ThinkPad's father talks about the future of laptops

During a recent trip to Sydney, the father of the ThinkPad laptop, Arimasa Naitoh, commented that performance is still a key factor for the future of computers.

The above statement comes as many reports say "performance is no longer the most interesting issue", and that "PC has the necessary power". Two of the main applications Arimasa Naitoh mentioned when emphasizing the importance of computer performance is Windows Vista (especially Aero graphics feature) and security software.

Battery life will also play a very important role as computers get closer to the threshold that can work all day. Naitoh promises that within the next 2 years, Lenovo will have a laptop that runs continuously for 8 hours / day using Lithium Ion battery technology.

Mr. Arimasa Naitoh

According to Naitoh, fuel cell technology is still "blind", especially in terms of operating time. After quite a long time struggling with the integration of fuel cells and traditional battery formats, Lenovo, like many other companies, found that the performance of fuel cells dropped dramatically after several recharges.

Appreciate the design

Although Lenovo's main audience is a business, it is also quite mobile in responding to customer needs, particularly with the Lenovo 3000 line aimed at consumers in general. Naitoh does not appreciate the use of aluminum in computer design, and "blames" that it is too weak. Instead, Lenovo uses titanium to reduce weight and enhance scratch resistance for laptops.

Naitoh also unveiled a number of innovative ThinkPad concept designs, such as increased screen quality, wireless keyboards . However, Naitoh did not disclose when the design will apply. This is for official ThinkPad models.

When asked about the future prospects of mini-tablet design "Origami" (Microsoft), Naitoh expressed doubt about the practical effect: " I had to struggle to convince myself that Origami would be a device used by many people ".

Wireless everywhere

Lenovo will soon upgrade integrated network components to support MIMO wireless LAN technology. This capability will help users avoid buying additional PCMCIA expansion cards.

Lenovo will also continue to support WWAN technology, allowing users to connect computers to 3G mobile networks to surf the Web. This capability has been integrated for Lenovo's T and X series, and will be introduced in the R and Z series in the next few months.

While Lenovo continues to equip "a set of basic multimedia features" for computers, it will not consider entertainment a top concern. Therefore, advanced multimedia features such as TVs may not be available in upcoming ThinkPads.