Lenovo, the China-based manufacturer of the ThinkPad tablet lineup, is set to release a new line of Windows 8 tablets which will take on Windows-maker Microsoft's own branded Surface tablet that will likely hit the stores late October.

About Lenovo's Windows 8 tablets competing directly with Microsoft's forthcoming Surface tablet, David Schmoock - Lenovo's North America president - said that his company will be able to "beat" Microsoft in the `Windows 8 tablet' arena.

The Windows 8 tablets which Lenovo is set to launch, when Microsoft officially releases its new Windows 8 software on October 26, will apparently be the first flip-and-fold notebook/tablet in the industry. The device had, incidentally, won best-in-class at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show.

Lenovo, like other Microsoft hardware partners, is in somewhat of a dilemma ever since Microsoft announced its decision to launch its Surface tablet because, on one hand, the company is a proponent of Windows 8; and, on the other hand, its Windows 8 devices will directly compete with Microsoft Surface tablet.

However, noting that Lenovo's Windows 8 tablets will face off vs. Microsoft's Surface tablet, Schmoock said - during his recent meeting with key retail partner Staples - that Lenovo has a "track record of developing innovative products," and added: "Microsoft decides they're going to get into the hardware business? I'm not going to whine about it. I'm gonna compete with them. Vigorously."