What you need to know
- Lenovo's Project Unity allows you to extend your PC onto an Android tablet.
- Project Unity lets you run Android apps alongside your extended PC screen.
- The newly announced Lenovo Tab P12 Pro is the first tablet that will support Project Unity.
Early this morning, Lenovo announced several new devices, including monitors, laptops, and a pair of wireless earbuds. People only interested in devices that run Windows may have missed the company's announcement of the Tab P12 Pro tablet. Lenovo's Tab P12 Pro looks set to compete with the best Android tablets, but it also has a feature that Windows users will enjoy. Using Lenovo's Project Unity, you can use the Tab P12 Pro as a second screen for your PC.
This isn't the first time that we've seen technology like this. Samsung's Galaxy Tab S7 and Galaxy Tab S7+ can act as second displays for Windows PCs. On the Apple side of things, iPads can connect with Macs using Apple Sidecar. There are, however, some differences between Lenovo's Project Unity and competing syncing apps.
Lenovo's Project Unity runs as an app on top of Android, meaning that you can run Android apps simultaneously to your tablet while extending the screen of your PC.
"The Android tablet still works natively; no other solution on the market has this; either it takes over the whole screen, or you have the Android tablet itself," said Lenovo in its event announcing the Tab P12 Pro. "Unity is an application that runs on top of Android, so you can still utilize all of your Android applications without any interruption."
The app works with touch and inking, so you can interact with content with your hand or a pen. Since some PCs don't support pens or touch, a setup with Project Unity could add versatility.
Project Unity requires a tablet to run Android 11. The Tab P12 Pro is the first Lenovo tablet to support Android 11 and the first Android tablet that will work with Project Unity. The Tab P12 Pro launches in October 2021 with a starting price of $610. Apps for Project Unity will be available in the Google Play Store and Microsoft Store in October 2021.
