Lenovo Wins the Netflix Android Tablet Sweepstakes

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Tim Higgins

Lenovo unveiled three new tablets today, two with built-in Netflix.

After weeks of rumors, Lenovo formally announced two Android and one Win 7 based tablets early today.

The IdeaPad Tablet K1 is the first out of the chute, aimed at consumers willing to part with the $499 asking price. What you get is yet another Wi-Fi only Android Honeycomb 3.1, Tegra 2 based tablet with 1 GB of RAM, 10.1" 1280 x 800 display and 16 GB of flash storage.

I/O comes in the form of mini-HDMI and microSD. It’s a bit on the bulky side at 1.65 pounds, vying with the Toshiba Thrive for the title of heaviest Android tablet. The K1 is up for order now on the Lenovo site, with shipments to start July 30.

Lenovo tablets

Next on the horizon is the "all-business" ThinkPad Tablet. Its hardware core is essentially the same as the K1’s (Tegra 2, 1 GB RAM, 16 GB flash), but its 1280 x 800 display uses IPS technology. And it has full-sized USB 2.0, micro USB and HDMI ports and full-sized SIM and SD card slots.

The ThinkPad Tablet’s key value add is the $30 optional styles and active digitizer. Lenovo is also thinking that business guys and gals might also be attracted to the optional $99 keyboard dock and hardware home, back, browser, and screen orientation lock buttons. This one isn’t orderable yet, but will be in August.

Both the K1 and ThinkPad Tablet have support for Netflix Watch Instantly streaming, allegedly due to the inclusion of a hardware DRM module, according to Engadget. This is the first time a Tegra 2 based tablet is enabled for Netflix streaming. Previous reports have said only select Qualcomm Snapdragon and Texas Instruments OMAP 4 SoCs are Netflix DRM certified.

The last and least of the bunch is the IdeaPad P1, which runs Windows 7 on an unnamed Intel 1.5 GHz CPU with (up to) 2 GB of RAM, (up to) 64 GB of storage and 10.1" 1280 x 800 screen. Lenovo’s website marks this one as "Coming this fall" with no pricing.

Check out Liliputing’s K1, Tablet and P1 coverage for more details. Thisismynext also has a comprehensive writeup.

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