Lenovo Connections

Who says those clever folks in Lenovo’s online sales and marketing don’t have a fun side?  With March Madness upon us, Lenovo has recruited 64 great sports bloggers to participate in Last Fan Standing 2010 – learn more! 

Be sure to bookmark the site and follow the contest for a chance to win some great prizes including a S10-3 Netbook in week 1, an IdeaPad U450p in week 2, and the cool new ThinkPad Edge 13″ in Midnight black in week 3.    There are even some Las Vegas accommodations at the Mirage to be had.   Don’t miss out!

Lenovo’s new LIVE @ CES 2010  site is making it’s public debut today.   David Churbuck, VP digital marketing for Lenovo, shares his excitement for the 2010 CES…

“Welcome to the next best thing to being there — but without the cab lines and the casino buffets — Lenovo Live@CES, where myself and a dozen other Lenovo bloggers will be reporting from the Aquaknox Restaurant, Lenovo’s headquarters at the world’s largest consumer electronics and computer show.

From January 7 through the 10th we’ll use this site and a variety of social services from Flickr to Twitter (the hashtag is #LenovoCES) to publish interviews, insights, and announcements related to our new wave of ThinkPad and IdeaPad PCs, as well as some new categories we’re getting into, and of course the people behind those products:  our designers and engineers.

We will be streaming live from the show on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights at three blogger nights hosted by Mitch Ratcliffe, moderator of the Lenovo Blogger Advisory Council and Chris Heuer of the Social Media Club. Each night will have a different theme, blogging partner, and special guest as well as an ongoing series of new product announcements each night.

Please subscribe to our feed, follow us on Twitter at @lenovosocial, or keep the Lenovo live site  bookmarked for updates throughout the week. I look forward to hearing from you in the comments there!

CES 2010 is going to be huge.  Perhaps even epic.  While the planning and preparation related to the products themselves go back many months, the excitement has become palpable as the new systems are loaded into travel cases,  event schedules are finalized, and site support staff ready the Lenovo showcase in the Aquaknox lounge.

More than twenty new Lenovo products will be making their debut.   I feel certain that several will inspire new thinking while others will likely spur online discussios as new designs stretch the envelope and challenge convention.  Lenovo CEO, Yang Yuanqing will unveil several exciting new products, and share his vision for Lenovo MID strategy.   Be sure to join Lenovo executives  Fran O’Sullivan, SVP and head of Think product group, Liu Jun, SVP and head of Idea product group, and Rory Read, President and Chief Operating Officer as they host evening sessions the 7th, 8th, and 9th at the Aquaknox.

Don’t miss blogger late nights, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 9:30 pm to 1:30 am!

Liza Adnan

Browsing online earlier this week, I found a few links around the web related to Lenovo’s Windows 7  Touch and Try event  I thought I would to share with our readers…

1. Exclusive video of Windows 7 booting demo at Linux Cafe.

2. Preload Windows 7 model which is attached with Lenovo Windows 7 Enhanced Experience logo.

3. Windows 7 Launch discussion was been shared in ThinkPad Club Forum.

4. Demo and chances “Touch and Try” multi touch T400s and built-in CULV function S12.

Joining us again is  Mr. Masaru Kamikura who shares his thoughts and a few pictures from the  Win 7 Touch and Try event held at the Café Solare (Linux Café) in Akihabara, Tokyo.  

On October 24 and 25 2009 “Lenovo PCs Windows 7 Touch and Try Event” was held at Café Solare (Linux Café) in Akihabara, Tokyo.

In this event, the newest Lenovo laptops in the ThinkPad and IdeaPad series were exhibited.
This event was a great opportunity for people who want to choose ThinkPad and IdeaPad because these systems are rarely exhibited at general retailers.   According to Windows 7 announcement, Lenovo is becoming well known for the latest technology “Windows 7 Lenovo Enhanced Experience”, so holding a public demonstration seems a great way to allow perspective customers to experience it for themselves.

Lenovo laptops were not for display only; people who visited this event could touch and try out the keyboard feel, performance and also enjoy the full functionality.   Also featured were the dual-screen W700ds,  the just released in Japan touch-panel ThinkPad T400s and the IdeaPad S12 built-in NVIDIA ION.  This event at  Akihabara was full of unique experiences and displays, especially the dismantled T400s.

Windows 7 Lenovo Enhanced Experience is a technology which speeds up boot time.   The Boot time comparison demonstration was conducted comparing preload Windows 7 product and conventional product were started simultaneously to show the differences.  As a result, Windows 7 booting time is 23 seconds faster than the standard at 32 seconds.
The technology is not advantageous while booting, it also effects time spent shutting down or returning from suspend mode.   There was a chance to watch a Simple Tap demonstration of ThinkPad T400s.

Customers in attendance was clearly excited by the demonstrations, as was a local dealer who understanably was perhaps  a little curious as to what effect Windows 7 will have on PC sales.

Lenovo Japan began selling Lenovo PC’s preloaded with Microsoft® Windows® 7  today, October 22, 2009.   So this weekend  October 24th (Saturday) and 25th (Sunday) 2009, Lenovo Japan will host a  hands-on event at Cafe Solare, Akihabara.   The event runs from 10 am. until 6 pm.  Every hour starting at 11:00 am, there will be  demonstrations comparing the Lenovo Enhanced Experience Windows 7 preload performance with a normal Windows 7 out of the box install, so that participants can observe the performance differences.  

In addition, participants will have the opportunity to enter a drawing while filling out survey forms during the event; a coupon number which is distributed during the event for those whom purchase preload Microsoft Windows 7 products from October 24th until 30th, 2009; so, they entitle a lucky draw in Lenovo Japan website.   Prizes include 13 copies of  Windows 7 products, 3 of T400s and 10 of S10-2 systems.

^*1News – Hands-on Event
^*2Seminar Advertisement

We also welcome our customers to join in our Windows 7 launch discussion in our forum, where Lenovo subject matter experts will be sharing their thoughts and helping to answer questions about Windows 7 and the Lenovo Enhanced Experience for the next two weeks.

Mark Hopkins

Last month, Lenovo human factors engineer Aaron Stewart guest blogged about the new Lenovo SimpleTap interface over on Design Matters, and even demonstrated the features on both an X200 tablet and our new T400s touch enabled ThinkPads on Youtube.

Today, I caught up with SimpleTap product manager Lee Highsmith who took time to share his thoughts on this new capability and the growing pervasiveness of touch interfaces.

Mark:   So Lee, tell us about your role as product manager and how long you’ve been involved with SimpleTap…

Lee:  I’ve had the opportunity to work on the Worldwide ThinkVantage Technologies team since 2001, and over that time, I’ve had the chance to manage almost all of our tools.  Today, I own several products from a strategy and marketing perspective, and work every day to make our tools better and get the word out to our customers.  My present responsibilities span Rescue and Recovery, Access Connections, Power Manager and, most recently, SimpleTap. We tend to get some  of our best ideas from listening to our customers, so I’m excited that the Lenovo Forums will give us one more way to hear great input! (Visit the new SimpleTap discussion board)

Mark:   Do you credit the latest generation of smart, touch enabled phones with helping to create mainstream awareness and interest in this type of technology?

Lee:   Certainly the latest generation of touch-centric smartphones have created a lot of comfort and familiarity with touch, but there are so many devices today that use touch – look at GPS, cameras, printers, ATM’s,  and even the pumps at your local gas station!   Working on this project has really made me aware of how much people want to touch screens – look at the screen on your PC, and I’d guess there are fingerprints.  While traveling, I’ve observed people at hotels and airports trying to use regular screens as if they are touchscreens – I think it is a very natural way to use technology.

Mark:    I guess we are getting pretty accustomed to touch screens around us, but many of those devices worked fine with buttons instead of touch for many years.  Is touch that much better, or is it just cool technology?    What do you see as practical uses for this on a tablet or other touch enabled PC?

Lee:   I think SimpleTap has a lot of value. It is most apparent on a tablet when you’re in “tablet mode” with the screen covering the keyboard. At that point, tasks that can be pretty simple like locking the PC or adjusting the screen brightness are suddenly a lot less easy. SimpleTap gives the user a way to easily and naturally manage tasks without having to open the tablet to get access to the keyboard, so it really goes a little beyond convenience and really helps the user stay in tablet mode and stay productive.

Mark:  Ok, I can see that on the tablet.  What about touch on the T400s?  Touch on a standard laptop?

Lee:   On the T400s, I think the more general benefits of SimpleTap show up. There are still a lot of tasks that aren’t touch-optimized in the operating system that are made easy with SimpleTap, such as volume adjustment, locking the PC or even disabling wireless radios. In addition, we’ve added features in SimpleTap that extend the VOIP (Voice Over IP) experience as well. If you’ve ever been on a VOIP call with video, you may have noticed a lot of people spend the first few seconds adjusting their screens or moving things out of view. SimpleTap provides a quick way to preview what the camera will see, and even allows you to “mute” the camera with a touch.

Mark:  How does this work?  I’ve heard SimpleTap described as living in it’s own “layer” on the screen…

Lee:  SimpleTap can be invoked by a two-finger double tap of the screen. This will bring up the SimpleTap layer, which won’t interfere with anything on the Windows desktop. We didn’t want to require the user to minimize windows or anything else that took them out of the flow of what they were doing. Users will also notice the optional red circle “docked” on one edge of the screen, which can be touched or clicked to launch SimpleTap as well.

Once SimpleTap is up, you’ll notice a number of buttons we call “tiles” each of which allows you to control a feature or launch something. Users can create their own tiles to launch a program, a website or even a particular file.

We made SimpleTap to put a little “fun” in functional. Users can “flick” the tiles and they’ll bounce off each other, or if you put them on top of each other, they make room. We wanted it all to feel a little organic.

Mark:   Which Lenovo models is this supported on? Can I use it on older touch tablets like X200’s sold earlier this year? How about X60 or X61 models?

Lee:   Currently, SimpleTap is offered as for download and use on the latest X200 tablet and T400s models with the multitouch screens and running Windows 7. It is not supported on other hardware at this time. It will be preloaded on a number of systems announced early next year.

Mark:   Where do you see this technology headed?

Lee:    I think we’ll see a lot of feedback from our users and corporate customers on where to take it, and we’ve already seen some interesting directions to go. Expect to see more next year!

Liza Adnan

I would like to introduce today’s guest blogger, Masaru Kamikura, a computer journalist from All　about who attended the IdeaPad announcement event which was held by Lenovo Japan in Tokyo on August 19, 2009.   He shares his impression of the event and his thoughts about IdeaPad influence, challenges and growth opportunity in the Japanese market.

The Japanese computer market situation differs from the world wide market because here, the  Japanese brands are very strong, while successful foreign consumer computer manufacturers are very few.

Lenovo Japan as well as in the IBM era previously sold into the consumer computer market but had become mainstream for business for 10 years.  In November 2008, the IdeaPad S10e net book was released into the consumer market.  Then on August 19, 2009 a broader IdeaPad series announcement event was held in Tokyo. The announcement event confirmed that the new IdeaPad series are official and signal clearly Lenovo’s intentions  for the consumer market.

This time, IdeaPad U Series and IdeaPad Y Series have been added, and as Lenovo taps one of the largest consumer markets in the world, IdeaPad I believe it will gain full-scale momentum.

Normally, support after purchase (Telephone counseling, support in case of failure) is very important when selling products into consumer market in Japan. Lenovo Japan also builds a support system to meet the sale of IdeaPad S10e differs for business and seems that the preparation is continuing consistently.

In this announcement event, Roderick Lappin of Lenovo Japan President and Wei Jun, the Vice President of Idea Product Group Notebook Business Unit were explaining about Lenovo position in the world market, besides David Nicol, Corporate Officer of Consumer Business was explaining the position of each products and campaign launching and lastly Hiroyuki Kushida which is Lenovo Japan Consumer Product Business Manager was explaining about product outline.

A Guest speaker from Intel also described CULV (the official name of Japan Mobile Sub Notebook PC).

Hideaki Doki from Intel

Lenovo ThinkPad which is developed in Japan is a popular model among high end users.  I am a ThinkPad fan.   However, even  though ThinkPad has high quality and performance, price sensitivity is a concern, especially for the consumer market.

High-quality products are demanded in Japan, and the Japanese consumers are confident in the products produced by domestic manufacturers, so new product lines and systems made elsewhere face an additional challege.   During the presentations, Lenovo shared how Yamato engineers and Lenovo China engineers share best practices and collaborate to ensure all the IdeaPas live up to the high quality expectations.

The keyboard quality is close to ThinkPad; APS (Active Protection System) that protects HDD which is also built-in ThinkPad, etc. are also equipped.  One Key recovery system, Anti-virus features, etc. before starting up non-preloaded OS on ThinkPad also included, and low-priced products that have features which are close to ThinkPad have been introduced.

About sales strategy –  utilize ThinkPad high profile is the strategy to raise brand awareness because IdeaPad brand awareness is still low. This time, new investment in products that are thin and light  like the IdeaPad U350, a rich Multimedia feature IdeaPad Y550, and larger LCD size than netbook IdeaPad S12.

If  ThinkPad is a business tool so IdeaPad is as the ultimate entertainment computer. It is different with traditional advertising strategies for consumer goods; so that display in store is going to be strengthened in-store was announced.

These IdeaPad series which are design obsessed products were demonstrated by a model photo session also held at the Lenovo Japan announcement event.   Are lower price points enough to ensure success in the Japanese market?  Here is what I think:

It must begin with recognition of brand name, and it is taking time that IdeaPad to be accepted as Chinese market. For Japan market, laptop computer share is high and there is a situation where the average selling price is also high. For the consumer, the better products become cheaper is welcome. The consumer always welcome products which is including support, etc. that is competitive domestic manufactures and offered from Lenovo, etc. which are highly competitive international companies. The domestic manufacturers also will come out with products to compete with it. Now, looking forward to what will become of the Japanese market in the future inclusive of Lenovo.

- Liza Adnan

It was my first visit to Lowyat Plaza in Kuala Lumpur, and I went there with intention to check out one of the newly opened Lenovo concept stores  in Malaysia.

I chose to travel by train so I could avoid driving along the congested road at Jalan Bukit Bintang.  Moreover, it was just convenient commuting by train from Bukit Jalil station to Hang Tuah Station, and I could relax and enjoy the trip.  I mapped the route through Google maps and found my way confidently.   This seemed a prudent move, unless one is familiar with Kuala Lumpur roads.

A: Location of Lowyat Plaza, Kuala Lumpur

I reached Lowyat Plaza easily by foot – a pleasant walk from Hang Tuah station.  Otherwise, you also can take the monorail from Hang Tuah to Bukit Bintang. I preferred walking because I could browse the shops and enjoy the mix of people from inside and outside Malaysia who were shopping there.

Left: Small road to Lowyat Plaza; Right: Signboard to present Lowyat Plaza

First, I went to Lenovo concept store on G floor. The bright orange color represents the store well and seems to draw the eye of  perspective customers.  Lenovo signs were evident virtually everywhere  – even in the reception area.   A convenient kiosk or booth outside the store affords customers  an opportunity for hands-on experience with some of the featured products without having to go into the store itself.

Left: Lenovo sign at reception area; Middle: Lenovo view from outside; Right: Hands-on experience booth besides store at G Floor

After a few minutes of casual observation,  I ventured inside the store and spent a few moments with each product on display.

Inside the store,  sales representatives are readily available to customers.

After exploring the store at ground floor, I went upstairs to the second Lenovo concept store found on the level UG.   Upon arriving via escalator, I spotted the second concept store location off to my right.  Customers are met with attractively arranged pedestals displaying Lenovo products just outside the store.  Perhaps these  provide for a bit more casual discovery of the products and prospective customers may feel more relaxed trying things out this way.

Examples of promoted  products outside the store; Left: IdeaPad S10; Right: ThinkPad R61

Walking inside the store, I passed a few minutes chit-chatting with store employees.   I learned a bit about the sales volumes, customer preferences for certain IdeaPads and the general types of customers who have been visiting the store.  I was curious if there were a lot of students, or more working or business people.  It seemed that many customers were making purchases favoring products which were thin and light – most suitable while travelling.   Not surprising.

The representative mentioned that the IdeaPad S10-2 is a real favorite, followed closely by the IdeaPad Y Series. He also noted that customers were beginning to show a preference for the S10-2 vs the orignal S10, now that the new model is available.   It has been a big year for netbooks.

Outside and inside the store on level UG

Gazing out the train window on the way home, I thought about the Lenovo stores and what they represented to me and to the customers who were shopping in them.  For my part, I work in an office and don’t often get to really see the products that Lenovo makes.  Sure, I use a Lenovo PC at work, and do my work on it, but it’s a different thing to see many of them in the store as products for sale.  To see them as our customers see them.   For me, the store is a positive thing, an affirmation of what I do everyday, and a sign of Lenovo’s growing presence in Malaysia.   The store matters to me.

Does it matter for the customers?   I think so. It seems beneficial to Malaysians who want to invest in a quality system from a global brand like Levono since they can purchase directly from the concept store.  They can choose which machine they prefer and they can see the design, feel the weight, and test out the performance  of each machine in the store for themselves.   They can buy with confidence, and leave with the product they want.   Sure, this can be done in one of the big electronics stores, where customers can compare several brands, but those experiences seem somehow less personal to me.  I think the Lenovo concept store allows customers to experience the Lenovo brand.

Where would you prefer to purchase Lenovo computers among these options; from a Lenovo concept store,  a general computer shop or online shopping on Lenovo or a reseller’s website?

How do you prefer to shop, and why?

by Lisa Adnan

最近、レノボは努力を続いていて、ブロッガーイベントをマレーシアで開催しました。昨年、シンガポールでブロッガーイベントを成功に受けられました。先週の4月23日に初めてのレノボブロッガーイベントをクアラルンプールのメトロポールグルメバーで開催しました。イベントの目的はマレーシアのブロッガーと密接な関係にあることとマレーシアのお客様にレノボの思いやりを示しました。

イベントを組織した人達に大きな拍手しましょう。彼らはレノボシンガポールの通信局からデリックコさん、デスクトップ製品部門からジミチャンさん、マーケティング部門からホイホイさんとエラさんです。忘却しないようにダニエルシさんが自発的協力者としてマレーシアブロッガーを連絡してイベントに招待しました。

イベントの参加者は携帯雑誌のジャーナリストクガンさん、Lowyat.netフォーラムのモデレータブライアンさん、マレーシアユース起業家の社長マイケルテオさん、リムヨンホイさん、ジェームズヤンさん、タムカンユサンと唯一の女性参加者キャロラインチャンさんです。

イベントの議題の一つは実地体験でした。展示製品はアイデアパッドY450,Y650, S10とアイデアセンターA600。

このイベントよりマレーシアのお客様はレノボ製品に精通していないことを見出しました。マレーシアで販売されているレノボブランドPCの既存は認識ありません。私の視点はこのイベントの価値があるのでマレーシアのお客様の評判を普及するための一つのほうほうです。

Last month at CES, Lenovo debuted the eLounge, an interactive VR shopping site built through a partnership with Nortel. Others have provided write ups and analysis previously, and included some pretty smooth walk through demonstrations of the site. I’m personally not sold on the whole VR thing yet, but what do I know? It does look pretty slick and opens up a lot of future possibilities, so I’ll defer to Liza, a colleague of mine who has test driven the site in more depth…

- Mark

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Liza Adnan

This was my first experience exploring virtual 3D on-line shop and I began with a simple Google search on Lenovo eLoungewhich returned a number of results including the youtube video below. The site impressed me as very similar to my experiences playing 3D games on my T61.

The Lenovo eLounge runs on an additional plug-in from web.alive. If you don’t already have the plug in installed, you will need to first download and install it before moving on to an interactive Lenovo eLounge. You don’t have to worry much because the instructions are provided and are easy to follow.

At first, I was excited and spent my time just moving here and there in eLounge and exploring each of the featured machines.  Then, I found the highlighted instructions on the wall of eLounge  which explain how to customize my 3D avatar. I felt thrilled as a child who just got a new book and tried everything there. I was able to choose how I look, my clothing and as an option, I can even upload my picture too. More, I can interactively speak with Lenovo representative or chat with them.

It is very simple to personalize the 3D avatar. The F2 key can describe how do you want be looked like. Two menus that allow you to customize the 3D avatar  are ‘Identify’ and ‘Clothing’. Under Identify, there are basics, vital stats and appearance.  Basically, sales representatives will know  how to address you while you are in eLounge by the display name and attach photo here function. Then, in vital stats, you can set your 3D avatars’ gender, weight and height. Finally, in appearance, you can rotate one by one and choose face of your 3D avatar.

Within Clothing, there are clothing type, eyeglasses, shawl, robe and shoes. Actually, these settings are almost same as appearance. It depends on your level of interest in the details - you will be amazed with your personalized 3D avatar!   Additional menus also can help you  interact with sales representatives.  When you want to ask some questions of the sales representative, you can wave to them where the action is included in communication menu. You can talk with them or mute and chat with them. If you select to be muted, you type the letter M and the letter T to chat. More hints and tips can be explored to utilize eLounge effectively from Help information.

Click for larger image

Moving on to what’s inside the eLounge, two types of Lenovo products – ThinkPad and IdeaPad are displayed.  But unfortunately, workstation type as ThinkCentre and IdeaCentre are not presented at the time of my visit.   Here, I can find the detailed  information of each series of ThinkPad or IdeaPad once I clicked the machine to know and learn further. If I’d like to purchase any machine, by clicking customize or buy button, it will move to ordering process site. Obviously, eLounge makes your shopping more interesting.

There are some areas for improvement.  I found it is too quiet without background music that can relax you while exploring eLounge, and I felt dizzy walking around eLounge because of weakness in controlling my avatar. But with a bit of practice exploring eLounge, you will become adept in controlling  your 3D avatar. If you get stuck, there is help page which can be a guide.  I am curious what is the function of ePortal, eStage and eMeeting because no information is provided.  Who can imagine what future ways Lenovo could make use of these functions?  As English isn’t my first language, and eLounge is supported for English speaking customers, and I am wondering in the future  if eLounge can be expanded to support other guest in their native languages like Japanese, Korean and etc.

eLounge is one interactive online shopping site which can save time and petrol.  Besides, your online shopping becomes more interesting and you can ask representatives for an assistance.   Finally, don’t forget to participate in the survey  to improve eLounge and allow us to serve our customers better.

Lisa Adnan