Lenovo joins the tablet game with two in September

With news that HP would soon be showing its tablet computer in Australia, Lenovo has chimed in with two of its own that target both the consumer and the professional.

Lenovo's IdeaPad K1

Over on the consumer side, Lenovo will be releasing the IdeaPad Tablet K1, a Google Android Honeycomb 3.1 powered computer with a 10.1 inch multitouch screen, mini HDMI port, WiFi, Bluetooth, and the Nvidia Tegra 2 processor we’re seeing on many of the other 10 inch Android tablets.

Lenovo’s professional solution is the ThinkPad Tablet, a device that will be getting much of the same technology at the IdeaPad K1 – Android Honeycomb, Nvidia Tegra 2, Bluetooth, WiFi, mini HDMI – albeit in a different shell designed to look more business-like, similar to the recently reviewed Lenovo X1 notebook computer.

It not only looks professional, the Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet will also have its own dock available for purchase.

With Corning’s Gorilla Glass all the rage at the moment, the ThinkPad Tablet will be getting a dose of that too, the highly scratch-resistant glass covering the same sort of screen technology found on the Apple iPad 2 (IPS).

While both tablets can access the Android Market, they’ll also feature access to the Lenovo App Shop, a separate online software store with apps tested specifically for the Lenovo tablets.

Both models will be heading to Australia in September, and will be available in WiFi-only and 3G/WiFi options, with prices from $569 for the 16GB WiFi only IdeaPad K1 and $599 for the 16GB WiFi only ThinkPad Tablet.

There’s also a third tablet on the cards for Lenovo, though little is known about it at present time. Lenovo’s IdeaPad P1 (above) is said to feature a webcam, pen input, and run on Windows 7 with an Intel processor inside. If mobile operating systems such as Android and iOS are what’s putting you off from grabbing a tablet, the P1 might be just what you’re after when it’s released later this year.