take cards up to 32GB, and there’s a 5-megapixel camera poking out of the back. There’s no word on price, but given that the Moto G retails for just under $200, we’d expect this to cost no more than a Benjamin-and-a-half.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Lenovo
Via: PhoneArena
Source: FastShop (Translated)
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