THE NEXT BIG THING? | Lenovo launches the Phab Plus

MANILA, Philippines – China-based tech giant Lenovo recently launched their new phablet, aptly called the Phab Plus. Targeted at today’s millennials, the new product, according to Lenovo executives, is said to “eliminate the dilemma of choosing between costly smartphones and underwhelming tablets”.

“Phablets are the next big thing,” said Michael Ngan, country general manager, Lenovo Philippines. He added that the Phab Plus is designed to combine the functionality of a tablet with the portability of a smartphone.

Charlotte Koa, Lenovo Philippines 4P manager for Tablets, urged that it is time that we should stop calling smartphones “phones” because users do so much more with them, like texting, searching the Internet, and using social media.

In Koa’s demonstration of the Phab plus, she displayed different specifications of the new device on three levels — as a phone, as a tablet, and as a phablet.

As a phone, it has 4G LTE Connectivity, runs on Android Lollipop 5.0, and has a 13MP back and 8MP front camera that is able to take selfies and panoramic “groufies” or “pano-selfies”, as was coined by the Lenovo Manager.

As a tablet, the Phab Plus has a 6.8-inch screen with full HD, a sound bar with Dolby Surround Sound capacity, runs on an Octacore processor, and has a battery life that can last up to 20 days at rest, according to Koa.

It was also demonstrated that as a phablet, the Phab Plus has one-hand capability with various easy-to-use features such as the double tap wake, screen shrink, one hand keyboard shrink and resize tools that users can access through simple finger taps and swipes

“We are a country in love with lifestyle,” said Blue Avelino, COO of Allphones, an online retail store partner of Lenovo. “The Lenovo Phab Plus fits every lifestyle needs that the Filipino wants.”

The phablet will be available at P14,999 both online through Allphone and in selected retail stores nationwide.

Ngan stated that their research shows that “bigger is better” when it comes to phones. “All needles are pointing to phablets and Lenovo will be at the forefront,” he added.

source: interaksyon.com

Lenovo website breached, hacker group Lizard Squad claims responsibility

Chinese computer and smartphone firm Lenovo Group Ltd said its website was hacked on Wednesday, its second security blemish days after the U.S. government advised consumers to remove software called “Superfish” pre-installed on its laptops.

Hacking group Lizard Squad claimed credit for the attacks on microblogging service Twitter. Lenovo said attackers breached the domain name system associated with Lenovo and redirected visitors to lenovo.com to another address, while also intercepting internal company emails.

Lizard Squad posted an email exchange between Lenovo employees discussing Superfish. The software was at the center of public uproar in the United States last week when security researchers said they found it allowed hackers to impersonate banking websites and steal users’ credit card information.

In a statement issued in the United States on Wednesday night, Lenovo, the world’s biggest maker of personal computers, said it had restored its site to normal operations after several hours.

“We regret any inconvenience that our users may have if they are not able to access parts of our site at this time,” the company said. “We are actively reviewing our network security and will take appropriate steps to bolster our site and to protect the integrity of our users’ information.”

Lizard Squad has taken credit for several high-profile outages, including attacks that took down Sony Corp’s PlayStation Network and Microsoft Corp’s Xbox Live network last month. Members of the group have not been identified.

Starting 4 p.m. ET (2100 GMT) on Wednesday, visitors to the Lenovo website saw a slideshow of young people looking into webcams and the song “Breaking Free” from the movie “High School Musical” playing in the background, according to technology publication The Verge, which first reported the breach.

Although consumer data was not likely compromised by the Lizard Squad attack, the breach was the second security-related black eye for Lenovo in a matter of days.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said in an alert last Friday that the Superfish program, which came pre-installed on nearly a dozen Lenovo laptop models, makes users vulnerable to a type of cyberattack known as “SSL spoofing”, in which remote attackers can read encrypted Web traffic, redirect traffic from official websites to spoofs, and perform other attacks.

Lenovo has since released software to remove Superfish while pledging to never install it on future shipments.

source: interaksyon.com

Lenovo tops PC makers

Lenovo Group held on to its position as the world’s No. 1 personal computer maker in the latest quarter despite a drastic dip in its core Chinese market, according to figures published by tech research firm Gartner on Wednesday.

Overall, the latest numbers showed an 8.6 percent decline in PC sales in the third quarter, confirming a worldwide trend towards tablets that has benefited Apple Inc and Google Inc but hurt traditional PC stalwarts Microsoft Corp and Intel Corp.

Worldwide PC shipments totaled 80.3 million in the latest three month period, the lowest level since 2008, Gartner said, despite the ‘back to school’ season when sales traditionally spike.

Europe, Middle East and Africa was the worst hit region, with a 13.7 percent decline in PC sales, followed by Asia Pacific with an 11.2 percent decline. The U.S. market increased 3.5 percent, helped by low inventories being re-stocked and the popularity of models featuring the latest Intel chips, Gartner said.

“Consumers’ shift from PCs to tablets for daily content consumption continued to decrease the installed base of PCs both in mature as well as in emerging markets,” said Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner. “A greater availability of inexpensive Android tablets attracted first-time consumers in emerging markets, and as supplementary devices in mature markets.”

Strong sales in the United States and Europe helped Chinese PC maker Lenovo hold onto the top spot among manufacturers, offsetting the decline in Asia.

Lenovo’s overall shipments rose 2.8 percent over a year ago to give the company a 17.6 percent share of the global market.

Former No. 1 Hewlett-Packard Co, which is being remodeled by Chief Executive Meg Whitman, posted a 1.5 percent growth in shipments for a 17.1 percent global market share. It was H-P’s first positive shipment growth figure since the first quarter of 2012. Whitman said on Wednesday that she expected to stabilize revenues next year as she continues her work to reverse the company’s fortunes.

source: interaksyon.com

Take charge in style with Lenovo P and S series smartphones

MANILA, Philippines - Today’s smartphones are more than just tools that allow individuals to call, text, and access the Internet — they empower different lifestyles. Letting users get more out of life are Lenovo Mobile’s flagship P and S series, two elite classes of smartphones that combine power and aesthetics for the style-savvy professional.

Built for those with active, on-the-go lifestyles, the Lenovo P700i and P770 satisfy every hardcore user’s needs. With class-leading battery life, the P770’s 3500mAh battery can last through the entire workweek.

The P770 also carries built-in USB On-the-Go (OTG) for quick and easy access to files from PC to phone and other gadgets, and doubles as a power cable for charging other phones. Its 4.5-inch 960 x 540 high-resolution IPS screen also helps users input and edit data with ease.

Featuring a Dual-Core Cortex-A9 processor, the P700i can handle just about any productivity app that professionals need. It ups the game for mobile entrepreneurs, allowing them to catch business opportunities at every corner.



Artists, fashion enthusiasts and individuals with a knack for cool design will find the Lenovo S series a delight for the senses. The lineup features a sleek and stylish exterior that is likely to turn heads, with designs that boast a 9.3-mm thin, classy, loop ID-inspired shell that come in a variety of cool colors.

Lenovo’s S720 epitomizes style and entertainment. In stylish pink or white with a Dolby Digital Plus audio system and an 8-MP rear camera, phone owners can expect crisp, streaming sound and sharp, high-resolution images they can edit using Lenovo’s Super Camera Software.


The Lenovo S890 also lets shutterbugs and movie buffs enjoy a new kind of mobile entertainment experience with its huge five-inch IPS screen and an 8-MP camera that takes clear photos even at night.

It also comes with the new Touchpal Input Suite and a fun variety of pre-loaded software. Weighing only 176 grams in chic white and midnight blue, it’s the perfect all-in-one media device for those on the go.

Experience the perfect fusion of power and style with the Lenovo P and S Series smartphones now available at all authorized Lenovo Mobile phone distributors nationwide.

source: philstar.com

Lenovo bends over backwards in bid to claim top PC spot with ‘Yoga’

MANILA, Philippines — Lenovo is proving to be a strong contender willing to do everything to gain the coveted top spot in the PC market as it headlines its efforts with the local release of the IdeaPad Yoga, a 13-inch ultrabook that bends over backwards – literally — to become a tablet.

Lenovo Philippines Country Manager Vicky Agorrilla said the IdeaPad Yoga will be the company’s ticket to finally and officially claiming the number one spot in global PC sales, stealing the throne from erstwhile market leader Hewlett-Packard.

“Our claim to being number one is marked by 12 consecutive quarters of growth in an industry that has, for the last quarter, fallen by about 8 percent,” Agorrilla told the local technology press during the launch of the IdeaPad Yoga in the Philippines.

In October, research firm Gartner already declared China’s Lenovo as the number one vendor of PCs in the world with 15.7 percent market share from shipping an estimated 13.77 million units globally during the third quarter of the year, beating, HP’s 15.5 percent share.

Rival research house IDC has yet to award the top spot to Lenovo, but in the same quarter noted that the company is just 0.2 percentage points away from the US’s HP.

Agorrilla admitted that the overall PC industry outlook has been quite dim in the past year, overshadowed by newer devices such as smartphones and tablets as exasperated consumers quit holding off for the coming of Windows 8.

“We all know there’s a temporary slowdown in the market, but we also know that the PC is revolutionizing, and it is turning into many different things,” she said.




Chief of these transformations is the introduction of “transformable” PCs, or notebooks that can be used both as a PC and a tablet, thanks to the update to Microsoft’s operating system that allows for better touch input during usage.

In this front, Lenovo is pitting the 13-incher IdeaPad Yoga against similarly positioned notebooks by other vendors, including the XPS 12 from Dell and the Taichi from Asus, as it jockeys for the top PC crown.

Unique about the IdeaPad Yoga is its “revolutionary hinge,” which allows the display to move up to 360 degrees, turning the whole unit into a handy tablet computer.

Powered by Intel’s Core i5 processor, the IdeaPad Yoga runs the latest version of Windows 8 in a slim 16.9-millimeter frame and a battery life that lasts for as much as eight hours.

“With the launch of Windows 8 and Intel’s ultrabook technology, now is the right time for the convertible form factor to take off,” Agorrilla said. “Our convertibles are the perfect ‘do’ machines that users can seamlessly integrate into every aspect of their lifestyle.”

The IdeaPad Yoga will be available locally by the end of December and will retail for P60,995 in stores, while a high-end version running Intel’s Core i7 chip is due for release next year.

source: interaksyon.com

Lenovo knocks HP from top of global PC market: Gartner

SAN FRANCISCO/HONG KONG — China’s Lenovo Group Ltd edged out Silicon Valley icon Hewlett-Packard Co to become the world’s No. 1 PC maker in the third quarter, according to data released by research house Gartner on Wednesday.

A rival to Gartner, IDC, still ranks HP in the lead – but by less than half a percentage point – in terms of PC shipments worldwide. Both studies reinforce HP’s struggles against rivals as new chief executive Meg Whitman tries to overhaul the stalled 73-year-old company.

Worldwide shipments of personal computers fell over 8 percent in the third quarter to 87.5 million, the steepest decline since 2001, Gartner analysts said.

PC demand growth has crumbled over the past year as more consumers flock to ultra-portable and increasingly powerful tablets and smartphones for basic computing.

“It’s quite a tough year for PC makers because (Microsoft’s) Windows 8 is not launched yet and some consumers are waiting for that. Cannibalisation of tablet PCs is also another factor,” said Eve Jung, an analyst with Nomura Securities in Taipei.

Both sets of data show that Lenovo, Taiwan’s Acer and other Asian PC makers are taking share away from U.S. competitors HP and Dell, which held on to the No. 3 spot in the quarter.

Lenovo, which has a market value of $8.2 billion, said it believed there was room for continued growth in the sector.

“We are establishing even deeper roots in each major market around the world. In addition to localized sales and distribution teams in major markets, we are establishing an even stronger manufacturing footprint,” Lenovo Chairman and CEO Yuanqing Yang said in a statement.

This year the company has bought Brazilian electronics maker CCE, valued at a base price of 300 million reais ($148 million), and U.S. cloud computing firm Stoneware.

China’s tech rise

Lenovo’s rise highlights the advance of China’s technology firms on the world stage in recent years as a result of aggressive pricing, overseas acquisitions, and taking advantage of a fast-growing home market.

The Chinese company, which vaulted into the PC market by buying IBM’s personal computer division in 2005, took the top spot for the first time by growing its market share to 15.7 percent, shipping an estimated 13.77 million units during the quarter, up nearly 10 percent from a year ago, Gartner said.

HP’s global PC share stood at 15.5 percent after shipping 13.55 million units, down 16.4 percent from a year ago, Gartner said, adding that this was the first time HP has not been the top-ranked PC vendor position since 2006.

IDC had HP at the No. 1 spot with a 15.9 percent market share, marginally ahead of Lenovo’s 15.7 percent share.

HP responded to Gartner’s study by saying IDC’s was more expansive.

“While there are a variety of PC share reports in the market, some don’t measure the market in its entirety,” HP said in a statement. “The IDC analysis includes the very important workstation segment, and therefore is more comprehensive.”

HP shares closed 1.32 percent lower at $14.18 on Wednesday, after touching $14.02, its lowest level since October 2002.

Lenovo’s shares ended up 0.3 percent on Thursday, compared with a 0.4 rise in the benchmark Hong Kong index.

Since the start of 2012, Lenovo’s shares have risen more than 9 percent, in contrast to a roughly 40 percent drop in HP’s stock, a 35 percent fall in Dell and Acer’s 21 percent slide.

Analysts say PC makers are suffering from still-sluggish growth in consumer and corporate spending across the globe, even in once-reliably hot markets like China, Lenovo’s home turf. The industry’s future is uncertain, partly because of a proliferation of computing devices from tablets of all sizes to smartphones.

“PCs are going through a severe slump,” said Jay Chou, senior research analyst at IDC’s Worldwide PC Tracker.

“A weak global economy as well as questions about PC market saturation and delayed replacement cycles are certainly a factor, but the hard question of what is the ‘it’ product for PCs remain unanswered.”

source: interaksyon.com