Many PC companies are dreading Microsoft's impending release of its new Surface tablets at Midnight Oct. 26, but you won't find Lenovo quivering in the corner. The Chinese tech magnet isn't sweating Microsoft's debut of its new Surface tablets, and with good reason. Lenovo is hugely confident in its own recently announced tablet computer, the ThinkPad Edge Twist.
"Surface is a tablet, but it's purely a tablet," said Lenovo product president Peter Hortensius to VentureBeat during the launch of Lenovo's newest convertible Ultrabooks. "Our products are very distinguishable, so I don't see that there's any conflict there at all."
"Customers will gravitate to whichever devices they think make the most sense for them," he said.
Lenovo is banking much of its confidence on its new device's talent for flexibility. All of Lenovo's new devices can reportedly transition from "lean-back" tablets to "lean forward" laptops in a matter of seconds.
"When people use tablets, they inevitably have to type something. And they end up typing on glass, and it's not the best experience," he said. That's where the keyboards on devices like the Yoga and Twist step in.
Of course, that's a considerably smaller advantage when you take into account the Microsoft Surface's innovative cover, which has a keyboard built in, and how widely available and easy to use Bluetooth keyboards are with tablets. Add in the Microsoft Surface's cloud storage, and the advantages shrink even further.
Mashable points to the affordable, $79, The Wedge Mobile Keyboard, Bluetooth keyboard. The cover has a flexible hinge-like seam in the middle, folding it over turns it into a convenient stand for your Windows 8 tablet, easily adjustable to any angle you prefer. The bottom of the keyboard has a rubberized wedge (which also works as a battery compartment) that props it up, shaped to help you grip it when carrying with the tablet.
"Combining the rotating screen and Windows 8's tablet-style positional awareness, Lenovo's new ThinkPad Edge Twist, announced tonight, has some unique appeal for education and small-to-medium business buyers," notes CNET.
Microsoft's Surface, and Lenovo's IdeaPad Yoga 13, and ThinkPad Twist all launch on October 26.
Microsoft announced plans on its website to release its devices through permanent and temporary "pop-up" stores in 32 cities across the U.S. and Canada on Oct. 26.
Microsoft Surface "pop-up" stores
U.S.
Atlanta (Perimeter Mall); Aventura, Fla. (Aventura Mall); Beachwood, Ohio (Beachwood Place); Bethesda, Md. (Montgomery Mall); Braintree, Mass. (South Shore Plaza); Charlotte, NC (Southpark Mall); Columbia, Md. (Mall in Columbia); Denver (Cherry Creek Shopping Center); Durham, NC (Streets at Southpoint); Frisco, Texas (Stonebriar Centre Mall); Garden, City, NY (Roosevelt Field Mall); Glendale, Calif. (Glendale Galleria); Indianapolis (Fashion Mall at Keystone); Las Vegas (Fashion Show Mall); Miami (Dadeland Mall); Nashville (Mall at Green Hills); Natick, Mass. (Natick Collection); New York City (Time Warner Center -- The Shops at Columbus Circle); Oklahoma City (Penn Square Mall); Paramus, NJ (Westfield Garden State Plaza); Pittsburgh (Ross Park Mall); Portland, Ore. (Washington Square); San Antonio (North Star Mall); San Francisco (San Francisco Centre); St. Louis (Saint Louis Galleria); Tulsa, Okla. (Woodland Hills Mall); West Hartford, Conn. (Westfarms Mall); Woodlands, Texas (Woodlands Mall)
Canada
Burnaby, British Columbia (Metropolis at Metrotown); Edmonton, Alberta (West Edmonton Mall); Toronto (Eaton Centre); Vancouver, BC (Oakridge Centre)
Microsoft's website promises more locations will be revealed in the future.
Microsoft has not commented on the pop-ups, or included confirmation that they would sell the Surface RT.
Microsoft Surface tablet features
The RT sports an HD screen, which various sources have reported is anywhere between 1280 x 800 and 1366x768, while the PRO has a 10.6-inch Clear type Full HD (1920 x 1080) screen with 16:9 widescreen.
That means they are among the biggest tablets in the market. If you are not satisfied with the typical 10.1-inch tablet, you can go for the Surface tablet. Along with the touch keyboards with the device, you can turn the machine to a small notebook.
The Surface tablet comes with five Touch Covers. Different from typical keyboards, the Surface keypads provide a brilliant typing experience thanks to their touch-based surface.
The Surface tablets mount both front and rear cameras. The front camera, named life cam by Microsoft, makes the tablet perfect for video chatting through Skype or other services. Using the rear camera, you can capture images and video clips.
Microsoft puts forward better memory options with the Surface tablets. The device comes in 32GB, 64GB and 128GB options. The 128GB is available only with Surface Pro. Further, you can expand the memory using external memory sticks thanks to microSD card slot. That is, you can store enough data including music, software items and video in external clips.
The 3mm Touch Cover can be connected to your Surface tablet with a single magnetic click, so, now you can type text and send messages quite easily.
The Surface's tablet housing features a revolutionary kickstand. Along with fully functioning keyboard and track-pad, the integrated kickstand helps you place the gadget in both portrait or landscape modes.
According to Bloomberg, Surface will only be able to go online using a short-range Wi-Fi connection. This is a stark contrast to Apple's iPad 3, which has a 3G option, and a faster LTE connection.
The Surface is rumored to cost between anywhere between $300-$500, according to various reports.
Though Microsoft has yet to announce the official pricing for its Surface tablet, the cost of the RT version will reportedly be between $400-$500,excluding the smart cover/keyboard, and the Pro, out next year, should be priced between $799-$899, also excluding the smart cover/keyboard, according to, according to Sameer Singh, an analyst at with Finvista Advisors, a mergers and acquisitions consulting group.
This broad price range is in line with the price point suggested by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer recently.
"If you look at the bulk of the PC market, it would run between, say, probably $300 to about $700 or $800," Ballmer said to The Seattle Times. "That's the sweet spot."
In the same interview, Ballmer reasoned that lower-priced tablets meant less competitive features, and, in general, a lower-quality device.
"I think most people would tell you that the iPad is not a super-expensive device. ... [When] people offer cheaper, they do less. They look less good, they're chintzier, they're cheaper."
"If you say to somebody, would you use one of the 7-inch tablets, would somebody ever use a Kindle to do their homework? The answer is no; you never would. It's just not a good enough product. It doesn't mean you might not read a book on it...."