Lenovo lifts skirt, gives cheeky glimpse of Windows 8 devices

Unveiling its latest Windows 8 devices, computer manufacturer Lenovo said it welcomed Microsoft's Surface tablet-laptop hybrid and believes it is a positive thing for other manufacturers.

Lenovo's Gianfranco Lanci said that Microsoft's Surface hardware showed that the manufacturer wanted to be a "serious player" with tablets.

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"It is very welcome if other people including Microsoft come along with a Windows 8 tablet. It is good proof that they believe in Windows 8. I see it from a positive point of view rather than a negative point of view as some people do," he said.

Lenovo announced two new Windows 8 devices, the Thinkpad Tablet 2 is 10mm thick at its thinnest point and weights less than 600g. It has an estimates ten hours battery life and runs the full version of Windows 8, not the tablet Windows RT version. It also has two cameras and can be used with either a Bluetooth keyboard or keyboard dock.

The thinnest, lightest Thinkpad ever was also shown for the first time, the Lenovo XI Carbon (pictured above). The company said it was the lightest 14 inch notebook on the market, weighing just 1.36kg. Built from carbon fibre, it is 200 per cent stronger than previous models.Another interesting feature announced was the XI Carbon's 'rapid charge' function - this allows it to charge 80 per cent of its battery in just over 30 minutes.

Prices and release dates weren't being discussed, though when we asked Lenovo confirmed both devices would be available in late October.