Lenovo Yoga Tablet Offers Three Usage Modes

With the PC market down, a lot of traditional PC manufacturers are trying their hand at making mobile devices. Even Chinese manufacturer Lenovo, which managed to hang onto the top spot in the PC market this past quarter, has branched out into the mobile space, where it has seen increased sales. It’s no surprise, then, that the company has launched a new Android tablet.

Called the Lenovo Yoga, the device is the company’s first multimode tablet. In particular, the Yoga boasts three unique modes: hold, tilt and stand. The idea is to support different types of users.

For example, hold mode features a cylindrical handle for more comfortable standard tablet use. Stand mode, on the other hand, uses that same handle, but rotated 90 degrees, to create a stand, allowing for an equal level of comfort when the Yoga is placed on a desk or table. Finally, tilt mode allows the tablet to lie flat on any surface.

"Watching and discovering that people frequently use tablets in three main ways allowed us to break the mold on the current 'sea of sameness' designs, giving them a better way to read, browse, watch and interact with content," said Liu Jun, senior vice president and president of the Lenovo Business Group, in a statement.

While these modes may not be enough to sway the iPad faithful, maybe the Yoga’s price point will. The eight-inch version of the device starts at $249, while the 10-inch model starts at $299, putting it in direct competition with the likes of the Nexus 7 and Amazon’s Kindle Fire line. That said, the Yoga sports a 1.2GHz quad-core MediaTek ARMv7 processor and 1GB of RAM, making its specs a bit below what other 2013 tablets are offering.

Still, the Yoga’s greatest feature, its battery life, may be enough to sway consumers. Thanks to its battery cylinder handle/stand, the Yoga offers 18 hours of battery life on a single charge.