Lenovo unveils ‘world’s first foldable PC’

We've seen the foldable phones and the somewhat mixed reactions to them, but now Lenovo has thrown its hand in the ring with a foldable PC.

The company has a steeped history in introducing never-before-seen form factors to new user experiences, with an innovation history laden with firsts for personalised computing. Now, the company is confident another breakthrough is on the horizon.

At the company's largest conference, Accelerate 2019, Lenovo took the wraps of a preview and demo of the what it asserts is the 'world's first foldable PC. According to the company, the new foldable PC is targeted at highly mobile, tech-savvy professionals who demand the best tools.

The new PC will join the premium ThinkPad X1 family, which Lenovo says means the unprecedented portability will in no means affect productivity or reliability.

"This is not a phone, tablet, or familiar hybrid; this is a full-fledged laptop with a foldable screen," the company stated.

Research from the Global Workplace Analytics found that remote work increased 140 percent from 2008 to 2016, with more and more employees taking time-sensitive, media-intensive projects with them everywhere.

And it's this market that Lenovo is looking to target.

"We all want access to a large comfortable screen even on the go, but travel can make this inconvenient or impossible," the company stated.

"In the past, a 13.3-inch screen on a laptop demanded that the device stay at that same size footprint —not so with this single OLED 2K display made in collaboration with LG Display® that can fold in half and reduce its width by 50 percent.

The device is Intel-powered with Windows, and is capable of transitioning with users from day to night – here's a few examples Lenovo has provided:

• Wake up, fold it into a book, and start the day scanning your social media feeds in bed.
• Walk to your kitchen, unfold it, and stand it up for hands-free viewing of your top news sites.
• Hit your commute on the bus or train and morph it into a clamshell to catch up on emails.
• Get into the office, dock it into your multi-monitor setup and get to work.
• Go into meetings, take notes with its pen, and write on a full screen tablet.
• After lunch, set up the stand and use its mechanical keyboard to type out a few work emails.
• Come home at night, open it up and stream your favorite shows.
• Relax in bed, fold it in half and enjoy your latest read before going to sleep.

No further details or exact date of release has been set yet, but Lenovo says further details will emerge soon and the launch date will be sometime in 2020.