With Google Glass still in beta testing, Chinese hardware manufacturer Lenovo (News - Alert) is looking to make its own waves in the emerging wearable tech market with the announcement the company has a similar smart glasses prototype.

Details on the product were sketchy, with Lenovo company officials saying more information will be available in October.

However, smart glasses may just be the beginning. Lenovo also announced a strategic plan to partner with other technology companies, particular those looking for investments or support to launch products related to the “Internet of Things” market. To that end, Lenovo established a new partner program, dubbed New Business Development (NBD), to start expanding the company’s reach beyond computers and smartphones.

“Right now there are too many kinds of devices you can develop for the Internet of Things. It’s too rich. Not one company can do it all,” said Chen Xudong, Lenovo senior vice president.

It’s a forward-looking move as the company looks at the long-term changes in the hardware market place. Mobile devices have already caused a disruption for PC manufacturers in particular, as more people are beginning to use smartphones and tablets instead of desktop computers and even laptops. The expansion of cloud technology also is set to make waves in the industry.

Lenovo is well placed to take advantage of emerging hardware markets in Asia, which are less saturated than other regions. Nevertheless, “the intrinsic boom-bust nature of the tech sector challenges hardware companies to constantly reexamine the way they do business,” according to an industry report from Yahoo Finance.

And Lenovo certainly shows signs of expanding its reach. In addition to its own smart glasses prototype, the vendor is partnering with Vuzix, a U.S. smart glasses manufacturer, on distributing the Vuzix M100 smart glasses in China. According to the company, the M100 uses Google’s (News - Alert) Android 4.0.4 operating system and has a 1GHz dual-core processor. Targeted at business users, it reportedly will go on sale in China for 8,000 yuan ($1,298) in August or September.

Lenovo is looking to expand its reach into wearable tech through partnerships with and investments in other tech companies. (Source (News - Alert): Lenovo)