Evolio, a Romanian tablet and GPS maker you probably never heard of before, has just announced the introduction of the Evolio U9, what he company touts as being the world's lightest notebook since it weights a mere 980g, or about 2.16 pounds.

Despite calling it a notebook, Evolio's latest creation is actually more of a netbook if we happen to take a look at its specifications since at it heart runs an Intel Atom CPU.

The good news however is that we are not dealing here with the usual puny Atom chips that we are accustomed with seeing, but with a recently launched CPU based on the Intel Cedarview architecture.

While this won't bring a huge increase in performance power, users do still get slightly increased frequencies over those of the Pine Trail platform as well as better integrated graphics with support for Full HD acceleration, including Blu-ray 2.0.

The rest of the netbook's configuration includes 2GB of system memory, a 64GB or 128GB solid state drive as well as the usual Bluetooth si WiFi connectivity options.

These are paired together with a 11.6-inch screen that has a native resolution of 1366x768 pixels, a 1.3MP webcam, and an HDMI video output for connecting the U9 to an external display or to an HDTV.

All the components are housed inside a 18mm thin chassis (about 0.7 inches), and are powered by an internal battery pack capable of providing up to 5 hours of running time, according to the manufacturer.

Sadly, Evolio hasn't mentioned the price that the U9 is going to be launched at, but the 11.6-inch ultra-thin netbook is expected to arrive in retail in December of this year.

Consumers searching for an ultra-thin and portable netbook can also go for the MeeGo-running Asus Eee PC X101, which has the same 18mm thin chassis as the Evolio U9, but weights a bit less since it tips the scale at just 2 pounds (a bit more than 900g).