All 2016 Moto devices will have fingerprint scanners, Lenovo exec says

Despite basically pioneering the concept of a smartphone with a built-in fingerprint scanner with the Atrix 4G back in 2011, Motorola hasn't been quick to jump back on this train last year, when such sensors have been featured in pretty much every high-end Android device.

That will change in 2016, however. Chen Xudong, SVP of Lenovo and president for Lenovo China and Asia Pacific, has revealed that all Moto-branded handsets launching this year will have fingerprint sensors. That's a 180-degree change from the Lenovo subsidiary's recent antics, and it will surely be welcomed by the brand's fans.

The Lenovo exec has shared an additional detail about the Moto portfolio for 2016: there will be no more phones launching with screens smaller than 5 inches. So we assume there won't be a new Moto E this year.

The Moto brand will mostly be used for higher-end offerings from this point forward, while the budget devices will generally bear Lenovo's Vibe moniker. In total, between the two brands, no more than 15 models will be launched in 2016.

Finally, Chen Xudong stressed that Google services will "definitely" re-enter China before the end of the year. This means that the Play Store might finally battle it out over there with the dozens of local app stores for Android, while staple Google properties such as Gmail and Maps could once again be openly used by people living in the mainland.

Source (in Chinese) | Via

Lenovo phasing out Motorola brand for smartphones

When Lenovo completed the acquisition of Motorola Mobility back in 2014, it said "We plan to not only protect the Motorola brand, but make it stronger." However, looks like the Chinese company's priorities has changed with changing times as the brand is now being phased out.


"We'll slowly phase out Motorola," said Motorola Chief Operating Officer Rick Osterloh.
Motorola's phone business will now come under the Lenovo name, meaning it will be merged with Lenovo's phone business, with high-end smartphones using the Moto branding while budget devices using the Vibe brand.

You'll also see future Moto products featuring the blue Lenovo logo, although Motorola's batwing-like "M" logo will still be there. The Motorola name, however, won't vanish completely - it'll live on as a division under Lenovo.

Via

Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro notebook is official with QHD+ and Intel Broadwell chip

n addition to refreshing its tablet line-up, Lenovo has also announced the Yoga 3 Pro laptop with a 13.3″ 3200 x 1800 (QHD+) display with Gorilla Glass 3 on top. Under the hood, there’s the latest Intel Broadwell chip, the Core M-70, which doesn’t require any fans.

The Yoga 3 Pro has also lost some weight and is 17% thinner and 15% lighter than its predecessor at 1.19kg. Further specs include up to 8GB of RAM and 512GB of SSD storage, but there’s also a base model with 256GB. Connectivity is covered with Wi-Fi 802.11ac and Bluetooth 4.0 as well as two USB 3.0 ports, microHDMI out, a 4-in-1 card reader and DC-in, which doubles as a USB 2.0 port.

Lenovo announces Yoga Tablet 2 Pro 13.3" QHD Android tablet

At a global launch event yesterday, Lenovo announced the Yoga Tablet 2 Pro. The tablet runs Android and packs a 13.3" QHD display, but that's not even the coolest thing about it. In fact, the Tablet 2 Pro comes with an integrated projector, which allows you to beam the slate's display on up to 50" surface.

Moreover, the Tablet 2 Pro comes with a 5W JBL subwoofer and two 1.5W front-facing speakers. This makes up for an 8W surround sound system, which promises to be quite good. The slate's battery is good enough for 15 hours of usage on a single charge, but no more specifics are available at this point. All of these neat features have made the tablet quite heavy at 950 grams.

A new Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 8" and 10", a lower pricetag

The new generation Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 family also comes in 8" and 10" versions, besides the gadget-packed 13.3" Pro version. The smaller tablets come in Android and Windows versions.

They are all powered by a quad-core Atom processor and share the Yoga Tablet's trademark kickstand. The new gen introduces the Hang mode – you basically hang the tablet like a picture. The three old modes – Hold, Tilt and Stand – are also possible. Inside the thicker bottom end of the tablet are stereo front-facing speakers by Dolby and Wolfson.

The IPS LCD screens of the 10" and 8" models both have 1,920 x 1,200 pixel resolution, lower than the QHD screen of the Pro model but still fairly sharp in tablet terms – 226ppi and 283ppi respectively.