You keep hearing about the tablet wars heating up, but for a while, Apple’s iPad seemed to be the only one that was on fire. I’ve had opportunities to test out Android tablets like the Blackberry Playbook, Motorola Xoom and Samsung Galaxy, and while each had redeeming qualities of its own, I happily went back to my first tablet love, the iPad.
The iPad is great, no doubt, but it’s time to take a second look at some of the other new tablets entering the market.
One that caught my eye is the Lenovo IdeaPad K1. I haven’t yet tested the device (it’s brand new to the market as of today!) but I like that it offers some great active features out of the box, like streaming Netflix, Amazon, Angry Birds, and Documents to Go which is a paid app on the iPad.
There’s also a “SocialTouch” app that lets users access their networks and social sites in one place, and a front/rear facing built-in camera that makes connecting the kids to the grandparents that much easier. Also, the IdeaPad supports Flash, which we know is one of the main beefs with the iPad.
Lenovo offers its own app store, but you can also grab any of the thousands available through the Android Marketplace. And although the apps part may need to catch up a bit to come close to the iOS offering, this tablet looks promising. -Jeana
The 32GB model IdeaPad Tablet K1 is priced at $499, and can be ordered in the U.S. starting July 20, 2011, through select business partners and retail stores nationwide, or via lenovo.com.
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