While tablets still have plenty of room to distinguish themselves in overall design, performance, and display quality, we're increasingly seeing subtle, and not-so-subtle, fixes to the Android 3.x interface. So far, most manufacturers have stuck with the stock Android interface, opting for widgets () to simplify access to specific apps, or making minor tweaks to the home screen buttons (as Asus did on the ) to make them cleaner. Only Samsung plans a complex rework of the interface, with its TouchWiz overlay, due to roll out in August to the .

With the IdeaPad K1, Lenovo takes a middle-of-the-road approach. The company has clearly reimagined Android 3.x, through a mix of widgets and overlays. The result is very appealing, with useful and innovative tweaks.

Lenovo's enhancements are evident from the moment you first boot up the tablet. Front and center on the main screen is the Lenovo Launcher, four big, finger-friendly buttons designed around the core features you'll likely use your tablet for--watch, e-mail, listen, and read. At the center sits a globe for jumping into the Web browser.

Each of the four launcher buttons--or "zones," as Lenovo refers to them--can be customized to start the software of your choice. It comes preconfigured with some unusual choices (Slacker Radio as the default for Listen, instead of Google's Music app?), but at least each of these can be changed to whatever you want. You can even change the browser launch in the middle to be a photo or slideshow--nifty, handy, and well-designed. And you can disable the pop-up Lenovo messages that give usage tips and promo software.