enovo has let slip some official-looking (if not rendered) shots of a Vaio P-like netbook, the Pocket Yoga. Sadly, it’s just a concept. Lenovo’s design department have outed the Pocket Yoga as a two-year-old concept. Why they were afraid to invest in that direction? Is everybody afraid about Apple choice and the Pad trend? We still believe that the market have enough space for both directions. Pads for those who likes gaming, reading magazines newspapers and e-books, and ultra mobile pc for business people (especially women ). We have to keep in mind that having iPads nothing is changing in terms of space and volume from the cheep and regular Eee Pc. Many people still love the idea to have a pocket pc able to do all the works they do with the regular computers but in mobility, thins that at the moment Pads are limited. We would like to encourage Sony, Lenovo, Asus etc. to analyze with attention this matter and take intelligent decisions. Many times in our blog we invite all Apple competitors to pay attention on following Apple’s road. It’s risky! Even if you will produce better designed and more performed devices, you will be always “just a copy”. They must find new concepts and create new life-styles to attract the attention of consumers. Showing them that your proposal is really different and give them the possibility to realize that thee is a different road to follow if they want to better use technology or just simply to be cool. And let’s admit all of us that Lenovo’s Yoga concept is a cool demonstration of that.
Johnson Li, Director of Lenovo’s Beijing Inovation Center, speaks out about this concept: “Since the design has been shown in public in the past and received some attention, I thought it might be of some interest to discuss the design inspiration and share some photos and drawings of the device. We in Lenovo’s Beijing design center refer to this concept as the “Pocket Yoga,” an extension of an award winning design we’ve shown in public based on a folding concept inspired by the practice of yoga by one of our New Zealand-based designers. The full Yoga concept was a folding notebook with a detachable keyboard. The system unit was covered in leather. Pocket Yoga is shaped just like a large wallet. You can easily put it into your pocket.
The proportion of length and width is about the maximum size for a notebook that can fit into a pocket, or, as we like to say, it is the smallest pocket notebook. The surface is covered with wallet leather, so it is soft and comfortable to put it into a pocket or a bag. Leather can transform a cold, plastic or metal machine into something warm and considerate, transforming it into something friendlier and more like a trusted and valued possession. Always there, always waiting. The “pocket Yoga” inherits the 360-degree soft hinge design from the Yoga notebook. The soft hinge supports three modes, locking into each position. I feel that the hinge mechanism was one of the major innovations behind its usability and new experience for the user. When you open it to a normal angle, it can be used as a laptop. Its full-function keyboard gives you enough space to type, so your hands won’t be crowded or compromised. Or you can open it 360 degrees, folding the top cover back to the base, and it becomes the tablet notebook.
In the tablet mode the user can read, draw with the special pen, or surf the web. All in all, we believe this configuration gives the user the option to use the device as a hand-held notebook, giving more space than a mobile phone, along with the ability to type with more powerful multi-media features. Detail always determines the excellence of a new configuration. “Pocket Yoga” has a elegant belt which wraps around the whole body. The “belt” is not a simple decoration, because when it is removed it becomes a mouse. It is the type of surprise that we designers want to give our customers. Imagine whenever in formal or casual occasion, it will become your best partner to show your high taste and satisfies your office or entertainment needs. The “Yoga” notebook experiment is finished, but the stories of new developed products from Lenovo’s design teams are always happening. Innovation never stops. “
www.lenovo.com
