Lenovo: Lenovo’s LePad 10-inch Android tablet to arrive in December

The LePad is based on Lenovo’s IdeaPad U1 Hybrid concept

Lenovo is planning to launch its latest offering, which is a standalone tablet, named the Lenovo LePad by the end of this year in China. An optional keypad component is expected to be made available by January 2011.

The Lenovo LePad is born out of the Lenovo IdeaPad U1 Hybrid concept which was first seen in early 2010. The Lenovo IdeaPad U1 Hybrid although, more often than not was mistaken for a laptop, until the display was removed - thus proving it to be a standalone tablet which also allowed for a Windows interface.

The ultraportable is powered by a low power ARM processor that can support an alternate lighter OS. The Lenovo IdeaPad U1 Hybrid was shipped with the Google Android which was a tricky decision as the actual plan was to load it with an in-house built OS called the Skylight, which was later scrapped.

Finally it has been decided that with the onset of slates as the most sought after gadgets off late, Lenovo LePad will be launched this December which comes under the slates genre. However the IdeaPad U1 Hybrid version will not be written off totally and will be made available by January next year in all probability.