Lenovo to launch a line of smartphones from… Ashton Kutcher?

Lenovo is super serious about becoming a major force in the mobile device making industry, as made evident by its $2.91 billion purchase of Motorola last month. That said, it’s a bit surprising to hear that the company’s next big announcement about mobile is a partnership with celebrity / Nikon camera commercial guy / startup investor Ashton Kutcher.

Lenovo and Kutcher are apparently teaming up to produce a new line of smartphones in the near future. Additionally, this won’t just be another situation where Kutcher acts as brand ambassador like he’s doing with gagworthy snack PopChips.

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“I know on one level, it sounds corny, but it is real,” Lenovo Chief Marketing Officer David Roman told Re/code. “He not only sees himself as an engineer, but he is an engineer*. If he sees a problem, he wants to solve it.”

While Kutcher won’t be doing anything to develop the hardware, he will be heavily involved in the phone’s user interface, according to Re/code’s report.

I’m not entirely sure I buy the idea that Kutcher is an “engineer” beyond Lego architecture and an hour of goofing around on a code-for-kids site, but Lenovo obviously trusts his judgment. Kutcher previously partnered with the company on Lenovo’s Yoga tablet, and he’s made a number of successful investments in startups over the last few years.

At any rate, it’ll be interesting to see how the Kutchnovo smartphone turns out.

*Kutcher is learning to code, he says. Check out this clip from late last year: