Sydney, Australia – September 15, 2009: Lenovo today announced a new way for business users to work with multitouch screen technology1 on its versatile and portable ThinkPad X200 Tablet PC and slim and powerful ThinkPad T400s laptop. Lenovo is also introducing SimpleTap, an application that brings simplicity to the multitouch screen experience.
“We see now as the right time for multitouch screens on PCs,” said Chris Kelly, Product and Marketing Director, Lenovo Australia, New Zealand. “With touch screens increasingly becoming part of more devices we use routinely and continued improvement of the technology ,including the integration of touch in the upcoming Windows 7 operating system, the environment for making touch part of our tablet PC and ThinkPad T400s laptop experience couldn’t be better. We’ve also extended the touch experience with Simple Tap to make frequent hardware-based functions touch-enabled and simple.”
Lenovo also today announced a new defence against the sun for outdoor workers with a new super bright optional screen on the ThinkPad X200 Tablet.
Personalising Productivity on the PC with Touch
Users can now interact with their ThinkPad PC in a more personal way with multitouch screen technology. Designed for highly mobile users, the optional multi-touch screen ThinkPad X200 Tablet caters to individuals in fields such as sales, health care and education. Already supporting one finger touch, these users can now use two-finger touch to perform a variety of gestures, including pinching, zooming, tapping and flicking through documents, web pages and photos instead of using a mouse.
The high performance ThinkPad T400s laptop serves professionals in engineering and design. Now these users can manipulate four fingers on the ThinkPad T400s laptop’s optional multitouch screen to not only replace the mouse but transform the way they work. They can now use four fingers to manipulate objects, move images with two hands and even have another person touch the screen at the same time with them. As new multitouch applications are introduced, there will be new possibilities for using multitouch screen laptops.
Using advanced capacitive touch, the screens are sensitive and responsive to even the slightest touch of the finger. Lenovo also optimised the firmware to help compensate for slightly imprecise taps on the screen, such as when closing a window or navigating the Start menu, helping make navigation easier for Tablet users. To combat fingerprints, an anti-fingerprint coating helps keep smudges at bay and the screen clean. The multi-touch screens also allow users to enjoy ultra long battery life with up to nine hours on the ThinkPad X200 Tablet.2
With upcoming ThinkPad X200 Tablet models supporting the Microsoft Windows 7 operating system, these mobile users can also take advantage of improved predictive text over previous operating systems, improved handwriting recognition in more languages and formula input features for math and scientific equations.
More details on the ThinkPad T400s and X200 Tablet are available at www.lenovo.com.au.
Adding a “Touch” of Simplicity to Touch Screens
Touch screens are designed to make interaction with a PC natural and intuitive, however, often users must switch between touch screen gestures and pressing hardware buttons. Lenovo designed SimpleTap, a ThinkVantage Technology, to enable uninterrupted use of people’s touch screens by giving them access to hardware-based functions that may be more easily accessed via touch input. For Tablet users, that means staying in tablet mode longer while on-the-go, saving time and being more productive.
To use SimpleTap, simply double tap anywhere on the screen to launch the application. A clean and efficient grid of colourful and transparent square tiles, inspired by the classic 15 Puzzle, opens on top of the work beneath and allows users to choose several hardware-based functions including: turning on or off the wireless radio, ThinkLight and microphone, previewing the camera, enabling mute, adjusting the volume or screen brightness, locking the screen or putting the PC to sleep. To exit SimpleTap, just tap once anywhere on the screen to close the grid and continue working. As a quick access interface, SimpleTap allows users to get in, perform a function and get out quickly.
Designed to be highly customisable, individuals can create their own tiles to enhance their personal productivity. For example, a sales professional could create a tile that launches a sales presentation with just the tap of a finger. A health professional could similarly create a tile that pulls up a patient’s medical information instantaneously. Or a consumer could quickly access his or her favourite website. Users can arrange the tiles however they choose by dragging and grouping them together, and designed to be fun to use, the tiles can even be flicked around the screen.
Brightening Tablet PC for Outdoor Light
To further extend tablet computing outdoors, users can now choose a super bright outdoor screen that displays images even in direct sunlight. For field engineers, sales professionals, students and others who work outside, outdoor viewability is critical. The new optional outdoor screen on the ThinkPad X200 Tablet offers excellent viewability with a bright 400 nit screen, low 1.2 percent reflectivity and wide viewing angle. Coated with a thin anti-reflective layer, the screen provides crisp and bright images that can easily be seen indoors or outdoors. Mobile workers can also stay productive with the Tablet’s all day battery life.
A photo of the ThinkPad X200 outdoor screen compared with a standard screen can be viewed here.
Pricing and Availability3
The ThinkPad T400s with the multitouch screen and the X200 Tablet with the multitouch screen and the outdoor screen will be available starting 15 September 2009 through www.lenovo.com.au. Pricing starts at $2891.00 for the T400s with multitouch screen, $3215.00 for the X200 Tablet with multitouch screen and $3039.00 for the X200 Tablet with the outdoor screen. SimpleTap will be available for download after September 15 2009. All prices quoted include GST.
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About Lenovo
Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) is dedicated to building exceptionally engineered personal computers. Lenovo’s business model is built on innovation, operational efficiency and customer satisfaction as well as a focus on investment in emerging markets. Formed by Lenovo Group’s acquisition of the former IBM Personal Computing Division, the company develops, manufactures and markets reliable, high-quality, secure and easy-to-use technology products and services worldwide. Lenovo has major research centres in Yamato, Japan; Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, China; and Raleigh, North Carolina. For more information see www.lenovo.com.au.