Lenovo will reportedly be the first manufacturer to market with a Windows 8 tablet. Insiders at the company have told The Verge that Lenovo plans to release a Windows 8 tablet as soon as Microsoft releases the OS - and they believe that will happen in October.
The unspecified tablet is said to utilize an Intel chip but specifications beyond that are unknown at this point. But that doesn't necessarily mean that all new Windows 8 tablets have to be based on new hardware. Existing tablets can be Windows 8 certified so long as they meet the guidelines outlined in Microsoft's hardware requirements list.
CNET believes that Lenovo's first Windows 8 tablet could be the IdeaPad Yoga, a prototype device that first showed up at CES 2012. This hybrid notebook / tablet feature a 13.3-inch display with a resolution of 1,600 x 900 and 10 touch points.
Not unlike other convertibles we have seen in the past, the Yoga's display flips over, allowing the user to utilize the screen as a tablet. The difference here is the way the hinges work. Traditional convertibles utilized a single central hinge that many felt was a weak design element. The Yoga is expected to debut starting at $1,199 later this year.
Lenovo is just one of several manufacturers vying for a Windows 8 tablet later this year. Dell, HP, Nokia and ASUS have all thrown their names into the proverbial hat. Dell is even looking to release an enterprise Win 8 slate on the exact day Microsoft makes the OS available to the public.