02/07, 4:15pm
Three Japanese to merge chip-making business
Three large Japanese electronics makers are involved in talks on merging assets to build computer chips. Renesas, Fujitsu and Panasonic will at first spin off their separate chip design and development divisions to create a joint company, according to Japan's Nikkei newspaper (login required). The three are doing so in order to better compete in the industry for devices and vehicles.
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02/07, 3:20pm
Toshiba's AT200 exclusive at Carphone Warehouse
Toshiba's AT200 tablet has now gone on sale in the UK as an exclusive for Carphone Warehouse. The tablet was originally supposed to launch in September, but was delayed for unknown reasons. The 10.1-inch Android tablet sports a 1.2GHz processor and has 1GB of RAM.
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02/07, 9:35am
Garnter paints bleak picture for Windows in Europe
New Gartner data breaking down European computer market share has shown poor results for almost every computer builder outside of Apple. Continent-wide, both market leader HP as well as Acer, Dell, and Toshiba were all dropping market share. Only ASUS (up 1.5 points) increased share based solely on its own merits among the top five; Lenovo's gain was inflated by its acquiring Medion last June.
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02/06, 11:10pm
Notebook shows in Australia
Toshiba appears to have quietly released its Satellite U840 ultrabook for customers in Australia. The notebook builds upon the company's Z830, adding a larger 14-inch display with 1366x768 resolution and powered by Intel's 1.6GHz Sandy Bridge Core i5 processor.
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01/31, 6:15am
Toshiba joins Japanese giants hunting for profit
Toshiba has reported a sudden drop in quarterly profit, dipping 72 percent on operating income of $1.1 billion for the fall quarter. The marked decline in profit also prompted the Japanese tech stalwart to issue a revised outlook (PDF) for its annual profit forecast based on lower than expected sales for the full fiscal year. The company blamed this on a number of factors, including unemployment rates in the US, the ‘severe’ state of the Japanese economy and the general weakness in the global economy. The company also said that it was impacted by the both the Japan earthquake and tsunami in March last year, and the floods in Thailand.
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01/26, 3:30pm
Toshiba BD50 color e-book reader slated for Japan
Toshiba has introduced a new seven-inch color e-book reader in Japan, the BD50. Effectively a local alternative to the Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet, the Android 2.3 slate carries a 1024x600 LCD as well as 8GB of internal storage space. A 1GHz Freescale CPU powers the device and is paired with 1GB of RAM.
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01/26, 3:00pm
Dell hopes XPS 13 picked first based on design
Dell is trying an unusual strategy to try and steer ultrabook buyers towards the XPS 13 on Thursday. Nicknamed the Ultrabook Challenge, the demo campaign Thursday amounts to a blind taste test for the thin-and-light notebooks. Starting in San Francisco first, those at the corner of Chestnut and Scott, and later at Fisherman's Wharf, are being asked to pick an ultrabook based on "look and feel" with all the branding covered up, ostensibly to avoid bias.
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01/25, 1:50pm
New Xbox could see Microsoft jump to Blu-ray
The third-generation Xbox could mark a symbolic switch in storage but also a step back for game ownership. Kotaku understood from a rumor source that it would keep an optical drive but jump to Blu-ray, allowing it to hold larger games and play offline HD movies. For Microsoft, it would be the footnote to the HD disc debate of the mid-2000s, where the company officially backed HD DVD but was forced to drop plans after Toshiba axed the format and eventually supported Blu-ray.
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01/23, 10:20pm
Judge says notebook data can be compelled
Colorado federal Judge Robert Blackburn on Monday set a precedent with an order requiring that a woman decrypt data on the hard drive of her Toshiba Satellite M305 notebook by February 21. The official dismissed a defense by Ramonia Fricosu's attorneys that argued it would violate the Fifth Amendment's rule against self-incrimination, CNET said. The All Writs Act of 1789, which had already been used to compel phone companies in surveillance requests, was also valid with locked down storage.
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01/18, 11:25pm
Sources point to OEM deal
Toshiba and Lenovo have reportedly signed deals with contractor Quanta Computer for production of new tablets based on the Windows 8 on ARM architecture. Unnamed sources within the industry have told DigiTimes Quanta will handle the tablet production for both companies, with the first models expected to arrive on the market early next year.
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01/11, 10:50pm
Toshiba shows us its current and future tablets
During Toshiba's CES booth tour, the company showed off its latest and greatest wares. Of the most interest were the current and soon-to-be-released tablets, along with some interesting concepts the company is considering. We got our mitts on the company's Excite X10 Android tablet, which is claimed to be thinnest and lightest, at 7.7mm and 1.18lbs, respectively. It certainly feels nice and light, yet solid when held, and the brushed aluminum rear panel offers a sure grip.
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01/11, 5:50pm
IDC shows Apple 3rd in US, Acer drop
Fall 2011 was the worst season for PC growth in the US in a decade, IDC found in preliminary results. The overall PC field shrank 6.7 percent compared to what it had in late 2010, based partly on hard drive shortages triggered by Thailand flooding. However, the iPad and other tablets like it, combined with a tough economy, meant many didn't want PCs, particularly in the "difficult competitive landscape" of the US as well as Western Europe.
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01/09, 5:05pm
32GB, 65GB USB 3.0 flash drives also announced
Toshiba announced two USB 3.0 accessories in its mobile lineup, a universal docking station and a 15.6-inch portable LED monitor. The dynadock U3.0 is a universal USB 3.01 docking station equipped with a total of six USB ports, four USB 3.0 and two USB 2.0. Two of the front ports allow users to charge other devices while the laptop is powered down, sleeping or undocked.
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01/09, 4:55am
Toshiba L7200 and L6200 launched, due March
Toshiba has revealed a pair of high-end 3D TVs with ultra-thin bezels. The L7200 will be available in 47- and 55-inch models with a 240Hz refresh rate, while the L6200 will come in the same sizes, plus a smaller 42-inch version all at 120Hz. Both of the new models feature the newer passive 3D technology allowing for lighter, non-battery powered 3D glasses.
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01/09, 12:55am
Toshbia Excite X10 to reach US
Toshiba's Excite tablet, or the AT200, received its US debut on Sunday as the Excite X10. The Android 3 tablet is due to arrive before the end of the month in 16GB and 32GB versions. Unusually, though, Toshiba is hoping to ask for a premium above an iPad, asking $530 for a 16GB version and matching Apple at $600 for the 32GB edition.
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01/06, 4:50pm
Analyst says Apple uses flash to its profit edge
An investor note from Bernstein Research's Toni Sacconaghi has estimated that Apple bought 23 percent of all flash memory made in fall 2011. Going by the estimated storage for each product category and the shipment volumes, he believed that Apple had bought over 1.4 billion gigabytes' worth of NAND flash for storage in the iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, and MacBook Air. In pure parts costs, it may have spent $392 million, he said in Fortune's copy of the note.
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01/06, 4:00pm
Toshiba 55ZL2 sequel pegged for US
The 55-inch Toshiba glasses-free 3D TV being shown at CES next week isn't just a direct port of the ZL2, the company explained Friday. The set outlined to CNET would be "similar" to what Europe and Japan have, but it wouldn't be the same. It would be "much further along" than the prototype seen at CES 2011, a spokesperson said.
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01/06, 2:35pm
Budget 7-inch Toshiba tablet images show up
Toshiba may bring a seven-inch budget tablet to CES, if a leak from Notebook Italia proves right. The device doesn't yet have a name, and specs are thin. It will reportedly get a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and a touchscreen resolution of 1024x600.
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01/05, 11:35pm
New tech to be displayed at CES
Toshiba has announced that it will show off several upcoming products next week at CES, including a waterproof tablet and a large glasses-free 3D TV. Aside from the waterproof tablet, which also offers wireless charging, the company will show off a different model that integrates an OLED display.
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01/05, 2:30pm
Toshiba NB510 netbook shows up with Cedar Trail
An upcoming Toshiba NB510 netbook with Intel's Cedar Trail Atom chip has been spotted by Notebook Italia. The PC will get a choice of Atom N2600 or N2800 processors and sport 1GB of RAM along with a 320GB hard drive. It sports a 10.1-inch, 1024x600 screen and is preloaded with Windows 7 Starter Edition.
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01/04, 8:30pm
Tech transfers files at 560Mbps
Toshiba has announced that it is currently shipping TransferJet chips in sample quantities to electronics manufacturers. The LSI component, referred to as TC35420, is geared for smartphones, tablets and notebook computers, enabling such devices to wirelessly transfer multimedia files.
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01/03, 12:15pm
Deals on HDTVs, iPad cases, and more
Today's deals from DealNN include discounted HDTVs, iPad cases, and more. Tigerdirect.com has recently lowered the cost on a wide range of electronic devices as part of its Top 12 for 2012 sale, one of which is the refurbished 55-inch Toshiba LCD HDTV with three built-in HDMI ports and a 120Hz screen refresh rate. Currently featured at DealNN, the Toshiba HDTV has now dropped $900 in price and can be purchased for only $699.99.
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01/02, 11:10pm
Elpida and Toshiba could make memory powerhouse
Japanese memory firms Elpida and Toshiba were reported as talking to unite or even being pushed together. Industry tips to Digitimes had the Japanese government acting as a broker to have Elpida match its RAM business with Toshiba's flash memory. The government would hope to hedge against the incursions of Korean and American companies like Hynix, Intel, and Samsung.
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01/02, 9:35pm
Toshiba 6th gen tablet with quad Tegra 3 appears
Old benchmarks just discovered this weekend hint that Toshiba might already have a replacement for the Excite tablet in development. Although only labeled as the "Tostab06," a generation ahead of the Excite, the Android device originally marked at Anshouji in October has the same 1.4GHz clock speed as a quad-core Tegra 3. Its benchmarks are also fast enough to match up with those of the Tegra 3-equipped ASUS Transformer Prime and are much faster than any other tablet.
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12/28, 2:20pm
Intel Atom N2600 and N2800 ship
Intel ushered in what might be the swansong for netbooks on Wednesday by finally shipping Atom processors based on its Cedar Trail platform. Confirming rumors of another delay, it was shipping the 1.6GHz N2600 and 1.83GHz N2800 with the expectation that they would be available in early 2012. Familiar netbook supporters Acer, ASUS, HP, Lenovo, Samsung, and Toshiba had pledged new systems using the chips.
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12/28, 12:55pm
Apple power cutoff technology blamed
Toshiba's Canvio-series USB 3.0 hard drives are failing to connect properly with the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro, according to PhoneNews. The site says it tested five Canvio drives with a new 2011 Air; none of them mounted, and in most cases, the drives are said to have failed to even spin up. The issue appears to be Mac-centric, since it was otherwise reproduced only on a Sony VAIO notebook and a current-generation MacBook Pro.
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12/27, 2:10pm
Agree to help prosecute other LCD panel vendors
Seven LCD panel makers, including Samsung, Sharp, and Chimei Innolux, have reached accords to settle claims that they conspired to limit competition and fix prices for their displays used in laptops, monitors and TVs. If approved, the proposed $539 million settlement will resolve several cases pending in the US district court in San Francisco, and affect buyers as indirect victims. Earlier this month, another settlement for $388 million was reached in the same court with "direct" purchasers of the panels, who then put these panels into their own products.
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12/19, 1:35pm
Next Generation Secure Memory standard detailed
A coalition of companies have proposed the Next Generation Secure Memory standard to lock down movies and other content stored on flash memory. Panasonic, Samsung, SanDisk, Sony, and Toshiba are working on a system that would put unique IDs on embedded and removable storage like SD cards and encrypt content based on public keys. The move would let studios offer movies on a non-disc physical format but theoretically keep it from being freely copied without relying on protection in the file itself.
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12/10, 6:45pm
Toshiba Thrive 7 ships Dec 11 but yet has no price
A Toshiba teaser confirmed Saturday that it would ship the Thrive 7 to the US on Sunday, December 11. The company's second tablet in the country will arrive as promised, albeit after a three-month wait. Unusually, Toshiba made no mention of the price, although it's presumed the starter 16GB version will cost less than the $399 for an 8GB 10-inch Thrive.
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12/07, 9:10pm
Global launch plans remain unclear
Although Toshiba has yet to announce US launch plans for its Excite tablet, the company has confirmed that it will be arriving in Canada early in 2012. The 10.1 inch tablet, which was first officially unveiled earlier this year at the IFA expo, will serve as the successor to the company's Thrive tablet, bringing a wide range of improvements.
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12/07, 3:50pm
Toshiba's 4K 3D TV to cost about $11,600 in Japan
Toshiba's ultra-advanced ZL2 HDTV will be rebadged as the 55X3 when it goes on sale in Japan on December 10. The 55-inch HDTV has a native 4K resolution (3,840x2,160) but can still display glasses-free 3D content.
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12/06, 12:20pm
Intel and Micron demo 128Gb, ship 64Gb flash
and Micron on Tuesday say they had made the first 128-gigabit (16GB) NAND flash chip. The 20-nanometer part is twice as dense as before even as it keeps up a quick 333 megatransfers per second. With the option of stacking as many as eight chips on top of each other, it may be the first design to hit one terabit (128GB) of space in a single chip smaller than a fingertip.
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12/05, 10:20am
Windows 8 tablets led by Lenovo, Samsung, Toshiba
Microsoft is taking the unusual step of letting ARM processor designers choose their own partners for Windows 8 systems, part suppliers stated Monday. NVIDIA, Qualcomm, and Texas Instruments were each being told to pick one major and one minor partner, Digitimes understood. Among the major partners, NVIDIA had picked Lenovo, Qualcomm had chosen Samsung, and TI had selected Toshiba.
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11/30, 3:35pm
Toshiba moves workers around due to high yen
Toshiba on Wednesday said it will shut down three semiconductor factories in Japan and move the 1,700 workers because of the strong yen that's making competition harder. The move will be completed by the end of next September and the single-function chip production will instead be consolidated into three of Toshiba's local factories. The changes will also involve cutting output of discrete chips and system LSI chips in Japan until the beginning of January.
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11/29, 12:15pm
Forrester study says Windows 8 tablets too late
Microsoft's hopes of reclaiming the tablet space with Windows 8 may be overly optimistic, Forrester Research uncovered in a study Tuesday. Out of 1,810 Americans asked this summer, only 10 percent would consider a Windows 8 tablet if it were available now. The rank put it at the same level of interest as the ailing BlackBerry PlayBook and below the then-selling HP TouchPad at 16 percent.
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11/26, 1:25pm
Apple may get 4-inch device screen early
Talk of four-inch iOS devices gained incidental support through a rumor emerging Saturday. Contradicting talk of LG, Samsung, and Sharp being involved, Macotakara claimed that two of the three companies forming the Japan Display alliance, Hitachi and Sony, were already producing both iPad 3 LCDs and four-inch LCDs for a "new iOS device." The unnamed Asian contact didn't mention what device it was for, or whether this was full-scale production.
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11/22, 7:55pm
Ultrabooks feature Intel 2nd generation Core CPUs
Toshiba has begun selling its Portege Z830 and Z835 13.3-inch ultrabooks through its online store. The computer builder is offering four pre-configured models as well as a build-your-own option at prices starting at $930. All models run low-voltage Intel Core processors.
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11/17, 3:40pm
Next Issue Media app out for more Android tablets
The Next Issue app is now launching beyond just the Galaxy Tab and to other Android-powered tablets. Now, tablets from Motorola, Sony and Toshiba, as well as the Amazon Kindle Fire, can also download the app that allows users to buy digital versions of magazines and newspapers. Verizon Wireless also has access to the app through its tablets.
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11/15, 8:45am
Japan Display unites to make phone, PC displays
Hitachi, Innovation Network Corporation of Japan, Sony, and Toshiba on Tuesday formalized a deal to create a united display maker. Called Japan Display, it will consolidate the production of small- to medium-sized displays, such as those on smartphones, tablets, and computers. The coalition will take 70 percent of its funding from the government-backed Innovation Network while the three private firms will each have an equal share of the rest.
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11/14, 11:55am
Gartner sees Apple, ASUS taking over European PCs
Apple and ASUS are cutting deeply into the European computer market, Gartner found on Monday. Apple was now in the top five in Western Europe, having seen its shipments this past summer jump 19.6 percent over the past year to get it 7.6 percent. ASUS was the only other company in the top five to gain share and grew roughly as quickly, with a 20.3 percent jump putting it above Dell at 10.6 percent of the computer space.
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11/11, 12:50pm
iFixIt teardown scores Droid Razr 4 out of 10
iFixit has, once again, published one of its device teardowns, this time turning its tools on the Motorola Droid RAZR. The team found the ultra-thin 0.28-inch design of the phone cost it a strong repairability score, with the handset posting a 4 out of 10 lower than most Apple devices. This was due to a lot of glue to hold it together, an LCD fused to the glass, and lots of fairly delicate plastic throughout the construction.
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11/10, 10:15pm
Z830 ultrabook variant drops in at below $1,000
The Toshiba Portege Z830 series of ultrabooks is coming to Best Buy. An Intel Core i3-based version will be sold as an exclusive, available only though the national retailer. It will be priced at $899, $400 less than the category benchmark, the MacBook Air.
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11/09, 12:30pm
Toshiba AT200 tablet delayed until January
Despite its recent appearance at the FCC, Toshiba's AT200 tablet won't be out in time for the holidays. Instead, the tablet has been delayed until January, German site Tabtech learned from Toshiba over Facebook. The tablet was originally supposed to ship in the UK at the start of September.
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11/01, 6:30pm
Move will boost phone and tablet display capacity
Earlier this year, Toshiba, Sony and Hitachi agreed to spin off their small- and mid-sized display making operations to Innovation Network Corp, a Japan-based investment fund. Today, Nikkei has reported [subscription required] that the fund is planning to buy Panasonic's LCD manufacturing factory in the Chiba Prefecture in Japan for 20 billion yen ($255.5 million). The company anticipates investing another 100 billion yen ($1.28 billion) to convert the plant, which makes larger TV LCD panels, to produce LCD panels for smartphones and tablets.
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10/26, 10:45pm
iPad 3 display may be both dense and bright
The iPad 3's repeatedly rumored 2048x1536 display may be starting production soon but also pose a challenge. A rumor late Wednesday had production underway as soon as November at previously mentioned LG and Samsung plants. The CNET tip warned, however, that it was a "quantum leap" in density at tablet size and that yields of working displays could be an issue.
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10/21, 10:05am
ASUS UX21 has similar basic design idea as Apple
A new teardown of the ASUS Zenbook UX21 at AnandTech has shown that its internal design, just like the outside, is very similar to the MacBook Air. Partly out of necessity, the 11-inch ultrabook uses the same basic concept of a two-board core area at the back while the front two thirds are dominated by four discrete lithium batteries. Likewise, it uses the same stick-based SSD format, although here the drives are supplied by ADATA (128GB) and SanDisk (256GB) rather than Samsung and Toshiba.
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10/20, 5:55pm
Troubled waters also impact hard drive production
Sony has warned that it has delayed indefinitely the introduction of two of its latest cameras as a result of recent flooding in Thailand. The company has been forced to shut down two of its three production units in the country, including those that had been preparing to roll out the new NEX-7 and Alpha A65 cameras. A worldwide shortage of hard drives as well is expected in the aftermath of the flooding.
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10/20, 9:25am
Toshiba tablet LCD hits 498 pixels per inch
Toshiba Mobile Display on Thursday showed a possible record-setting 6.1-inch LCD likely destined for tablets and possibly more mobile devices. Despite its size, it has the same 2560x1600 resolution as older 30-inch displays, giving it an extremely high density of 498 pixels per inch. At this resolution, it's "photographic quality," Toshiba said, and adds a sense of depth even in 2D.
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10/14, 10:05pm
NVIDIA 3D Vision 2 and 3D LightBoost arrive
NVIDIA picked its GeForce LAN 6 tourney to unveil the second generation of its 3D glasses hardware. 3D Vision 2 helps cure a common weakness of 3D by producing a twice as bright picture and improving the color saturation over traditionally washed out 3D video. The lenses are also 20 percent larger, immersing the gamer more in the image, and are made of softer materials that fit better with headphones.
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10/13, 2:40pm
Toshiba double 2.5-inch enterprise HDD capacity
Toshiba's newly introduced MK01GRRB/R hard drives are meant for the enterprise market and spin at high 15,000RPM speeds. The 2.5-inch drives are also offer the highest capacity of their kind, at 300GB. Both models use a 6Gbps SAS connection, with the R model adding self-encrypting for an added layer of security.
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