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Lenovo hires Ashton Kutcher for Yoga android tablets

Ashton Kutcher, the actor who recently played Apple`s iconic founder in the movie ‘Jobs’, has taken a position with computer maker Lenovo as a product engineer.

Houston: Ashton Kutcher, the actor who recently played Apple`s iconic founder in the movie ‘Jobs’, has taken a position with computer maker Lenovo as a product engineer.
The 35-year-old `Two and A Half Men` star will help design and pitch its latest line of Yoga Android tablets. Kutcher is a common player in the tech sphere and has invested in startup companies such as Airbnb, Path and Uber. Calling it "not another `Me Too` tablet," Kutcher said, the Yoga meets consumer`s needs by understanding how consumers want to use the device. He also took a few slight jabs at Apple and its iPad by praising Lenovo for choosing Android`s operating system rather than its own proprietary platform. "Lenovo isn`t sitting here going `the software that we create is the software that needs to be the software that everybody uses because that is the software that is going to be the best software` because that is not how great software gets created," said Kutcher, almost certainly talking about Apple`s popular iOS mobile OS. The Yoga tablet Kutcher showed off is available in eight- and 10-inch models at USD 249 and USD 299, respectively; but perhaps the most notable feature is the tablet`s handle. The Yoga Tablet features a cylindrical end that acts as a grip when reading on the tablet, and a stand which pops out of the cylinder can prop up the device either on a slight incline or nearly vertically. The Android 4.2 device runs on a 1.2 GHz MT8389 processor with 1GB RAM installed. It can connect to the Internet via Wi-Fi or optional 3G and also features low powered Bluetooth 4.0. Like the Microsoft Surface and others, the new Yoga Tablet features a micro-USB slot that can be used to charge other devices or attach external drives. In order to charge a second device, however, the Yoga requires a special cable, which does not come included. An SD card expansion slot allows the unit to carry up to a total of 64 GB of storage, but both models start with an included 16 GB. Lenovo, with headquarters in Beijing and North Carolina, acquired IBM`s computer business in 2005 and became the world`s top PC-maker ahead of HP in the third quarter. But, like other manufacturers, it has struggled with waning consumer demand for desktop and laptop models. It is one of several Asian tech companies seeking to loosen Apple`s (AAPL) grip on China`s tablet market with less expensive Android models.