Web Buzz » toshiba

Toshiba Satellite U840 goes official for Australia, still waiting on its US passport

admin — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 23:41:00 +0000

While Toshiba's stateside reps had us convinced its 14-inch Ultrabook wouldn't see the light of day until sometime in June, that message of withholding apparently didn't make it Down Under. Outed by its Australian arm today, that would-be Portege is actually the company's Satellite U840. We already knew the electronics giant had intended on shuffling this Windows 7 machine out under that brand umbrella back at CES, but now we have a $1,500 AUD (about $1,608 USD) price tag to go with a list of confirmed specs. Officially on deck for this aluminum-bodied laptop are an Intel Core i5-2467M processor and HD Graphics 3000 GPU, 720p-capable 1366 x 768 LED display, 8GB of DDR3 RAM, 320GB of storage, in addition to ports for HDMI, mic, headphone and USB (1x USB 3.0 and 2x USB 2.0). We still don't know much about the capacity of the six cell battery powering this svelte notebook entry or a concrete landing date for that matter. But from the looks of this Aussie product page, that release is creeping mighty close.

Toshiba Satellite U840 goes official for Australia, still waiting on its US passport originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Ultrabook News | Toshiba Australia | Email this | Comments

Toshiba announces Q3 earnings: revenues down, posts $136 million loss

admin — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 19:59:00 +0000

The economy may be starting to look up, but that doesn't mean the suffering is over. Toshiba is just the latest company to announce that it had a rough quarter to close out the calendar year 2011. The quarter ending December 31st of 2011, saw the company pull in $18.5 billion in revenue -- nine percent less than it did over the same time period last year. What's worse, is that even with all that cash flowing in, the Japanese electronics giant still lost $136 million during the fiscal third quarter of 2011. Practically every segment of the company saw sales decrease, including appliances, TVs and electronic devices, contributing to the poor performance. Toshiba has also revised its forecast for Q4, cutting projected earnings in half, but not going as far as to predict a loss. Check out the source link for full details.

Toshiba announces Q3 earnings: revenues down, posts $136 million loss originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Toshiba | Email this | Comments

Toshiba announces color e-reader in Japan, hopes people buy more e-books from its store

admin — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:22:00 +0000

If you're gonna be late to a party, you should at least be fashionably late. That's the mindset behind Toshiba's entry into the dedicated e-reader space with its new 7-inch BookPlace DB50. Toshiba hopes adding an e-reader alongside its existing AT200 and Thrive tablets will push more eyeballs towards the 100,000 or so titles in its BookPlace online bookstore. The ¥22,000 ($284) BookPlace DB50 sports a TFT-LCD screen with an LED backlight, a 1GHz Freescale i.MX535 processor, 8GB of internal flash memory and a microSD slot. The device also measures 120mm wide, 190mm tall, 11mm thick and weighs 330 grams (11.6 ounces), with battery life rated at up to 7.5 hours. Toshiba did not mention the operating system in its release though the hubbub in the Interwebs is that it will use customized versions of Linux and Android Gingerbread. The Japanese debut is pegged for February 10th and the company is apparently considering a release outside the country, too.

Toshiba announces color e-reader in Japan, hopes people buy more e-books from its store originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Jan 2012 11:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink PCWorld, TechCrunch | Toshiba (Japan) | Email this | Comments

Judge forces defendant to decrypt laptop, fuels debate over Fifth Amendment rights

admin — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 10:13:00 +0000

A judge in Colorado yesterday ordered a defendant to decrypt her laptop's hard drive at the prosecution's request, adding new fire to the ongoing debate surrounding consumer technology and the Fifth Amendment. The defendant, Ramona Fricosu, is facing charges of bank fraud, stemming from a federal investigation launched in 2010. As part of this investigation, federal authorities used a search warrant to seize her Toshiba Satellite M305 laptop. Fricosu's legal team had previously refused to decrypt the computer, on the grounds that doing so would violate her Fifth Amendment rights to avoid self-incrimination. On Monday, though, US District Judge Robert Blackburn ruled against the defendant, arguing that the prosecution retained the right to access her device, as stipulated under the All Writs Act -- a law that requires mobile operators to comply with federal surveillance.

"I conclude that the Fifth Amendment is not implicated by requiring production of the unencrypted contents of the Toshiba Satellite M305 laptop computer," Blackburn wrote, adding that there was strong evidence to suggest that Fricosu's computer contained information pertinent to the case. Fricosu's lawyer, Phil Dubois, is hoping to obtain a stay on the ruling, in the hopes of taking the case to an appeals court. "I think it's a matter of national importance," Dubois explained. "It should not be treated as though it's just another day in Fourth Amendment litigation." It remains to be seen whether Dubois succeeds in his appeal, though civil libertarians are already paying close attention to the case, since the US Supreme Court has yet to weigh in on the matter.

Judge forces defendant to decrypt laptop, fuels debate over Fifth Amendment rights originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Jan 2012 06:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Wired | Court order (PDF) | Email this | Comments

CES 2012: HDTV and connected devices round-up

admin — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 19:46:00 +0000

The Consumer Electronics Show is always a big deal for HDTVs and the devices that plug into them, and the 2012 edition was no different. With the majority of households already owning an HDTV, manufacturers are pressed to convince you to upgrade, and are pulling out all the stops. We've got new display technologies like OLED, 4K and Super Hi-Vision, plus more 3D and internet connected features than ever. DVRs and media streamers haven't slowed down either, so while some services focused on eliminating the set-top box, those that remained either shrunk (Roku) or added features (Boxee, TiVo, Ceton -- pictured above). The pace of the announcements made it nearly impossible to keep up with everything going on last week, so we've wrapped everything up in one neat summary available after the break.

Continue reading CES 2012: HDTV and connected devices round-up

CES 2012: HDTV and connected devices round-up originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Jan 2012 15:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | | Email this | Comments

CES 2012: interview roundup (video)

admin — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:00:00 +0000

The Engadget stage was home to many an interview at this year's CES. Many, many interviews. Given the deluge of guests we hosted in Las Vegas this year, you could be forgiven for not keeping up -- for throwing up your hands in exasperation and making a sandwich to heal the hurt. You could, but you won't. That's because this year, we thought it'd be a good idea to corral all of our CES 2012 interviews into one big metallic box, and hand-pick only the plumpest, juiciest and most eyebrow-arching ones for your enjoyment. We then took those select few and put them in a smaller, spotlit box, which was affixed atop the aforementioned metallic box with a butterfly shaped bow and maybe some duck fat. Add some mood lighting, a splash of bourbon, and voilà. It's the CES 2012 interview roundup, and it's after the break.

Continue reading CES 2012: interview roundup (video)

CES 2012: interview roundup (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Jan 2012 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | | Email this | Comments

Toshiba Portege M930 prototype hands-on (video)

admin — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 00:20:00 +0000

And the hybrid devices keep on coming. Sitting high on a shelf in Microsoft's booth, hidden among the earthly clamshell laptops, is the Toshiba Portege M930, a prototype whose 13-inch screen slides down to completely cover the keyboard. All told, it's awfully reminiscent of the ASUS Eee Pad Slider -- complete with a propped-up display and squat keyboard. The keyboard is so narrow, in fact, that Toshiba had to forgo a traditional trackpad and instead put a touch sensor and buttons over on the right edge. Though it's a bit heavy for an Ultrabook, at 4.2 pounds, it has some Ultrabook-grade innards, including a Core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM, Intel HD 3000 graphics and a 256GB solid-state drive. Take a tour around the device and you'll also find the usual array of ports: dual USB 2.0 sockets, HDMI, an Ethernet jack, an SD reader and separate headphone and mic ports.

Even when we previewed the Slider we weren't keen on sacrificing that much deck space in the name of bold industrial design and here, too, the keys feel unnecessarily crowded. The good news is that the hinge mechanism feels smooth and controlled -- not too tight, but rigid enough to inspire confidence in its build quality. That 13.3-inch screen also looks bright enough, though we imagine that 1280 x 800 resolution will be a turn-off for more than a few of you. Unfortunately, the M930 is so early its development that the touchscreen wasn't even working, though it responds just fine to the pen, which stows in the back of the laptop. No word on pricing or availability (Toshiba isn't even showing it at its booth), but even if this thing never materializes we've got some hands-on photos and video below.

Mat Smith contributed to this report

Gallery: Toshiba Portege M930 prototype hands-on

Continue reading Toshiba Portege M930 prototype hands-on (video)

Toshiba Portege M930 prototype hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Jan 2012 20:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | | Email this | Comments

Live from the Engadget CES Stage: an interview with Toshiba (update: video embedded)

admin — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 20:10:00 +0000

Toshiba's senior product manager swings by to talk about Toshiba's ever growing product line and the future of their brand. Join us live at 3:00PM ET.

Correction: The Toshiba Excite X10's correct pricing is $529.99 MSRP for 16GB and $599.99 MSRP for 32GB

Update: Interview video now embedded.

Continue reading Live from the Engadget CES Stage: an interview with Toshiba (update: video embedded)

Live from the Engadget CES Stage: an interview with Toshiba (update: video embedded) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Jan 2012 16:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | | Email this | Comments

Apple bucks declining PC shipment trend, according to latest estimates

admin — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 04:12:00 +0000

Apple remains conspicuous by its absence (again) at this year's CES, but preliminary shipment estimates for PCs sold in Q4 2011 show that the company appears to be bucking the generally declining trend. Worldwide shipments dropped 1.4 percent compared to the same period last year, with the US seeing a 5.9 percent decline. The global drop includes an estimated 16.2 percent decrease from HP while Acer battled an 18.4 percent loss in shipments. Staving off any decline, both Lenovo (23 percent) and Asus (20.5 percent) managed an increase. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Mac shipments -- including both desktop and notebook models -- saw a 20.7 percent increase since Q4 2010. Who needs booth babes?

Apple bucks declining PC shipment trend, according to latest estimates originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Jan 2012 00:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink SlashGear | Gartner | Email this | Comments

Toshiba FlashAir wireless LAN SD card hands-on (video)

admin — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 02:44:00 +0000

The first card using the SD association's Wireless LAN standard is Toshiba's FlashAir and we've just spent some time with it here at CES. It's much like existing Eye-Fis insofar that it also crams WiFi into a diminutive SD card, but instead of merely being able to join a network, the FlashAir creates its own outright. The 8GB class six card broadcasts an 802.11b/g/n hotspot, replete with its own web server onboard, which means its contents -- like say pictures you've previously snapped in your camera -- can be accessed in a browser by any connected device.

Despite some false starts (CES is where WiFi networks go to die...) pictures from a point and shoot appeared as quickly as we could refresh http://flashair/ -- the address from where one accesses its contents. Once there, you can browse individual folders, splaying pics (and we'll assume other contents) for your perusal. As previously planned, it'll start shipping in February at around $70 and we were told more capacious units will follow at a later date. Video demo of the tech awaits in the video after the break.

Gallery: Toshiba FlashAir wireless LAN SD card hands-on (video)

Continue reading Toshiba FlashAir wireless LAN SD card hands-on (video)

Toshiba FlashAir wireless LAN SD card hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Jan 2012 22:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | | Email this | Comments