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In addition to the Tegra 4-based Android tablets Toshiba announced today, the company also unveiled several new entertainment PCs and refreshed Satellite laptops, which run on “Haswell” fourth-generation Intel Core processors. The Satellite laptops will be available from Toshiba online June 9, while the entertainment systems have a more vague date of “mid-June”.

First up are what Toshiba is calling its latest two “entertainment hubs,” the Qosmio X75 laptop and the all-in-one PX35t desktop PC. The Qosmio X75 features a 4th-generation Intel Core i7 alongside Turbo Boost Technology, with the ability to install up to 32GB of RAM. Graphics come by way of an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770M, as well as NVIDIA CUDA. There’s room for dual-drives up to 1.25TB. The display is a big 17.3-inch Full HD TruBrite, and there’s a 4K UltraHD HDMI output for those with a 4K TV in their entertainment room.

If a desktop is more in line with your needs and you don’t mind an all-in-one system, there’s the PX35t, which offers a 23-inch Full HD 1080p touchscreen. Users can get it with a 4th-generation Intel Core i3, Core i5, or Core i7, depending on preference. Storage comes by way of a 1TB 7200rpm HDD, and there’s 16GB of RAM.

The Qosmio X75 laptop starts at $1,399, while the PX35t starts at $1,029.

Toshiba Qosmio X75 and PX35t desktop PC:

In addition to the new entertainment machines, Toshiba has also unveiled new Satellite laptops: the P Series, and the S Series. The machines are boasted as being trimmed down by up to 25-percent over previous offerings, offering better battery life and other features.

The Satellite P Series is available in a variety of 4th-generation Intel Core processors, depending on preference, with up to 1TB of HDD storage, a max of 32GB of RAM, and up to an NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M for graphics. The displays, which have edge-to-edge glass, are available in both 15.6-inch and 17.3-inch sizes – both options are Full HD TruBrite panels. The smaller of the two models is also available with a touchscreen display. Both machines have 4K Ultra HD HDMI output.

The S Series is similar, but substitutes a tad in terms of features by making it up in style. As with the P Series, these machines are available with 4th-generation Intel Core processors and up to an NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M GPU. There’s an extra screen option over the other series at 14-inches, with all three sizes being available in touchscreen options. The larger two sizes – 15.6 and 17.3-inches – can be confured in up to Full HD resolution.

The trackpads don’t have buttons and support multi-touch. There’s up to 1TB of storage available, 16GB of RAM, USB 3.0, and regular HDMI output, rather than the P Series’ 4K HDMI output. The keyboard is LED backlit, and there’s a Blu-ray player. The Satellite P Series starts at $754.99, while the Satellite S Series will start at $699.00.

Toshiba Satellite P75A7200 and S75t-A7217:

Toshiba rolls out entertainment PCs and redesigned Haswell-based Satellite laptops is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
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Wireless use along the US-Canada border can be problematic: when there isn’t direct interference, there’s sometimes a fight over which devices get dibs on given frequencies. Don’t worry that the countries will rekindle their old disputes, though — instead, they’ve just struck interim deals to share more of their spectrum. Along with harmonizing 700MHz public safety networks, the pacts address AWS (1,700MHz and 2,100MHz), PCS (1,900MHz), 3.7GHz wireless broadband, mesh networks and even WiFi hotspots. When possible, both sides will use contention protocols to automatically resolve any conflicts. While the deals aren’t yet final, they should be strong enough to maintain some semblance of peace on the northern airwaves.

[Image credit: National Film Board of Canada. Photothèque / Library and Archives Canada]

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Networking

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Source: FCC

The mobile PC market isn’t doing great, but that’s only if you look at it independently of tablet device sales. NPD DisplaySearch now says that over the next five years, however, the mobile PC market will more than double, growing from 367.6 million units in 2012 to 762.7 million by 2017.

The growth is being driven by a sea change in PC computing, as tablet PCs continually replace your standard notebook form factors, and touch gets built in to more and more laptop devices. Almost every manufacturer now has at least one touch-capable model, which is actually required for Windows 8 certification, and which helps explain ambitious devices like the Asus Aspire R7.

In the near-term, NPD DisplaySearch expects tablet shipments to rise 67 percent year-over-year in 2013, reaching 256.5 million on their own. Notebook shipments are expected to slow in general, down to 183.3 million in 2017, from 203.3 million in 2013. NPD predicts growth for certain categories, including touch-enabled devices, and even projects that devices like the MacBook Air and Ultrabooks will adopt touch in the coming years.

NPD doesn’t see Windows 8 actually driving touch adoption, despite the requirement by Microsoft for certification. That’s probably because of reportedly lackluster sales performance by Microsoft’s latest OS so far, but still the category will grow as OEMs look to invest more in hybrid devices, sliders and tablet-style form factors that could potentially resonate better with where consumers seem to be spending their computing dollars these days.

Despite the generally rosy outlook NPD DisplaySearch paints, the fact remains that now, Apple is the company that stands to gain the most from an upsurge in tablet popularity. It sold around 19.5 million iPads during Q2 2013, representing 65 percent year over year growth, and so far no one has been able to come close to that. Others are slowly making inroads, however, including Asus, which reported its Q1 2013 earnings today, including 3 million tablet sales that offset notebook and PC component losses to the tune of $202 million in profit.

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Google’s Chromebook Pixel is aspirational in nearly every way. It’s designed within an inch of its life, a physical specimen worthy of Rodin. Its lines are sharp, its display is crisp. And nearly every review has had the same takeaway: It’s amazing. Don’t buy it. More »