Feeding frenzy
CES Unveiled is a strange affair - a sort of hybrid of a buffet reception for journalists and a mini tech show - so it's appropriate that a hybrid product should be the source of most attention.
Until recently Lenovo was respected as a steady, solid maker of business PCs, but this year's CES seems to be its coming out party as a funky, innovative consumer PC maker. Building on its decision to be the commercial guinea pig for Qualcomm's smartbook concept, Lenovo has combined a tablet version of its Skylight with a regular Intel CULV based notebook to make the IdeaPad U1.
While we don't have much in the way of tech details or images right now, we expect to soon. But essentially this is two PCs combined into one. While the case is docked into the PC is runs Windows 7 from the CULV processor, but when you remove it, it switches to a Snapdragon based tablet, running the Skylight OS.
Weaving through the packed room, we bumped into a few other familiar faces. AMD was there promoting a new version of its Vision platform for business. Best Buy seems to be here in force, with the stated intention of educating its workforce.
We also spoke to UK mobile Internet company Datawind, which was showing off its UbiSurfer (pictured) - an ARM based mini notebook with mobile Internet thrown in, which we can already buy in the UK for £160 with 30 hours per month mobile broadband.
