CES 2016: Lenovo schools ‘em

• Unveils AirClass for interactive virtual classrooms, offers ‘emotions analytics’
• New Vibe S1 Lite smartphone, ThinkPad X1 and Yoga laptops

AT the ongoing 2016 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Lenovo announced AirClass, describing it as its answer to a better virtual learning experience for corporate training and distance education.
 
AirClass was designed around a simple-to-use dashboard for both instructors and students, with tiles for documents, photos and videos sharing, and a live chat, Lenovo said in a statement.
 
Unlike virtual meeting solutions, AirClass lets you play back an entire class or training session in the sequence in which it occurred, and the ‘emotions analytics’ feature tracks student engagement by capturing and analysing video from their personal webcams.
 
Analysts predict the market for emotion-analysing software to reach as high as US$10 billion worldwide in five years, and AirClass is among the first to bring this capability to virtual learning, Lenovo said.
 
AirClass will be sold on a subscription model based on number of instructors and number of classrooms per instructor, starting at US$600 per year for one instructor and one classroom, down to US$12 per classroom for up to 10 classrooms.
 
Lenovo Vibe S1 Lite
 
The company also announced the new Lenovo Vibe S1 Lite, which comes with an 8-megapixel front camera with a five-piece lens for zero-distortion, a Sony image sensor, and a built-in selfie flash to increase the amount of light captured.
 
The panorama selfies feature will get the entire crew in and, retouching software ensures everyone is social sharing ready.
 
The new phone has a 13-megapixel PDAF rear camera and dual LED CCT rear flash to deliver crisper-coloured images.
 
The Lenovo Vibe S1 also comes with a 5in wide-view Full HD display, and a 2700mAh battery capable of playing movies or music videos for hours, Lenovo said. It is powered by a 64-bit MTK 6753 octa-core 1.3GHz processor and 16GB of built-in memory, plus up to 32GB expandable through microSD storage.
 
ThinkPad X1 Tablet

 
Lenovo also unveiled a newly expanded X1 portfolio, with new additions such as the ThinkPad X1 Tablet with a modular design; the ThinkPad X1 Yoga with world’s first OLED display; and an even thinner and lighter ThinkPad X1 Carbon (pic above).
 
With the modular design of the ThinkPad X1 Tablet, users can add features through simple clip-on optional modules. For example, users can get up to 15 hours total battery life with the Productivity Module; or a pico projector and HDMI port with the Presenter Module when they need to make presentations.
 
They can also add the 3D Imaging Module with its rear-facing Intel RealSense camera.
 
The 14in ThinkPad X1 Carbon Ultrabook weighs just 2.6lbs, but offers up to one-terabyte of high-density, low-power Samsung M.2 NVMe SSD storage that is five times faster standard SATA SSD (silid state disks), Lenovo claimed.
 
It also comes with a Touch Fingerprint reader and Trusted Platform Module security chip for extra peace of mind, Lenovo said.
 
The ThinkPad X1 Tablet will be available starting February from US$899; the Productivity Module will be available starting February from US$149; the Projector Module will be available starting May from US$279 and the 3D Imaging Module will be available starting May from US$149.
 
The ThinkPad X1 Carbon will be available starting February from US$1,299.
 
All prices do not include tax or shipping or options and are subject to change without notice, Lenovo said. Additional terms and conditions apply, and reseller prices may vary.
 
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