SINGAPORE: Space might be the final frontier for some, but not for Lenovo.
According to its president and chief executive Bill Amelio, who was here for the Forbes Global CEO Conference this week, its ThinkPad notebooks are the only laptops certified by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
"Take a look at the wow factor in our current ThinkPads and IdeaPads," said Mr Amelio.
"The wireless capability is 25 per cent better than predecessor products. We have switchable graphics that allow you to use high-intensity graphics when you need them and onboard graphics that can save up to 50 per cent battery life.
"We can secure your systems for 64-bit encryption on a hard drive and disable it from afar with your cell phone via SMS. We have the coolest, quietest computers on the market."
Innovation drives the company, he said.
With the launch of its netbook computer line last month, the Lenovo IdeaPad S9 and S10, the computer maker is setting its sights on the lower segments of the market.
"There's a category developing now - it's the product that's between laptops, smartphones and mobile phones, and that's a netbook. And it's a very nice category with lower price points," said Mr Amelio.
Netbooks are ideal for casual use, he added. "You can attach it to the Internet very rapidly, you can do Skype on it, you can do video streaming on it. But you're not going to do intensive computing on it like you would on a laptop."
Lenovo plans to add features like face recognition technology, mobile broadband capability and easy data recovery to give its netbooks an edge over others.
Netbooks also provide a good entry point for new PC users, Mr Amelio noted.
"Netbooks allow us to hit a different category of customers who haven't purchased PCs before. Over time, you want a full keyboard and a bigger screen, so it's a nice migration point for somebody to get into computing. It can also serve as a secondary device or one they can carry on the road."
Apart from the low-end segment for laptops, Lenovo can battle with the best among high-end PC models as well.
Last month, it unveiled itspremium ThinkPad X301, aone-inch thin, full-function notebook with option for a 128GB solid state drive.
Mr Amelio said the firm will keep pushing the envelope for high-end laptops and might dip its toes in the luxury market.
"We've experimented with the idea and we think it's a real possibility. We're still looking for the right recipe to win in a bigger way there," he said.
"We sell one in three computers in China. I'd love to be able to do that everywhere." - TODAY/fa