Just days after the iPad knocked out one of its competitors in the tablet market another arises to take its place. Lenovo has announced that its ThinkPad is now available online for pre-orders.

The 10.1 inch Lenovo ThinkPad will have its work cut out if it wants to get a piece of the heavily dominated Apple tablet market. However, the ThinkPad may have a better chance at succeeding where HP's TouchPad failed because the ThinkPad is aimed at business users rather than the consumer sector.

The ThinkPad also has another advantage over the HP TouchPad in that it is built around the Android OS the best alternative to Apple's iOS. It also has hardware features that can't be found on the minimalist iPad like a full-size USB port, SD card slot and mini-HDMI for external connectivity.

The ThinkPad's features are also heavily skewed towards the business market including a pen-based handwriting recognition technology to write, draw and create content. It allows viewing and editing of Microsoft Office documents while synching with desktops via USB or Bluetooth. The tablet also supports Citrix Receiver to allow users access to PC desktop applications when outside the office.

Lenovo also added manageability software for IT managers, the Good for Enterprise app which can deliver secure corporate e-mail. Clearly the ThinkPad is going to be geared for business.

The rest of the specs for the ThinkPad are for a standard tablet with battery life at 8.7 hours based on a Wi-Fi connection. It also has a Corning Gorilla glass display which offers a 178-degree viewing angle. It uses a dual-core Nvidoa Tegra processor.

Lenovo is offering three models of the ThinkPad. A 16Gb version which costs $499, a 32Gb one at $569 and a 64Gb at $669. There is also an option for mobile broadband and a keyboard folio case with optical TrackPoint.