Hasta La Gadget!

Not that Fujitsu’s totally new to the netbook arena or anything, but we’ve got to hand it to the outfit’s design team on this one. The newfangled LOOX M netbook is definitely handsome, even though the innards contain a list of hardware components that we could rattle off in our sleep. Ready? Here goes. A 1.6GHz Atom N270 CPU, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, a 160GB hard drive (yawning yet?), WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, three USB 2.0 sockets and a multicard reader. If you’re suddenly overcome with déjà vu, you’re definitely not alone — ’tis a shame Fujitsu has the nerve to charge ¥59,800 ($611) for something that’s no more advanced than the original line of Eee PCs.

[Via Engadget Japanese]

Filed under: Laptops

Fujitsu’s 10.1-inch LOOX M netbook looks good, positively average originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Apr 2009 04:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This next item should be music to the ears of security professionals, fans of biometric devices, and germophobes alike. Fujitsu has just announced a new palm vein authentication device — one that’s being touted as the world’s fastest, and the first that works without the user actually touching the device. Unlike past implementations of this technology, which moved at a comparative snail’s pace, PalmSecure works in as little as one millisecond. We can think of a number of places where this sort of thing could be particularly useful, from top secret lairs housing doomsday devices to anyplace where people might not be washing their hands as often as they should be (we really hate that). Despite its speed, Fujitsu insists that this bad boy performs with the same level of accuracy as its slow moving brethren. More pics after the break.

[Via Akihabara News]

Continue reading Fujitsu’s PalmSecure takes high-speed, contact free biometric readings

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Fujitsu’s PalmSecure takes high-speed, contact free biometric readings originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Apr 2009 12:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s not exactly a huge surprise at this point, but Fujitsu and Toshiba have announced today that they’ve signed a memorandum of understanding on the transfer of Fujitsu’s hard drive business to Toshiba, and that they plan to conclude a transfer contract “at an early date.” To make the transition as smooth as possible, Fujitsu says it’ll spinning off all its HDD-related business into a separate company in the interim, which Toshiba will buy an 80 percent stake in and make a Toshiba Group subsidiary. Then, once things are fully transitioned, Toshiba will buy up the remaining 20 percent and make the company a wholly owned subsidiary. Notably absent from today’s announcement, however, is any word of a dollar figure, though previous reports had pegged the deal at anywhere from $335 to $447 million. Toshiba also doesn’t seem like it’ll be resting on its laurels once the deal is complete, saying that it hopes to increase its overall HDD market share 20 percent by the year 2015.

Filed under: Storage

Fujitsu and Toshiba reach agreement on hard drive business deal originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 14:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve already seen restaurants with touch-sensitive tables and 3D menus, so it’s just natural for Fujitsu to explore the possibility of installing e-newspapers into popular cafes. The outfit is working with SoftBank and Mainichi Newspapers in order to test the feasibility of placing e-readers in certain eateries, which would allow patrons to check up on the day’s latest headlines while waiting for their coffee and eggs. As expected, the companies are closely monitoring whether the idea would promote sales and boost customer satisfaction, and unless they do something horribly wrong, we can’t see this not having those effects. In order to make ends meet, the terminals will flash advertisements if the reader sits for an extended period of time, though they should shy away once a customer starts fiddling. If you’re eager to check things out, hop a flight to Japan and have a sit at Termina Kinshicho Fujiya Restaurant before February 13th.

Filed under: Displays, Misc. Gadgets

Fujitsu tests e-newspapers at Japanese cafe originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Feb 2009 14:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hitachi may be out of the picture (if it was ever actually in the picture to begin with), but it looks like Toshiba is now very close to buying Fujitsu’s hard drive business in a deal that’s reported to be worth between 30 and 40 billion yen, or anywhere from $335 to $447 million. That would make Toshiba the world’s largest supplier of hard drives for laptops and, according to Reuters, it could be all but a done deal by the end of the month, if a supposed meeting between company execs planned for this week goes as expected. The deal wouldn’t include Fujitsu’s plant in Nagano Prefecture, however, or the hard drive operations of its Yamagata Fujitsu subsidiary — those would apparently be sold off separately for some extra cash if Fujitsu decides to exit the hard drive business altogether.

Filed under: Storage

Toshiba said to be nearing deal to buy Fujitsu’s hard drive business originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Jan 2009 21:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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