The idea of putting microprocessor from smartphones into personal computer form-factor has been around for some time now. Lenovo Group has become the first company to announce the so-called smartbook: a netbook with ARM microprocessor inside. But while the device seems to be interesting, its price-tag of $499 will hardly allow it to become popular.

Lenovo Skylight smartbook is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon platform with 1GHz ARM processor and is equipped with 10” screen (1024x600 resolution), 20GB flash storage, Wi-Fi, 3GB,  typical keyboard and so on. Lenovo plans to unveil exact specifications of the device when it starts to sell it in Spring 2010. The system is based on special version of Linux, hence, it does not support a lot of additional software by itself, which is logical considering ARM processor inside. There are more than 18 preloaded web gadgets on Skylight, not a lot to say at least.

Lenovo hopes that its Skylight will attract attention of those, who spend most of the time surfing the Internet and almost never use additional software.

“The web has become the window to the world for more and more people, helping them connect with friends and family across town or thousands of miles away. Skylight combines the long battery life and connectivity of a smartphone with the full web browsing and multimedia experience of a netbook to create one of the first devices in this developing smartbook category,” said Peter Gaucher, executive director of mobile Internet product management at Lenovo.

The Lenovo Skylight smartbook will be available starting in April in the U.S., tt will be available in China and in Europe later this year. In the U.S., it will be sold through Lenovo’s online store as well as through AT&T retail and online stores. Pricing will start at $499 at full retail price. AT&T offers two-year AT&T DataConnect service plans, as well as Data Connect Pass – a pay-as-you-need it data service available by the day, by the week or by the month.

Considering that the smartbook is not compatible with Windows operating system or other popular software, its $499 price tag seems excessive, even keeping in mind promised 10 hours of battery life.

Tags: Lenovo, Qualcomm, Snapdragon, Skylight