At CES, Lenovo just announced plans to release the IdeaCentre Horizon Table PC. This is a massive 17.8 pound, 27-inch all-in-one Windows 8 PC/Tablet that can also be laid flat.
The Chinese computer colossus proclaimed the arrival of the "interpersonal PC" with the debut of the IdeaCentre Horizon Table in Las Vegas, where the Consumer Electronics Show gadget gala is set to start.
"It's definitely a new category; the world's first home table personal computer," Lenovo director of global marketing Dee Kumar said while giving AFP an early glimpse at the creation in San Francisco.
"This can be a full-power 27-inch PC, but at the same time we want families using this device," she said.
The "multi-user, multi-touch, multi-mode" table computer with a starting price of $1,699 can be used by several people simultaneously for communal activities such as games or for individual endeavors such as updating Facebook.
"We want to take social to the next level," Kumar added. "Smartphones and tablets provide one-to-one interaction, but it is great for a family to come back home and use this device to consume content."
The Horizon reminds me more of the original Microsoft Surface which was a large table. When laid flat, it activates a special user interface called Aura that is designed for usage in that mode. Battery life is estimated to be 2 hours.