MORRISVILLE – With next-generation 5G wireless networks beginning to go online, the world’s top PC seller is preparing to cash in.
“The next generation of always-on PC connectivity is here,” Lenovo says.
Lenovo and chip maker Qualcomm are promising to deliver what’s being called the “world’s first” 5G laptop in 2020. The news was disclosed Tuesday at a trade show in Taiwan.
“With real 5G in a PC, it’s all about satisfying users’ need for speed: faster file transfers and streaming in 4K, 8K and even AR/VR; faster and higher quality video chats on-the-go; even faster screen refreshes for mobile gaming,” says Johnson Jia, Lenovo’s general manager of Consumer Business of Intelligent Devices Group.
The “Project Limitless” laptop will utilize Qualcomm chips. But specifics about pricing, battery life and other details remain unclear.
The partners also unveiled a promotional video:
“Demoed at COMPUTEX, this ultra-portable Lenovo laptop is the first-ever with the Qualcomm Snapdragon X55 5G modem, able to connect to a super-fast 5G network,” Lenovo announced.
“The transition from 3G to 4G LTE has already transformed how people use their smartphones; likewise Lenovo sees huge growth potential of 5G by enabling smarter, modern computing through the promise of faster, always-connected PCs3, and more immersive connectivity and sharing.”
Lenovo, which operates one of its two global headquarters in Morrisville, also is at the cutting edge of 5G smartphone technology with its Motorola brand among the early wireless broadband devices launchers.
“Imagine enabling real-time translation when conversing with others around the world as users converse in English with their Mandarin Chinese-speaking colleagues,” Lenovo says.
“Or, film students collaborating online while editing video footage in real-time and then upload the finished film almost instantly. Lenovo’s ultra-portable 5G laptop2paired with Snapdragon 8cx’s ultra-low latency and extreme performance is engineered to make these, and many other, scenarios possible.”
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UK tech news site The Inquirer notes that the Qualcomm Snapdragon chip does deliver speed and responsiveness.
“When pitted against Intel’s Core i5-8250U in test systems stuffed with 8GB of RAM and a 256GB PCIe NVMe SSD, the Snapdragon 8cx outpaces the Kaby Lake Refresh chip in Edge, PowerPoint and Word benchmarks, and topped the quad-core Intel CPU in graphics and battery life tests; in the latter, the 8cx delivered between 17 and 19 hours of video playback, compared to between 10 and 12,” The Inquirer reports.
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