Lenovo, one of the world's most recognizable brands in the segment of business-focused notebooks, is reportedly planning the expansion of its successful line of ThinkPad laptops with the introduction of a new ThinkPad X100e model. Set to launch on January the 5th, 2010, the upcoming system will be called ThinkPad X100e and is going to be part of the company's growing line of netbook systems. Said to have been designed as an “entry level ultra portable, the first ThinkPad of its size,” the new system could provide users with a few surprises, in terms of internal specifications.

While nothing is certain at this time, Thinkpadtoday.com took a guess at what the upcoming system would be packing under the hood, claiming that users could take advantage of AMD's Athlon Neo platform. According to them, the system will boast a 12.1-inch WXGA TFT 1,280 x 800 display, powered by the ATI Radeon HD 3410 graphics chip and a 1.6GHz Athlon Neo processor. Then again, another choice could be Intel's Centrino 2 ULV processor, with a 1.4GHz core speed and the familiar Intel GMA 4500MHD chip.

Additional features of the said device include up to 3GB of DDR2 SDRAM, an option for up to 320GB of storage space, with a choice for SSD upgrade, and six-cell or nine-cell Lithium-Ion battery packs. Given the fact that it will be aimed at the business segment, the laptop should ensure an impressive battery performance, also providing several connectivity options.

Unfortunately, at this time, nothing is yet confirmed and all should be taken with a grain of salt, especially since these are just speculations. However, just to add some more fuel to the fire, pictures of the said ultraportable have just hit the Internet. If said pictures are anything close to the real thing, the upcoming netbook will boast a white casing and a keyboard that is similar to the majority of ThinkPad laptop models.

No word on pricing, but the rumored release date isn't that far into the future, which means we should know more, early next year, just ahead of the CES event.