CES: Lenovo launches new IdeaPads and thin desktop

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) starts on Thursday officially, but we're already getting a flurry of announcements and other news.

Lenovo today announced it will launch three new IdeaPad notebooks – the Y650 (thin and light 16-inch notebook), the Y550 and Y450. The notebooks include 16:9 format widescreen displays, NVIDIA GFX graphics, Dolby Home Theater Surround Sound, OneKey Theater software (adjust display and sound effect settings easily), and the Desktop Navigator, which lets users toggle between shortcuts, files and other frequently used programs by touching their finger along a touch-sensitive slide bar. A multi-touch trackpad lets users enlarge or reduce images with their fingertips (just like the zoom feature on an iPhone).

A new "thinnest all-in-one ever" desktop, the IdeaCentre A600, will also be on display at the show. The 21.5-inch display system includes controls that respond to touch and hand movements, just like a Nintendo Wii remote. The user of the A600 remote can use hand motions to eject a DVD, turn the desktop on/off, and adjust color brightness, for example. The IdeaCentre 4-in-1 remote control can also be used for motion games, as a VoIP handset, an "air mouse" and conventional remote control for DVDs, movies and TV.

The company will also add instant-on functions and VeriFace facial recognition security to its current S10 IdeaPad line, and will update the 11-inch U Series to include a framed screen and matte black keyboard and palmrest to reduce smudges and fingerprints.

• CES
• CES09
• desktop
• gadgets
• IdeaCentre
• IdeaPad
• Lenovo
• notebooks