Lenovo IdeaPad Tablet K1 Review: Lenovo IdeaPad K1 [Android 3.1][Tablet][Hands-on][HD]

Is the next major Honeycomb tablet play seriously coming from Lenovo? Sure looks it, as the company has just taken the (final) wraps of its IdeaPad K1. For all intents and purposes, the K1 is a LePad dressed up in Android -- this one's packing a 1.0 GHz Tegra 2 chipset, a 10.1-inch (1280 x 800) capacitive touchpanel, Android 3.1, a two-cell battery (good for "up to ten hours") and a few minor software tweaks that may or may not appeal to you. The Lenovo Launcher is the first of those, acting as a five-pane launchpad that's completely customizable by the user, and it's one that can even be disabled if you so choose. The other is the introduction of the Lenovo App Shop, yet another venue to suck down applications for Google's tablet OS. The reason for its inclusion? According to reps here at the show, it's there to provide a secure, safe haven for people to download from -- the software that makes the cut here has been tested in Lenovo's labs for stability and security, though the company did confess that certain app developers may fork over a bit of cash to have their program(s) considered for inclusion. More after the break... From a design standpoint, there's not a lot new here, though we will confess to really digging the textured backplate. It'll ship in 16GB and 32GB flavors, with WiFi-only and 3G + WiFi variants available. For the latter, a Gobi chip will be implanted to enable connectivity with Verizon Wireless, AT&T or Sprint here in the US of A, though details on ...