Lenovo Innovates: Smart Photo Sharing and Premium ThinkPad Edition

Lenovo 'Smart Share' lets you transfer photos from Android & iPhone by smacking your laptop [Video]

Lenovo is showcasing a useful new trick on its latest laptops, "Smart Share," that adds the ability to start the transfer process for photos and videos to Windows from Android and iPhone by hitting your laptop with your phone. "Smart Share" is a new feature coming to Lenovo's "Aura Edition" PCs, a new series of laptops that benefit from deeper collaboration with their Intel Core Ultra processors to enable exclusive new features. These include smart modes that can be enabled on the laptop and more, but one of the most useful is also one of the most simple. Starting on Lenovo's new Yoga and ThinkPad laptops in the "Aura Edition" series, "Smart Share" will let you transfer photos and videos to your laptop by literally smacking the laptop with your phone - though you can, and probably should be gentler than that. The impact of the phone on the side of the screen opens up a UI that immediately lets you transfer photos and videos through a drag-and-drop UI and also lets you transfer photos and videos to the phone in the same way. How does this work? Lenovo says that the handshake between the phone and laptop is handled through some "AI sensors" which are, at least in part, virtual. But the transfer itself is handled through the Intel Unison app which launched 2022. The transfer uses Wi-Fi, not all that different from AirDrop or Quick Share, to move the file itself. The app needs to be running in the background, but if it is, "Smart Share" works unbelievably quickly. The simple tap opens the app immediately, quite literally a blink and you'll miss it type of action. I was impressed by it tremendously in my hands-on demo ahead of IFA this week in Berlin. Technically it doesn't detect the phone itself hitting the screen. It detects the impact alongside the screen and that the phone is nearby. If your phone is on the table right next to the laptop, you can technically just hit the laptop with your finger (which worked when I tried it). I couldn't demo the feature with Android, but saw that it works the same way. Lenovo is clearly proud of the fact that this integration also works with iPhone, though, as this is the sort of integration that iPhone users tend to fall in love with. Like many phone connection experiences on Windows, I can see some of the places where this might not feel all that seamless - like needing the Unison app to be running in the background - but the implementation is excellent, and I can't wait to see how Lenovo builds on ideas like this. Lenovo's "Aura Edition" laptops start shipping in the next few weeks. Another new feature on these machines includes a widget with specialized presets such as "Shield" which can detect when someone is looking over your shoulder to blur the screen or notify you among other options. Meanwhile, the company also today announced its new Snapdragon X Plus-powered IdeaPad 5x today which brings all of the power effiency of the Snapdragon X Elite to a machine that costs just $849. Follow Ben: Twitter/X, Threads, and Instagram

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Aura Edition: 'Smart Share' lets you send pics by simply tapping your phone against it

You can tap the side of the new Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition laptop to share pictures. Credit: Joe Maldonado / Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition is packed with the new Intel Core Ultra 200V series processors set to contend with the show-stopping Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite chips. (The Snapdragon X Elite chip is inside our best Windows laptop of 2024: Microsoft Surface Laptop 7.) It's not just the new chips, though, that caught my eye with the new ThinkPad X1 Carbon 13. Lenovo calls it "groundbreaking" -- and I can't agree more. The Hong Kong-based company unveiled one of the most incredible laptop features I've seen in 2024: Smart Share. At a recent IFA 2024 showcase, Lenovo showed off how the new ThinkPad can easily receive data from your phone by simply tapping it against the side of the display -- and it blew my mind. If there's any time to snatch a Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon series laptop, it's now. As mentioned at the outset, it houses the new Core Ultra 200V series processors, which Intel says can deliver up to 20 hours of battery life (among other things). Of course, we'll have to test this ourselves when we get the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 in for review. But that's not the star of the show here. Let's talk about Smart Share. It doesn't matter whether you own an Android or an iPhone, the AI-powered Smart Share lets you send photos to the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 with your device. How does it work? There's an Elliptic Labs AI Virtual Sensor placed on the side of the laptop. After you tap your phone against it, the laptop will launch the Smart Share window. Next, you'll be able to drag-and-drop recent photos from your phone to the laptop -- and vice versa. This is huge, particularly for Android users. While sharing between devices is easy when they're from the same ecosystem (e.g., an iPhone and MacBook or a Google Pixel and Chromebook), it can get tricky if you like to mix and match your devices. Although you can use the likes of Phone Link on Windows, with Smart Share, you can simply tap your phone on the side, and voila, you'll have the opportunity to share photos in a flash. The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition also features four versatile Smart Modes. You can access them with a simple press of a button on the keyboard. Here are the modes and what they can do for you: * Shield Mode: Automatically fires up your preferred VPN when you connect to a public Wi-Fi network, keeping your data safe no matter where you are. * Attention Mode: Cuts down on distractions with the ability to set timers and mute notifications, helping you focus on your work * Collaboration Mode: Enhances video calls with options to blur your background or adjust lighting, ensuring you always look your best during virtual meetings. * Wellness Mode: Get posture reminders and eye fatigue alerts that encourage regular breaks. * Power Mode: Make quick adjustments to your power settings The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 will support Microsoft's Copilot+ PC features and will reportedly offer up to 18 hours of battery life on a single charge. The new ThinkPad costs $1,999 and will hit store shelves on Nov. 2024.