Earlier this month, Qualcomm, one of the world's leading providers of next-generation mobile technologies, announced the very first smartbook to be manufactured on the company's Snapdragon platform. Manufactured by Lenovo and scheduled to arrive in the retail channel through network carrier AT&T, the new smartbook has yet to make an appearance, providing some perspective on what to expect, design-wise. Fortunately, the Internet is an active source for leaked information and Lenovo's first smartbook makes no exception from the rule.

A recent news-article on Silicon.com shows pictures of a Quanta-designed smartbook that was reportedly running on Qualcomm's widely-advertised Snapdragon platform. The device was featured with the Google Android OS, a Linux-based operating system that was initially designed for smartbooks and low-power, ultraportable devices. Following this article, there were speculations on Internet that the showcased smartbook could actually sport the same design as Lenovo's much-anticipated Snapdragon-based ultraportable. The speculations are based on the fact that Quanta produces Lenovo's IdeaPad family of personal computers.

Following the report on the aforementioned source, our colleagues over at Engadget received word from Lenovo's PR, telling them that the pictured device is similar to the company's own design, but is separate, Quanta-built smartbook. This essentially means that the prototype smartbook you can see in the picture could soon be announced by Lenovo, as its first smartbook device.

The differentiation between the various types of ultraportable computer systems is getting harder to explain, as these devices tend to become the same, as they evolve from one stage to another. Smartbooks are currently seen as a combination between a smartphone and a netbook, sporting Qualcomm's 1GHz Snapdragon chipset and enabling up to 8 hours of battery life and always-on connectivity, via 3G, Wi-Fi, and other sources. Different smartbook prototypes were showcased at a recent Qualcomm event.