According to SlashGear, Lenovo Europe have announced that their IdeaPad S10e and S9e netbook models will be available at the end of November with Quickstart functionality. The specs on both netbooks are the same as before, with an Intel Atom 1.6GHz process, up to 1.5GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, and 8.9- or 10-inch displays, but the addition of QuickStart is a big upgrade.

QuickStart allows the user to do essential things such as surfing the ‘net, video conferencing, using multimedia, or using the built in webcam without fully booting up the OS, which can be a lengthy procedure at times (especially if you’re using Vista). Another difference is what OS buyers can choose, with Windows XP Home being joined by XP Pro and Novell SLED 10 Linux on the options list.

Prices for these updated netbooks will start from £299 (US$460) and will be available very shortly, the end of this month.

Slashgear also has another interesting story, not exactly netbook-specific, but with possible implications for the future. Lenovo is about to implement a new feature to its notebooks that would allow you to send a text message and lock the entire thing down, if it is stolen or if you somehow lose it. The computer would be inaccessible until you retrieved it and entered a preset password. Sounds very handy and something all notebooks and netbooks could use in future if it goes according to plan.