Lenovo plans '2-in-1 laptops to replace tablets

2-in-1 laptops will replace tablets'
Chipmaker Intel will focus on powering a new generation of “two-in-one” devices that combine tablets with laptop computers, the company said on Monday.
On the day that Microsoft’s Chief Information Officer, Tony Scott, left the company amid ongoing recriminations over the Windows 8 software, Intel’s Executive Vice President Tom Kilroy said the PC market could still recover in the face of tablets.
He said that Windows 8’s “modest” launch meant the PC market was “a year late in getting “a shot in the arm” it needed, but claimed that 80 per cent of all laptop owners still said they would replace their device with another laptop, despite many also now owning a newer tablet.
Mr Kilroy claimed “The two-in-one concept is really going to be the new wave”, citing computers such as the Lenovo Yoga, which can be used as both a laptop, a tablet and in ‘tent’ mode to give viewing screen that stands up on its own, he said “The days of carrying around a smartphone a tablet and a notebook are numbered – the discrete tablet as we know it will go by the wayside and the 2-in-1 will be the future. If you’re doing content creation it just doesn’t happen on the phone.”
He added that “If Windows 8 had had a better take up I think we would have seen an increase in the notebook [sales overall]; the fact that it was more of a modest launch means the recovery is just a year later.”

Launching the new, 4th-generation Intel Core processors at the Computex show in Taipan, Taiwan, Mr Kilroy said that the chips, previously codenamed ‘Haswell’, would power “tablet-like mobility” in slimline laptops called ultrabooks. He promised better power consumption and improved graphics as well showing off more systems that improved interactivity with devices. One employed face recognition to replace passwords, while others made increased use of the touch interfaces that Windows 8 has struggled to make popular.

Intel yesterday claimed a victory with the announcement that its processors would be used in Samsung’s new tablets, sending rival chip company Arm’s shares down.
Mr Kilroy added, however, that he thought Microsoft was “watching Apple’s business model”, and said that was the reason why the Windows-maker was increasingly also building its own hardware, such as the Surface and Surface Pro tablets and laptops. He said the move had “increased tension, for sure”, among other PC manufacturers, but said the PC industry as a whole was “more innovative than ever”.