Somewhere in between
Lenovo’s new product is neither a laptop nor a tablet, but it performs some of the functions of both. It’s a “book,” a “Yoga Book” to be exact, perhaps referring to the electronics’ flexibility.
Like a laptop, the 10 inch Yoga Book folds like a clamshell – a very thin clamshell, at only .16” thick and weighing just 1.5 pounds. But the Yoga Book does something completely new that we haven’t seen yet – you can use it to automatically convert handwritten notes into a digital document.
Better note-taking
Instead of a keyboard, the Yoga Book is equipped with a flat digitizer pad that responds to a specific stylus called a Real Pen. But unlike other styluses, Real Pen actually writes with real ink.
When you lay a pad of paper over Yoga Book’s digitizer pad, it picks up your pen strokes, instantly transferring your scribbles to your screen.
This function might seem pointless to some – if you’re going to power up your device anyway, why not just type your notes? But the feature could be useful for folks who type slowly, for students, or for those whose notes include sketches, diagrams, and flow charts. You’ll have a paper copy for your files and reference, plus a digital copy on the cloud. You can then search your notes with keywords, reorganize them, merge them with other notes, or share them over your network or via email and social media.
Perfect for designers
Artists and designers will appreciate a computer that can create digital drawings with the subtlety you can only get from a real ink pen.
The Yoga Book can detect over 2,000 levels of pressure, so you can achieve light pen sketches or bold paint strokes.
Don’t worry, you’ll have a keyboard when you need it. Yoga Book’s “Halo” keyboard can be toggled on or off. With a totally flat keyboard, your fingers may miss the satisfaction of depressing an actual button, but the keyboard’s haptic feedback will provide vibrations to create a more tactile experience.
Our questions and caveats
Will Lenovo’s Yoga Book be functional for businesses? That remains to be seen. People who type a lot will probably miss the feeling and sound of a real keyboard. The Real Pen will eventually run out of ink, and there’s no information available so far about how much the replacement cartridges will cost.
But for those who prefer to take notes by hand, to doodle, or design, the Yoga Book has all the benefits of pen-and-paper with a high tech twist.
Unboxing the YogaBook
