CNETAnalysis: Just when we thought Lenovo had already finished outing new kit here at CES 2012 , here comes the aptly-named IdeaPad Yoga. It’s a notebook which has a 360 degree flip-and fold-design so you can use it whichever way you want it. There are four ‘modes’ effectively – standard notebook, converted tablet, ‘stand’ and ‘tent’. But it’s not a pie in the sky prototype; the 13.1-inch 1600 x 900 touchscreened Yoga is exactly the kind of machine that Intel’s Mooly Eden was shouting about yesterday, taking the Ultrabook to the next level with touch and a convertible design so it can be a tablet when you need it. It’s like Microsoft’s vision for the Tablet PC from 2002. Only good. It’s a reasonably standard Ultrabook weight at 1.47kg, while the device measures an incredible 16.9mm thick. Despite the small dimensions, the hinge feels strong and Lenovo says that is one of the things it thought most about with the design – it has patented the hinge itself. The convertible is powered by an as-yet undefined Intel Core processor, but we’re dreaming of the possibility it could have a forthcoming Ivy Bridge next-gen chip inside. We do have other spec details though – 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. Those kind of figures mean that the Yoga won’t be slotting under Intel’s Ultrabook target price of $999. Indeed, it’ll be considerably more than that. Of course, the key component here isn’t the hardware – it’s Windows 8, which can be touch-based when the tablet is in viewing or converted mode and a standard laptop when in desktop mode. Lenovo has also thought about other details, too – there’s soft touch rubber paint for gripping the device and a leather cover on the palm rest. Side buttons are designed for use in all modes. What’s most exciting is that we’ll be seeing plenty more devices like this during 2012. We can not wait. Related Stories CES 2012: Acer to launch Windows 8 Ultrabooks in 2012 CES 2012: Hands on: Lenovo IdeaPad U310 and IdeaPad U410 review CES 2012: Intel talks touch on Ultrabooks, Windows 8 CES 2012: Hands on: HP Envy 14 Spectre review CES 2012: First look: Intel’s Nikiski see-through notebook Posted by: Maryum
