The unique identification authority on Thursday said the I-cards issued by it-- known as Aadhaar-- are a valid residence proof for opening a bank account.
Commenting on media reports that Aadhaar is not a valid residence proof, Unique Identification Development Authority of India (UIDAI) ChairmanNandan Nilekani said, "That is not true. That is some report which is misleading. Aadhaar is a valid 'Know Your Customer' (KYC) document for opening a bank account."
"Aadhaar letter has two parts-- identity and address. If the address which a person shows to the bank, is the same address as on the (Aadhaar) letter, then it is also a proof of residence."
A section of media had reported that as per theReserve Bank of India (RBI) notification issued on Wednesday, Aadhaar is not a valid residence proof. However, the central bank reportedly accepted its validity as identity of a person.
Nilekani said, "In a few days, we will be starting online authentication of address and identity. If the address matches through online authentication, then it will be treated as current address (of the person applied for a bank account or a service)."
Clearing air on the issue, he said: "The government is a set of institutions and all of them take their own decisions. As of now, the banking system has declared Aadhaar as a valid KYC norm for all bank accounts as per the RBI notification issued yesterday.."
He also said that the Department of Telecom and theMinistry of Petroleum and Natural Gas also consider Aadhaar as valid KYC for issue of sim cards and cooking gas connections.
we're talking about Android devices here. Specifically ones that support video calling over Skype. With the update to version 2.5, the VoIP service has tacked on another 14 Goog-powered gadgets to its list of officially supported handsets and tablets. Yes, that's right, we said tablets. In addition to bringing support to phones like the Atrix, Bionic and Nexus One, Skype is inviting the Xoom, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Acer's Iconia to the party. We've even received reports that video calls are working on other Honeycomb slates like the ASUS Transformer. You'll find the full list of officially supported devices in the PR after the break.
Show full PR text
Skype 2.5 for Android adds more supported handsets and enhanced video experience
Today we are pleased to announce that with Skype 2.5 for Android, we are whitelisting video support for an additional 14 Android devices. This brings the total number of white listed devices for video calling to an exciting 41. Now Skype video calling will also be available by default on several Motorola Devices including the Atrix 2.5 or Xoom 2.5. Download the updated Skype for Android app from the Android Market or Skype.com/m using your Android phone's browser or just scan the QR code below.
With Skype 2.5 for Android, the list of Android devices we've added Skype video support for include:
Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 HTC Nexus One HTC Shooter Sony Ericsson Xperia Live with Walkman Sony Ericsson Xperia neo V LG Optimus Black LG Optimus 3D LG Optimus 2x Motorola Photon Motorola Droid 3 Motorola Bionic Motorola Xoom Motorola Atrix Acer Iconia
For a full list of supported devices for video calling, please visit Android Market.
The Skype 2.5 for Android update also brings you further video enhancements. You can now switch between portrait and landscape mode during video calls, and zoom in with a simple double tap on the screen.
We also improved support for bluetooth headsets and included a number of bug fixes and performance enhancements, which should further boost the user experience of Skype for Android on your phone.
In addition, as with our recent Mac and iOS update, there will be an advertising platform introduced in this new release. Advertising will not be shown to users that have Skype Credit, a Calling or Skype Premium subscription.
If you have any questions or want to leave feedback, please take advantage of the new Skype Support. We hope you enjoy the update!
Many of those who were campus-hired by IT companies last year or early this year and who expected to join soon after completing their courses in June/July, are still awaiting their joining letters.
Companies are unwilling yet to admit it publicly, but all indications are that uncertainties about IT demand in the wake of the global slowdown are compelling them to stagger their fresher joining dates over a much longer period than is normal. Some third party recruiters say the wait could go up to a year for some freshers.
`Appointment letters and confirmations are delayed. The unfriendly external environment has forced us to rework on our fresher onboarding plan. Based on quarterly reviews we will dispatch appointment letters,'' said the HR head of a mid-sized IT company who did not want to be named.
Over 2 lakh final-year candidates were made offers in the past one year. The top 20 IT companies account for over 60% of these offers. This year, TCS has campus hired 40,000 students, Infosys 30,000, Cognizant 28,000, Wipro 20,000 and HCL 8,000.
The campus hiring requirement is decided based on the expected attrition rate and the flow of new projects. But both these calculations could have gone wrong for many companies. The average industry attrition has come down to 15% from 25% in the last couple of quarters. The deal pipeline is also not very encouraging as companies are not able to bag large deals of $100 million or more.
"Some 50% of the engineering graduates who passed out this year might get placed only by September 2012," said Kris Lakshmikanth , founder & CEO, Head Hunters India. `` Lateral hiring has almost stopped, small and medium companies are badly affected,'' he said.
B S Murthy, head of LeadershipCapital , said HR heads are concerned that they are not able to onboard everybody. Some candidates, he said, would get delayed joining dates, some may not get them at all.
Reva Engineering College principal R P Reddy said TCS, Wipro, Satyam and Tech Mahindra had hired from the college , but many of these hires are yet to receive the joining letters. "These students are looking at alternatives," he said. CMRIT college said TCS and HCL had hired big numbers , but many are yet to receive joining letters.
A Bangalore college hire who was offered a job by Accenture said the company has told him and all others from his college who have been hired by the company that they could expect a joining date between October and December . "We are all quite nervous ," he said. He completed his course in June.
When contacted, Accenture said it had not changed its timeframe for onboarding graduates and that the onboarding of their new hires started in June as per plan. "Most of them have already been onboarded and we have maintained contact with graduates to whom we made job offers. As always, client demand drives our hiring needs. We regularly review projects and recalibrate resource planning, as appropriate, to meet our clients' needs," a company spokesperson said.
A Wipro spokesperson, when asked about some candidates not having received joining letters, also said their onboarding is going as per plan.
Bhanushree, CEO of Talent Management Group, said the software sector is fretting over eroding margins and global economic pressure, and therefore large and medium players are likely to defer their campus hire onboarding during the current fiscal.
International Business Machines Corp passed Microsoft Corp to become the world's second-most valuable technology company, a reflection of industry changes including the shift away from the personal computer.
IBM's market value rose to $214 billion today, while Microsoft's fell to $213.2 billion, the first time IBM has exceeded its software rival based on closing prices since 1996, according toBloomberg data. IBM is now the fourth-largest company by market value and, in technology, trails only Apple Inc, the world's most valuable company.
Chief Executive Officer Sam Palmisano sold IBM's PC business six years ago to focus on corporate software and services. Though Microsoft has expanded into online advertising and games, it gets most of its revenue and earnings from the Windows and Office software used primarily on PCs.
"IBM went beyond technology," said Ted Schadler, an analyst with Forrester Research Inc. "They were early to recognize that computing was moving way beyond these boxes on our desks."
IBM, based in Armonk, New York, has gained 22 per cent this year, while Microsoft, based in Redmond, Washington, has dropped 8.8 per cent. IBM rose $1.62 to $179.17 at 4 pm in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, and Microsoft fell 13 cents to $25.45 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading.
Apple, which long competed against IBM and Microsoft in the PC business, passed Microsoft in market value last year, on rising sales of iPhones, iPods and iPads. Apple's market capitalization is now $362.1 billion.
Palmisano's strategy
Palmisano, who is also chairman, has spent his nine years at the helm sharpening the company's focus on software and services for corporations and government. Once known as the world's largest computer company, IBM in 2005 sold its PC unit to Lenovo Group Ltd, calling it "commoditized." The company has spent more than $25 billion investing in its software, computer-services and consulting businesses.
The maneuvers have helped increase per-share profit for more than 30 straight quarters. Palmisano has boosted sales by 20 percent from 2001 through last year, while keeping the costs of the 426,000-employee company little changed. IBM pulled in more than half of its $99.9 billion in revenue last year from services and is now the world's largest computer-services provider.
The company is betting it can add another $20 billion to revenue through 2015. Palmisano is investing in emerging markets and analytics, as well as cloud-computing and an initiative called Smarter Planet to connect roads, electrical systems and other infrastructure to the Internet.
Share record
"Computing is now found in things that no one thinks of as 'computers'," said Palmisano at a trade show keynote in February. "Today, there are nearly a billion transistors per human, and each one costs one ten-millionth of a cent. Yes, some of these transistors are going into servers, PCs, smart phones, MP3 players and tablets. But an increasing number of them are going into appliances and automobiles, power grids, roadways, railways and waterways."
IBM plans to almost double operating earnings to at least $20 a share in 2015. Investors have taken notice: Shares have climbed 35 per cent since the company first announced the goal in May 2010.
Microsoft's slump
Microsoft, the world's largest software company, was worth three times as much as IBM in January 2000 and hit a market capitalization of more than $430 billion in July 2000, according to Bloomberg data. Microsoft fell to about $135 billion in March 2009 during the economic downturn, before recovering with the market.
Microsoft, which had $69.9 billion in revenue for the fiscal year ending in June, got about 60 percent of its sales from the Windows and Office units in the most recent quarter.
"They were trapped in the classic innovator's dilemma" because their software business was so good," said Schadler. "The bet that Microsoft made in the PC business was to double down and double down and double down."
CEO Steve Ballmer said investors may not appreciate the company's progress in other businesses, including server software and online versions of Office, given the higher profile of its consumer businesses.
"People are saying, 'Where do you go next?'," said Ballmer at the company's annual meeting in November. There probably isn't "as much appreciation for the incredible growth and success we've had with enterprises since people relate better to the consumer market. But it's great products with great earnings and particularly in some high-visibility categories."
Facebook took a huge step toward ubiquitous sharing with its new timeline and sharing features. And it rightfully creeps some people out.
Not everybody wants to share their life story on their profile, see their friends’ activities in real time or have their preferences in music, movies and reading shared as they’re consuming media.
But to Facebook’s credit, it has tread into a new level of sharing with some caution. In many ways, its privacy settings are more accessible. A new private activity log, for instance, allows you to review all past activity in one place to easily hide it from your Facebook Timeline, change the privacy setting on individual stories or delete posts altogether.
If you’re bothered by some new features, however, it might take a couple of clicks that are less than intuitive to opt out of them. Here’s how to avoid three of the new Facebook’s potential privacy concerns.
Your Friends See What You Watch, Listen to and Read
Adding an App to Your Facebook Timeline
Whenever an app wants to add updates to your Facebook Timeline, this box will appear.
Controlling Who Sees Your Activity
Clicking the people icon next to 'This activity is visible to:' lets you control who will see your activity from the app. You can share your activity with the Public, Friends or specific Friend Lists.
Custom Privacy Settings for Gestures
If you click 'Custom', you get more privacy options, including the ability to block certain people from seeing your activity.
Only Me Privacy
If you feel uncomfortable sharing your activity from the app, you can select 'Only Me'. This means that your will see your activity from the app on your Timeline, but no one else will.
Through partnerships with more than a dozen companies, Facebook has added TV, movies and music. You can, for instance, watch a movie from Netflix or stream a song from Spotify without leaving your News Feed.
The Washington Post has also created “social reader” apps that encourage users to connect with each other around the news from its content partners and discover content from friends. Other publications have built similar experiences.
After you connect to any of these apps, however, they will by default publish your activity to friends’ news tickers. In some cases, it will automatically create a box in your Timeline that outlines the content you’ve been consuming. If you’re not ready to announce that you listen to Justin Bieber on repeat or just finished an article about the top 10 quotes from the season premiere of Gossip Girl, this might strike you as a problem.
How you can opt out: While many of these apps have not yet been released, the good news is that those that have been released seem to provide sufficient opt-out mechanisms. With the Washington Post‘s social reader, for instance, there’s a “Mark as Unread” button at the end of each article that will remove it from all streams.
You can also go to Facebook’s settings page for apps and edit settings specific to that app. You can set the option, “Who can see posts and activity from this app?” to either public; friends of friends and networks; friends and networks; friends of friends; friends; specific people; or just yourself.
Apps Can Share Your Activity Without Asking
With the new Facebook Open Graph, apps no longer need to ask permission each time they post to your wall. Instead, apps detail exactly what type of information will be shared the first time it asks for permission and, after you agree to the terms, can automatically update your profile.
Kobo’s new e-reading app, for instance, will tell your friends when you’re reading and what you’re reading. Nike+’s app will do the same for your running habits.
This doesn’t mean that you’re about to get slammed with a ton of notifications from your friends’ FarmVille games though. Automatic updates will be posted to the news ticker and observable in real time, but the News Feed is still reserved for important events.
How you can opt out: The easiest way to control who can see updates from individual apps is the app setting page.
It’s now more important than ever to read an app’s permission screen carefully before you authorize it, as that permission is not on an action-by-action basis anymore. We’ve asked Facebook whether apps that have already been authorized on your profile will need to ask for permission before they can start posting activity automatically. We will update this article when we hear back.
Your Default Timeline Makes It Easy to See What a Dork You Were
When you get the new Facebook, your Timeline will automatically populate. If you’ve been a long-time user, this means that a whole array of past bad hairstyles that formerly resided on page 30 of your photos are now featured on your front page. Since Facebook highlights friends who were tagged in many of the same photos as you, it’s likely that your exes will be featured prominently too.
How to opt out: It’s easy to delete individual stories from your Timeline by clicking the drop-down menu in the upper right-hand corner of a box and selecting “Hide from Timeline.” A good way to review all of your past information at once is through a “view activity” tab at the top of the Timeline. This tab is only visible to you and allows you to easily delete or adjust privacy settings for individual stories that have been posted since you began using Facebook.
Your main privacy setting (public, friends or custom) only applies to new posts. Old posts that were not shared publicly will remain private, but if you’ve updated your setting from a more public setting to a more private setting, the posts that were created when you used the more public setting are still public. To restrict the visibility of your entire Timeline in this case, there is a separate setting that you must select. Go to your privacy setting page and select “Limit the Audience for Past Posts.”
When Lenovo announced a pair of Android tablets this summer, we didn't even pretend it was theIdeaPad K1 we were most jazzed about. Sure, it was exciting to see Lenovo enter the Android tablet market on any terms, but it was the ThinkPad Tablet that set our curious minds rolling. There was the design, for one -- an obvious homage to those black, red-nubbed laptops with the same name. It has personality, one that's inextricably tied to Lenovo's laptop know-how. It offers a full-sized USB port, an SD slot, 1080p output, a 3G SIM and a slew of accessories that includes a dock, pen and keyboard folio case. It's the kind of tablet we don't review all that often: one that might actually make for some painless productivity on the road.
As you can imagine, we've been waiting months to learn more, and if your tweets, comments and emails are any indication, so have you. Well, wait no more, friends. We've been spending almost a week with one and have oh-so much to say. So what are you waiting for? Meet us past the break, won't you?
The first time we saw the ThinkPad Tablet, back in July, we were struck by its odd proportions. It wasn't just that this thing was on the plump side (after all, most slates with a full-sized USB port are). No, this tablet was simply... outsized. At 10. 3 x 7.2 x 0.6 inches (260.4 x 181.7 x 14mm), it's both taller and wider than the Galaxy Tab 10.1 (it measures 10.1 x 6.9 x .34 inches). On paper, that gulf might seem trivial, but the unusual shape was the first thing we noticed. Check the comparison above if you don't believe us!
That, and its heft. At 1.58 pounds (715 grams), the ThinkPad Tablet feels like the serious productivity slate it claims to be. Because of the extra width, we found ourselves making an effort not to type in portrait mode, since the weight distribution felt particularly imbalanced. Fortunately, even though we felt some stretch in our thumbs while typing in landscape mode, we were still able to do so with relative ease, and discovered that holding the tablet that way made way more sense ergonomically.
This tablet's heft is also offset, in part, by the fact that it's generally a well made device. And if you're the kind of person who already finds ThinkPads' red nubs and boxy chassis endearing, you might even call it handsome. The back side has a nice, soft finish -- one of many ways in which the ThinkPad Tablet borrows design elements from the laptops with the same name. The lid's also stamped with not one, but two logos -- metal Lenovo and ThinkPad insignias, placed catty-corner to each other. As an added flourish, the "i" in "ThinkPad" glows red when the tablet is powered on.
Yet another thing that makes this tablet visually striking: a row of four physical buttons, which line the bottom of the screen when you holding the tablet in portrait mode with the front-facing camera up top. These include one to lock the screen orientation, a browser launcher, a backward navigation key and your requisite home button. Alas, they're stiff -- very hard to press -- and we eventually gave up on our efforts to get used to them and simply stuck with the touchscreen. It's a shame, really, since that tactile experience could have been yet another way for Lenovo to hearken back to the experience of using a ThinkPad laptop.
Taking a tour around the device, you'll also find a plethora of ports sitting just below that row of physical buttons. These include a door covering an SD reader and a 3G SIM card slot, along with an exposed docking connector, micro-USB port, mini-HDMI socket (1080p capable) and a headphone jack. On the opposite end (the other short edge), you'll find a volume rocker, along with a slot for the optional pen (much more on that in a moment). Moving along to the long edges, you've got a lone USB 2.0 port on one side, hidden behind a neat little sliding door, with a power / lock button rounding out the opposite side.
Pen input
Like the HTC Flyer, the ThinkPad Tablet uses N-Trig's DuoSense digitizer to allow for both pen and touch input. Also like the Flyer, the pen is sold separately, though in this case it comes for a slightly (keyword: slightly) less insulting price of $30. In a cute touch, Lenovo topped off the pen with a red cap -- a loving throwback to the signature pointing stick you'll find on any ThinkPad notebook. Inside the box, you'll also find two replaceable tips, so tiny you could easily toss them out with the packaging if you're not careful. It also includes a single AAAA battery, which you insert by screwing off the red top. Rounding out the lot, there's a thin string you can use to tether it to the tablet.
Alas, there's not much you can do with the pen beyond the native note-taking app, aptly named Notes Mobile. When you launch the app, the first thing you'll see are a selection of different notebooks. One of them is merely a tutorial, but you can, if you wish, add books as you please, designating a new one for each client you meet, or conference call you have to take.
The display responds smoothly to pen input, so you won't have to bear down as you're writing. Keep in mind that it's not a pressure-sensitive pen, either, so gripping the pen tightly and applying lots of pressure isn't going to change your signature in the slightest. In many ways, too, the software works intuitively. You can circle passages to either delete them or export them as text or an image. (Alas, you can't change the font or text color that way, though there are icons at the top of the screen that let you adjust these settings before you start writing new text.) You can erase words by scribbling through them, though you can also tap on an eraser icon at the top of the screen and just wipe that over the page. Helpfully, there are also undo and redo buttons up top, along with a new page button on the bottom.
The problem is, the handwriting recognition software just isn't precise enough. Even when we printed large, carefully written letters, the app misconstrued our words. We wrote "Go Home," it came back with "bottom." Two attempts at "Stop it" resulted in "Stop tt" and "Siip lt." To get the best results, we had to make a concerted effort to write legibly, either in printed letters or the kind of meticulous penmanship we honed back in elementary school -- which, you know, is totally how our writing looks as we're scrambling to keep up with speakers during meetings and lectures. Anyhow, hopefully this is something Lenovo can remedy through an update.
Display and sound
We've already established that the ThinkPad Tablet's 10.1-inch (1280 x 800) IPS, Gorilla Glass display isn't the most responsive in the land. But how does it look? Indeed, we enjoyed comfortable viewing angles from the sides and also with the tablet placed on a tablet in front of us -- and this was with an overhead light shining above, mind you. Still, even with the brightness pumped to the max, we weren't able to make out much while squinting at the screen outside on a cloudy day (not an unlikely scenario, especially if you hold out for one of the 3G-enabled versions). By the by, when it comes to media playback, you can play files off of SD cards and USB drives.
As for that lone speaker, the sound quality is pleasant, though expect it to sound faint even with the volume cranked to its top setting.
Cameras
We know, we know. Tablet cameras are almost always disappointing and it feels like every time we review a new model, we proclaim its set of lenses to be the worst we've ever seen. So forgive us if we sound like a broken record, but the ThinkPad Tablet's five megapixel rear-facing cam is particularly bad. It just can't seem to do anything right. Even when we an our subjects were still and we chose relatively easy lighting conditions, our shots almost never looked sharp. Throughout our gallery, you'll notice a softness in the image quality -- not just in low light, but in pics taken on a slightly cloudy day. In some cases, the background is sharper than our intended subjects in the foreground. As for two megapixel camera tucked on the front side, we thought our shots were respectable, considering the lens' low resolution, but thanks to clumsy ergonomics there's no reason to use the front camera instead of your smartphone for stills.
When you flip from still photos to 720p video, it's more of the same: not-exactly-sharp footage with some visible ghosting as cars and other fast-moving objects rumble on by.
If you recall, we ended our time with the IdeaPad K1 feeling underwhelmed. The performance courtesy of NVIDIA's Tegra 2 SoC was poky and the display didn't always respond to our taps and swipes (to say nothing of the bulky, toy-like design). We hoped that as a higher-end product -- you know, the one carrying the storied ThinkPad name -- this one would be different, more polished. In retrospect, that was a stretch: Either Lenovo knows how to make a tablet or it doesn't. It might not surprise you, then, to know that we experienced similar issues this time around. Once again, the display screen wasn't always responsive, and we often found ourselves tapping multiple times before anything happened. In general, too, the tablet felt slow to open and minimize apps, regardless of whether we tapped the screen or pressed the physical buttons lining the lower bezel. Other times, the tablet simply wouldn't flip its screen orientation, even as we rotated the tablet in our hands. It's glitches like these that make the tablet feel buggy, unfinished.
For the sake of consistency, we ran our usual raft of Android benchmarks, but alas, it's near-impossible to draw a firm conclusion from these numbers alone. In general, we're quick to point out that benchmarks don't tell the whole story, but in this case, the numbers just aren't consistent. Its score of 1,635 in Quadrant bests other Tegra 2-packing tablets such as the Toshiba Thrive and the Galaxy Tab 10.1, which notched scores of 1,584 and 1,546, respectively. On the other hand, its score of 948 in Vellamo, the mobile browsing test, was lower than what we've seen, while its Linpack and Nenamark results were either impressive or lackluster, depending on the comparison. Meanwhile, it took a full minute to cold boot -- something that takes other Tegra 2 tabs such as the Thrive and 10.1 about 20 seconds (Lenovo says this normal, and not an aberration on the part of our test unit). However you parse these motley numbers, what we do know is that thanks to the unresponsive display and wonky accelorometer alone, the experience just isn't as smooth as what you'll enjoy on other slates.
Battery Life
Tablet
Battery Life
Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet
8:00
Apple iPad 2
10:26
Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1
9:55
Apple iPad
9:33
HP TouchPad
8:33
Lenovo IdeaPad K1
8:20
Motorola Xoom
8:20
T-Mobile G-Slate
8:18
Archos 101
7:20
RIM BlackBerry PlayBook
7:01
Acer Iconia Tab A500
6:55
Toshiba Thrive
6:25
Samsung Galaxy Tab
6:09
Acer Iconia Tab A100
4:54
The ThinkPad tablet packs a 3,250mAh battery promising up to 8.7 hours of juice on WiFi. Indeed, it lasted eight hours on the mark in our battery test (movie looping, WiFi on) before powering down. That's on the lower end of average for a 10-incher, if you look at our chart above, though it's at least a good hour and a half longer than the Toshiba Thrive. Particularly given that the Xoom, K1 and TouchPad all beat it by about half an hour or less, the ThinkPad Tablet's runtime seems respectable, though not great.
Also! The ThinkPad Tablet charges via USB. Once we realized we could charge using a spare USB 2.0 port on our laptop, that immediately rose to become one of our singular favorite features about the tablet. The best part is that you can do it with a regular 'ole micro-USB cable, unlike the Galaxy Tab 10.1, which requires a proprietary cable to charge via USB.
Software
The software experience on the ThinkPad Tablet is exactly the same as on the IdeaPad K1 -- meaning, it's Android 3.1 with mild skinning and a not-so-modest collection of widgets. For starters, Lenovo took the back, home and open windows buttons in the lower left corner of the screen and painted them an opaque white. The effect is somewhat cartoonish but more importantly, it clashes with the stock Honeycomb clock in the lower right corner, which still glows blue. We still say it's not something that needed fixing, but at least all of the other software tweaks you'll see here are reversible.
Also, for what it's worth, Lenovo tweaked that row of icons so that in addition to being able to tap to see what apps you have open, you can hit an "X" mark to close them. If most of the software tweaks you'll see here are gimmicks, this built-in task killer, at least, is one we think even seasoned Honeycomb users have to appreciate.
From here on out, it's widgets, widgets, widgets. Namely, the huge one taking up a good swath of the main home screen. This guy, dubbed Lenovo Launch Zone, has four so-called zones, better described as customizable shortcuts. By default, these zones include ones for watching, reading, listening and checking email, and there's also a browser shortcut tucked there, too. From this widget, you can also jump to system settings, along with another settings menu governing the zones themselves. Here, you can change the color scheme of the widget, as well as change the shortcuts. In the case of "Read" and those other task-oriented ones, it means changing what app is tied to it, so you don't have to go straight into Amazon Kindle if you don't want to.
Want some more shortcuts with your shortcuts? Well, there's also a carousel of six favorites at the bottom of the screen (this would be the icon that looks like a talk bubble). Once you open the carousel, it'll pop up in the low right corner of the screen. These, too, are easy to customize -- just tap the settings icon to start dragging and dropping your favorite apps into the list. To be honest, we prefer this to Launch Zone, just because it's less obtrusive. It's only in the way when we're actively scrolling through favorites. When we're not, it's nothing more than an icon at the button of the screen. As it is, you'll be greeted by both when you turn on the tablet for the first time. It's a cluttered setup, to be sure, and we're less forgiving of it now that we're reviewing the ThinkPad Tablet -- a slate for bona fide techies. Anyone buying this knows his or her way around Honeycomb, and will likely find this kind of hand-holding patronizing, unnecessary. It doesn't work here, even though we can see why Lenovo decided to slap it on the K1, a tablet that's decidedly more consumery. In any case, if you're as annoyed as we are, you can just drag and drop the whole launcher into the trash bin and call it a day.
Moving along, Lenovo also included its SocialTouch app, which aggregates friends' Facebook and Twitter updates, along with your email and calendar appointments. It's a neat idea in theory, except that there's no way to jump from day to day, so it's essentially like reading your emails and meeting reminders in the form of a Twitter timeline. Expect the important stuff to get lost in the morass.
Apps
Like the K1 before it, the ThinkPad Tablet comes with a boatload of apps pre-installed -- a list that includes Absolute, AccuWeather, Amazon Kindle, Angry Birds HD, ArcSync (along with 2GB of free storage), Docs to Go, the IM client eBuddy, five card games, a 30-day trial of McAfee Security, Movie Studio, Netflix, ooVoo, Places, PokeTalk, PrinterShare and. Sound Recorder.
As a treat for the beleaguered IT guy, Lenovo also threw in Citrix Receiver, allowing users to access virtualized desktops and company-required apps. Meanwhile, Lenovo's own Mobility Manager app gives the IT department a fair amount of control, letting it remotely wipe the data, set up data encryption change the password and monitor failed log-in attempts. On top of all that, Lenovo included its own "USB File Copy" app for trading files among the internal flash storage, an external memory card or a PC or hard drive connected via USB. That file manager is welcome, and worked just fine to copy a movie from our SD card to the tablet's internal memory. Intuitively, it'll launch automatically when you insert a SB drive or SD card, or when you connect the keyboard folio case (more on that later), which saves you the trouble of digging through the app menu to open it.
In addition to the apps it bundled and the troves you'll find in Android Market, Lenovo's also pushing its own storefront, dubbed Lenovo App Shop. The selection hasn't gotten much beefier since we reviewed the K1 almost two months ago but more importantly, there's nothing here that you can't also find in Android Market. For low-tech users considering the K1, perhaps, that kind of curated experience could be a relief. But again, anyone considering pulling the trigger on a ThinkPad Tablet can navigate Android Market just fine, and probably know what they're looking for anyway. Still, IT managers can customize the store so that it only shows corporate-approved apps, so companies, at least, might appreciate a curated experience, even if end users don't.
Configuration options and accessories
For the purposes of this review, we checked out the $569 32GB model, though you can also opt for a 16GB version ($499) or a 64GB number ($699). Lenovo's also selling a $60 dock with USB 2.0, micro-USB, HDMI, headphone and line-out ports, along with that $30 pen we've been using to practice our cursive.
If you've been following along, though, you know the most intriguing add-on of them all is the $100 keyboard folio case. It is what it sounds like, folks, and it's awesome. What you have is a fold-out case with a built-in, USB-powered keyboard. What can we say? The keys are just delicious to type on, and really do evoke the experience of tying on a ThinkPad (a ThinkPad Edge with a chiclet keyboard, perhaps, but a ThinkPad just the same). There's also a red optical trackpad in the center designed to take the place of Lenovo's signature nub, and it, too, is a pleasure to use. That feature alone transformed the way we interacted with the tablet; particularly since it's so reliable and comfortable to use, it's worlds better than combining some third-party keyboard with a standalone mouse. It wasn't until we wanted to scroll down through webpages that the spell broke slightly, as we needed to take our finger off the trackpad and either use the down arrow key or reach up and touch the screen.
One last note before we stop gushing: as far as cases go, this one's notably well made. It has three incline settings, and we love how the tablet locks into each with a satisfying click (ditto for the way you can fold the case's latch underneath itself so that it doesn't flop around in front of the screen). In a smart move, Lenovo left the ports exposed so that you can charge the tablet without removing it from the folio (the door covering the SD slot will be obscured, though). It's ironic, really, what's going on here: Lenovo managed to craft a nearly perfect accessory for a decidedly imperfect tablet. It just goes to show that Lenovo's at its best when it makes traditional computers -- or, at least, things that make for a computer-like experience. Whether you get the ThinkPad Tablet is a question you'll have to answer for yourself, but if you do, we highly recommend ponying up for the case -- it'll add value in a way the pen doesn't necessarily.
As for that SIM slot next to the SD card reader, Lenovo has yet to announce a subsidized version here in the states, though it assures us it'll be announced next month for AT&T, Verizon and Sprint. At some later date, you'll also be able to buy a 3G-ready version with a Gobi radio and roll with whatever SIM cards you already happen to have. If you buy today, though, yours most certainly won't have that inside, even though the SIM card slot will still be there, hanging out next to the SD reader.
The competition
If you've been feeling tempted by the ThinkPad Tablet, we'd assume at least one of the following two things about you: one, you're a ThinkPad fanboy (or maybe even a fangirl). Secondly, you're digging that full-sized USB port, SD slot and 1080p output. Further, we're going to assume you don't want an iPad 2 or even a Galaxy Tab 10.1. Why? Because they've been out for ages and you would have pulled the trigger by now if it were really right for you. We're also betting you're aware of the various Win 7 slates on the market, and already decided to pass. Oh, and one more point: if having full-sized ports weren't so appealing, you might well have opted for a thinner, lighter tablet with longer battery life. With us so far? Alright.
And if it's those full-sized ports you're really after, you've once again got precious few options. There is, of course, the Transformer, which lacks the SD card slot (and the obnoxious software load). Of course, it too, has the keyboard thing covered, thanks to a dock that does triple duty, extending battery life by seven hours and adding an SD slot and two USB 2.0 sockets. Oh, and the 16GB tablet costs just $399, meaning even with the dock ($150 MSRP; $120 on Amazon) it costs little more than the bare-bones ThinkPad Tablet. All things considered, then, we'd rather have a Transformer, though we'd still recommend the ThinkPad Tablet to folks who see the pen as non-negotiable.
There's also the Toshiba Thrive, which is aggressively priced with a starting price of $429 (that's the 8GB version). It, too, has a full-sized USB port and SD slot, though it does the ThinkPad Tablet one better by adding a full-sized HDMI socket. It's even decently fast and has a more responsive screen than the ThinkPad Tablet, which makes the choice not-so clear-cut. Then again, the ThinkPad Tablet offers superior build quality and almost two extra hours of runtime. It's a tough call, though for what it's worth, we'd sooner pick the Transformer over the Thrive, too.
Lastly, let's not forget about the Acer Iconia Tab A500, which also packs a USB port, but not a full-sized SD slot. It's arguably sleeker than the ThinkPad Tablet, but it's hardly pinch-thin, and its battery life is lackluster. This wouldn't be our first choice either.
Wrap-up
Back when we reviewed the IdeaPad K1, we came away feeling disappointed. Our verdict, in a sentence, was that the tablet was okay, but we'd rather see what the geekier, more fully featured ThinkPad Tablet had to offer. If anything, though, reviewing it brought on a serious case of déjà vu. Again, we were confronted with a not-so-responsive display, sluggish performance and the same hit-or-miss software tweaks. After testing Lenovo's first two Android tablets, it seems clear that the problem isn't a saturated market, where decent Honeycomb slates can go unappreciated. No, the problem is that right now, at least, Lenovo just doesn't make tablets with the same panache that it does computers.
That's not to say the ThinkPad Tablet is a failure. It lasts through eight hours of video playback, offers full-sized ports, packs a high-quality IPS display and supports pen input (however imperfect the experience actually is) -- all while paying homage to the ThinkPad line's storied design. It also offers lots of options for IT managers and is offered with a pitch-perfect keyboard case -- two ways in which the tablet makes good use of Lenovo's ThinkPad know-how. Particularly if you've been looking for something with a stylus, it's tough to argue with it, as the flawed writing experience still beats having none at all. And we can see where businesses might be willing to overlook the ho-hum performance in favor of those remote control features. But if it's just the SD slot and USB port you're after, you could easily get the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer and dock and spend about $50 less than you would on the ThinkPad Tablet-plus-keyboard-case combo. And if you don't even care about the ports, well, there's not enough reason to plunk your hard-earned greenbacks down on something this poky.
