I’ve made no secret of my love for hybrid tablet + netbook devices such as the ASUS Transformer Prime and the more recent Lenovo IdeaTab S2, but Lenovo appears to be creating a whole new hybrid with an ultrabook + tablet hybrid in the IdeaPad Yoga.
The Yoga is firstly a slimline Windows 8 13.3″ UltraBook making use of an Intel next-gen Ivy Bridge CPU for better performance and battery life, a capacitive multi-touch touchscreen, a gyroscope, an accelerometer, and GPS, but the screen can be fully folded over the back to become a large 13.3″ tablet.
The big question here is whether the keyboard will be an annoyance beying open and on the back, whether the device will be as hot as a laptop or as cool as a tablet, or how the battery will fare against pure tablets making use of multi-core ARM-designed and power-sipping CPUs.
We’ll find out in the second half of 2012 when the Yoga goes on sale for $1,199. And if its successful expect Apple to “invent” the AirPad soon after that.