I’m sure that by now you no doubt have heard at least something about Apple’s Tablet device. Something quite similar and yet also innovative is the Lenovo IdeaPad U1 Hybrid. Hybrid how? Well the IdeaPad can be used as a standalone tablet device for viewing media and/or e-books and listening to music using. When in its tablet form the IDeaPad makes use of Linux as an operating system. The IdeaPad will be a multi-touch tablet and boasts some very eye pleasing aesthetics.

The standalone Ideapad as a tablet like device

Now here’s where the hybrid and impressive part comes into play. The IdeaPad can slot into a its notebook shell and be used as a fully functional notebook too, once you’ve “docked” the tablet into its notebook bay the operating system switches to Windows 7!

The IdeaPad U1 looks like any other notebook when closed

The slate (or tablet like device) when removed from the docking bay has 16gb of storage space which should sufficient for all the multimedia you’d want on the run. The standalone tablet will also have around 8 hours of battery life.

Have a look at some of the demo videos on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSen-_2scIA , this will link you up to some more to get a better idea regarding this handy and innovative piece of hardware.

The U1 Hybrid is set to be available towards the second half of this year and was one of the most impressive showcases at the 2010 CES.