Overview
There were talks about the LePhone S2 being an Android smartphone all along, but a confusion emerged when a product manager gave out a photograph of a Windows powered mobile phone which is a lot similar in looks to Lenovo’s LePhone S2. Emergence of the photo created a lot of confusion – first of all, regarding that the photo was for real and secondly, whether the Windows-based platform for the mobile device was for real.The uncanny similarity between the Windows phone and Lenovo LePhone S2 is astonishing indeed given the fact that the Lenovo LePhone is a power packed Android powered device. There is thus, now the possibility of Lenovo taking out a Windows based model of the phone as well – if the photos are go to be believed.
Pricing and availability
The pricing of this Android phone which might even come out in the Windows version, is expected to be less when compared to other phones of the same category. It is mainly aimed at the Chinese market, though it could be marketed elsewhere too later on. It is to be seen how Lenovo tackles the problem of social integration as Facebook is banned in China and the phone is integrated with Facebook and Twitter. It is not yet clear when the Lenovo S2 will go on sale and the model picture that was leaked, is just supposed to be an initial prototype.
What’s great
The phone is a heavily customized Android 2.3.4 , with a 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8255 chip that will ensure that your device never hangs and performs the most consuming of tasks possible. It also has 1400 x 800 display and an eight mega pixel camera with a 720p recording which will capture all your moments with a crystal clear effect. There is also the usual Wifi, Bluetooth, GPS, accelerometer and magnetometer. There is also support for HSPA networks (up to 7.2 Mbps/5.76 Mbps download/upload using HSDPA and HSUPA). Apart from the primary 8 Megapixel camera, there is a front facing VGA camera as well. Also, the phone is expected to be lightweight and should thus be easy to carry. There is also talks about building a Windows Phone Mango device for the Chinese market. If the model can run both the Android and the Windows platform, just like desktops and laptops run any version of operating system from Linux to Windows 7, Lenovo can reduce quite a significant amount of cost.
What’s not-so-great
As the phone is mainly aimed at the Chinese market, it is to be seen how Lenovo deals with the problem of the phone’s social integration with banned sites of Facebook and twitter, in China. Thus Lenovo might have to produce one customized version of Windows phone based Mango platform for the Chinese audience. The confusion around the phone has even made it difficult to know for sure about the fact – whether the phone runs on two operating systems, the Android and the Windows, or was the photo just a fake, and a trick by one of Lenovo’s engineers.
Things to watch out for
There are reports that Microsoft is in talks with several Chinese companies like Lenovo, ZTE and Huawei to launch Windows based platform phones for the Chinese market. It is one of Microsoft’s serious plans to gain a stronghold in the Android dominant smartphone market. The Lenovo LePhone S2 is one of the first phones which will test Microsoft’s new strategy – that of gaining popularity in the vast Chinese market which was still left unexplored till now by Google and Apple. Microsoft aims to take a share in the smartphone market through the vast number of potential Chinese users for the phone, focusing on the huge marketing potential in the country.
Verdict
Given the specifications of the phone, the phone looks to be one of the best in the smartphone category. Going by its specifications and reports, it could bring out some serious competition. In fact, some reports suggest that at boot up, the user could choose whether he wants to run the Windows operating system or the Android one. If this is true, this would indeed be an achievement though tweaking a phone for running two operating system has been done even before. Yet two rival operating systems on the same device, is one thing to be seen indeed! It is also to be seen whether the battery life of the device is up to the mark and whether it lives up to the expectations of the consumers. For now though, things look good and exciting on this front!