UPDATED 01:53 EST / FEBRUARY 22 2016

NEWS

Lenovo Connect means you can stay online anywhere, without a SIM

Lenovo Group Ltd. has come up with a novel way to keep its PC, tablet and smartphone users connected even when they travel to other countries.

The company has just launched a new service called “Lenovo Connect” which means users won’t have to buy a new SIM card each time they visit a new country. Lenovo Connect essentially embeds connectivity into the devices themselves, rather than the SIM. The company said it’s hoping to build out a competitively priced “global roaming service” for mobile broadband connectivity no matter where in the world you are.

With Lenovo Connect, users won’t need to buy anymore SIM cards, which is especially handy in the case of laptop users, as many of these don’t even have SIM slots and are entirely reliant on Wi-Fi in order to connect to the Web.

The service will only work on Lenovo-branded devices for now. Users simply open the Lenovo Connect app and from there they can check on mobile broadband pricing for the country they’re located in. For now, the service is only being made available to LeMeng X3 and Miix 700 tablet users in China, but will also arrive on ThinkPad laptops in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region “in the first quarter”. As for North America, Lenovo hasn’t said when that will happen, which we’d guess means the company is still negotiating with wireless broadband partners on a deal.

Lenovo is primarily a hardware maker, and that means it doesn’t own any mobile networks of its own. Instead, it will become what’s called an MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) which basically resells the cellular services of other network providers. Lenovo’s users however, will buy their broadband directly from Lenovo.

Lenovo announced the service last week at the Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona.

Image credit: Picography via pixabay.com

A message from John Furrier, co-founder of SiliconANGLE:

Support our mission to keep content open and free by engaging with theCUBE community. Join theCUBE’s Alumni Trust Network, where technology leaders connect, share intelligence and create opportunities.

  • 15M+ viewers of theCUBE videos, powering conversations across AI, cloud, cybersecurity and more
  • 11.4k+ theCUBE alumni — Connect with more than 11,400 tech and business leaders shaping the future through a unique trusted-based network.
About SiliconANGLE Media
SiliconANGLE Media is a recognized leader in digital media innovation, uniting breakthrough technology, strategic insights and real-time audience engagement. As the parent company of SiliconANGLE, theCUBE Network, theCUBE Research, CUBE365, theCUBE AI and theCUBE SuperStudios — with flagship locations in Silicon Valley and the New York Stock Exchange — SiliconANGLE Media operates at the intersection of media, technology and AI.

Founded by tech visionaries John Furrier and Dave Vellante, SiliconANGLE Media has built a dynamic ecosystem of industry-leading digital media brands that reach 15+ million elite tech professionals. Our new proprietary theCUBE AI Video Cloud is breaking ground in audience interaction, leveraging theCUBEai.com neural network to help technology companies make data-driven decisions and stay at the forefront of industry conversations.