Lenovo and NVIDIA Energize Mini-Computing Market

NVIDIA and Lenovo advanced mobile computing by introducing a low-cost, small laptop that delivers up to 10 times faster graphics performance than small laptops. Featuring the NVIDIA ION graphics processor, the Lenovo IdeaPad S12 offers improved application support while still providing long battery life thanks to its energy efficient design.

Lenovo used NVIDIA ION’s design to create a thin, lightweight, low-power laptop with a 12-inch screen and improved application compatibility. The Lenovo IdeaPad S12 has the graphics horsepower to support high definition media and many PC games which will not run on most low-cost small PCs. NVIDIA ION enables these capabilities with the industry’s best graphics performance for low-power CPUs.

“NVIDIA ION is one of the latest technologies available for the PC industry for small, low cost laptop PCs, and we’re excited to be among the first to use it,” said Stephen DiFranco, vice president and general manager of consumer and commercial channels, Americas Group, Lenovo. “With its 12-inch display, full-size keyboard and rich multimedia options powered by ION, the IdeaPad S12 balances an improved computing experience along with the size and affordability many consumers are looking for today.”

“The Lenovo IdeaPad S12 with NVIDIA ION graphics is a game changer for the industry,” said Jeff Fisher, senior vice president of the GPU business unit at NVIDIA. “It’s a powerful testament to what a small PC can do if it’s optimized with ION. The thin and affordable S12 does everything you expect a PC to do including watching movies, playing games, flipping through vacation pictures or editing family videos.”

NVIDIA ION graphics support all versions of Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7, HD video including 1080p and Blu-ray movies, HD video through an external monitor via HDMI, DirectX 10 graphics with advanced digital display connectivity, and accelerated video enhancement and conversion using NVIDIA CUDA technology

The IdeaPad S12 netbook offers plenty of up and running time with up to six hours of battery life to support the mobile demands of netbook users. Because netbook users need to stay connected wirelessly, the netbook comes with WiFi connectivity and ready for 3G with an ExpressCard slot to enable connectivity. To hold the photos, music and videos users keep on their netbooks, the IdeaPad S12 netbook offers up to 160 GB of storage and 1 GB of memory. Lenovo’s OneKey Rescue System can help recover user data or device settings.

Lenovo’s expanded VeriFace facial recognition technology makes logging in a snap by recognizing the user’s face. If users want “on demand” functionality, they can go into the Lenovo Quick Start environment and check email, browse the Internet and more without waiting for the full operating system to boot.

The IdeaPad S12 netbook will be available in June. Pricing for models starts at $449. Models with the NVIDIA ION graphics will be available later this summer.