Fujitsu and Toshiba cellphone units merge, become second-largest Japanese mobile company

Merger mania in the Japanese smartphone market, as Toshiba and Fujitsu have decided to combine their mobile operations, creating what will be the second-largest Japanese phone maker after Sharp. The move comes just over a year after these two merged their hard drive operations, so clearly the love here is deep. Fujitsu will reportedly own 70-80 percent of the new company, as it’s actually a bigger mobile player — but it mostly makes dumbphones with gimmicky features for the domestic market, which is why it’s buying Toshiba and its lineup of smartphones like the Snapdragon-powered TG02. Of course, the TG02 runs Windows Mobile, so it’s not like it represents any sort of future, but we’d bet it’d look real nice running Android or Windows Phone 7. We’ll see how quickly these two can get in the game — the mobile market isn’t for the faint of heart.

Fujitsu and Toshiba cellphone units merge, become second-largest Japanese mobile company originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Jun 2010 14:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toshiba busts out the Mini NB250 netbook, drops price on NB305

Toshiba’s just not stopping with the laptops this week, and has now outed the 10.1-inch Mini NB250 netbook, while also refreshing the Mini NB305 with an Intel Atom N455 processor. The new Mini NB250 boasts a typical 1,024 x 600 resolution backlit LED, a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N455 CPU, integrated GMA 3150 graphics, 1GB of DDR3 RAM, and a 250GB hard drive. It’s also packing three USB ports, a multicard reader and a webcam, plus 802.11 b/g/n wireless, Ethernet and Bluetooth. It comes with a three-cell battery standard, but there’s an optional six-cell which will purportedly get you around eight and a half hours of life. The NB250 doesn’t have a nicely coated chiclet keyboard like the Mini NB305, but for $299 we won’t complain. Truthfully, the NB305 continues to be our fave netbook, especially now that Tosh has dropped the price down to $379. We’ve got some hands-on shots below and the full press release after the break.

Continue reading Toshiba busts out the Mini NB250 netbook, drops price on NB305

Toshiba busts out the Mini NB250 netbook, drops price on NB305 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Jun 2010 14:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toshiba cooks up 128GB NAND flash for next-gen phones and PMPs

Leave it to Toshiba to make even the latest smartphones feel somewhat undernourished. Quadrupling the current high-end standard of 32GB of embedded memory, the Japanese company has announced an all-new 128GB slab of storage, built on a 32nm production process. It’s somehow managed to fit sixteen 8GB NAND chips, plus their controller, inside a 1.4mm tall structure, and samples are about to exit the factory doors this September. A 64GB variant will also be making an appearance, with both scheduled to enter mass production sometime during the fourth quarter. Should go pretty nicely with that 2GHz beastphone Moto is planning, don’t you think?

Continue reading Toshiba cooks up 128GB NAND flash for next-gen phones and PMPs

Toshiba cooks up 128GB NAND flash for next-gen phones and PMPs originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Jun 2010 04:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toshiba Qosmio V65 laptop brings Core i5, SpursEngine and Blu-ray to low-res screen

With Toshiba’s Core i7-toting Qosmio X500 series laptops starting at a bit over a grand these days, we’re not sure how excited we are about the company’s new V65 portable PC. Though the former model spun Blu-ray discs into a fine-pixeled 1080p, this new model’s SpursEngine-powered content’s been relegated to a 1,366 x 768, 15.6-inch backlit screen. While Japanese consumers do get a 2.4GHz Core i5-450M processor, 4GB of DDR3 memory, 500GB hard drive, plenty of ports and a digital TV tuner for the price, said price is an estimated ¥180,000 — or about $1,972 in hard US currency if the machine ever comes stateside. A wee bit steep, in our estimation.

Toshiba Qosmio V65 laptop brings Core i5, SpursEngine and Blu-ray to low-res screen originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Jun 2010 09:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toshiba Satellite L600 and C600 series laptops think of the struggling students

We’re starting to think Toshiba’s got more Satellites than NASA, but for those that can’t squeeze together the cash for a new A or M Series laptop, Tosh has its L600 or C600 machines standing close by. The 13-inch L635, 14-inch L645, 15.6-inch L655, and 17.3-inch L675 have all been remodeled with that new Fusion X2 finish, which looks glossy from afar but is actually fingerprint resistant. They don’t get the new chiclet keyboards, but the flush keys are smooth and there are dedicated right / left mouse buttons under the touchpad. Internally there’s your pick of Intel Core i3, Core i5 CPUs and AMD Athlon II, Turion II dual-core, Phenom II Triple Core and Quad Core processors. While the entry level $515 model won’t be equipped with the discrete ATI Radeon 5145 GPU, it’ll be a configuration option. Lower down on the spectrum you’ve got the 14-inch C645 and 15.6-inch C655, which are your typical set of bargain basement laptops. Both are available with Intel Celeron and Pentium processors as well as AMD’s Athlon V120 chip. Not the most attractive pair of laptops we’ve seen, but it’s hard to complain when they start at $449. Check them out for yourself in the gallery below, and then hit the break for more details in the full press release.

Continue reading Toshiba Satellite L600 and C600 series laptops think of the struggling students

Toshiba Satellite L600 and C600 series laptops think of the struggling students originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Jun 2010 08:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toshiba Satellite M645 boasts NVIDIA Optimus and improved aesthetics, Satellite A665 makes its 3D arrival

We know, that’s a pretty loaded headline, but that’s exactly what Toshiba’s new laptops are… loaded. Let’s start with that beauty pictured above — the now fairly familiar and often leaked 15.6-inch Satellite A665. Starting at $1,599, the 3D bad boy boasts pretty much everything you’d want in a mobile gaming rig under two grand, including an Intel Core i7-740QM CPU, NVIDIA GeForce GTS 350M graphics with 1GB of VRAM, a 640GB hard drive, 4GB of RAM, and a Blu-ray drive that supports 3D playback. It comes with NVIDIA’s 3D Vision kit, which includes the usual active shutter glasses and emitter. But it’s not all about the specs on the A665 — both it and the M645 have been redesigned with chiclet keyboards and a new Fusion X2 finish that combines a glossy and matte coating. Those taken with the A665 but aren’t into the 3D stuff can configure a 16-inch version, which starts at $799, with a choice of Intel Core 2010 processors.

The 14-inch M645 is the smaller version of the A665 and features Core i3, i5 and i7 CPU options as well as AMD’s Phenom II Quad Core processors. On the graphics front, we’re extremely happy to see the line use NVIDIA’s Optimus technology to automatically switch between the GeForce 310M or GeForce GT330M GPU and the IGP. To boot, the systems can be configured with Blu-ray and 7,200rpm hard drives. We should also mention that both the A665 and M645 have Toshiba’s new Sleep + Music capability, which allows you plug a music player into the mic jack and blast out your tunes through the laptop’s Harmon Kardon speakers even when it’s powered down. We told you these machines were loaded. We’ll be bringing you full reviews soon, but in the meantime enjoy the pics and full PR below.

Continue reading Toshiba Satellite M645 boasts NVIDIA Optimus and improved aesthetics, Satellite A665 makes its 3D arrival

Toshiba Satellite M645 boasts NVIDIA Optimus and improved aesthetics, Satellite A665 makes its 3D arrival originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Jun 2010 08:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toshiba Satellite T200 Series makes its U.S. debut, starts at $470

We’re no strangers to Toshiba’s new T200 Series ultrathin laptops — heck, we even spotted the slim portables lounging around at Computex a few weeks ago — but Tosh is finally giving up the full specs, pricing and availability. The 11.6-inch T215 may look and feel like a netbook at 3.3 pounds, but it’s got grown-up specs, including AMD Athlon II Neo single or dual-core processors, ATI integrated graphics, up to 320GB of storage space and 2GB of DDR3 RAM. The larger 13-inch T235 has similar AMD options, including Athon II Neo and Turion II Neo processors, but also works in Intel’s Pentium dual-core CPUs. Though rather oddly, the 3.9-pound laptop won’t be available with those new Core ULV processors like it is in the UK. Oh, and just to refresh your memory, the new laptops are available in black, red and white and have the same, sturdy chiclet keyboards as the Mini NB305. Both models will be available on June 20 and will start at $469.99. That price sounds mighty good to us, but we will reserve judgment until we get these in for a full review. Hit the break for the full PR and the gallery below for some hands-on shots.

Continue reading Toshiba Satellite T200 Series makes its U.S. debut, starts at $470

Toshiba Satellite T200 Series makes its U.S. debut, starts at $470 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Jun 2010 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toshiba prepping dual-screen ‘GuideBook’ tablet for June launch?

Believe it or not, Toshiba has been toying around with dual-screen tablets at least as far back as 2006, and it looks like it might be trying its hand at the idea again now that it’s catching on a bitDigiTimes is reporting that company has a new dual-screen “GuideBook” device on track for a June launch. Unfortunately, the only other details at the moment are that the device will apparently pack two 7-inch displays, and that it will supposedly be manufactured by Toshiba in-house. We’re also assuming / hoping that the company has managed to refine things a bit from the circa-2006 device pictured above.

Toshiba prepping dual-screen ‘GuideBook’ tablet for June launch? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Jun 2010 12:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toshiba prototype display does 2D and 3D at the same time

One of Toshiba’s favorite hobbies is to tease the general public with prototype autostereoscopic technology, and that’s exactly what we have here today; demoed at SID 2010, this screen can display 2D and 3D images simultaneously on the same 12-inch screen, no glasses required. How it does that is rather complicated, especially when translated from the Japanese, but it sounds like Toshiba’s sandwiched a special panel with gradient-index lenses between a high-speed polarizer and the typical color LCD. We’d wager good money it’s not coming to a store near you, but we’ll keep an eye out for future developments. These days, they have a tendency to pop right out of the screen.

Toshiba prototype display does 2D and 3D at the same time originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Jun 2010 09:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toshiba redesigns Satellite ultrathin laptops, we go hands-on

It’s no secret that the Toshiba Mini NB305 is one of our favorite netbooks on the market, mostly because of its chiclet keyboard and wide touchpad. Thankfully for us, it looks like Toshiba is planning to spread the same design to its ultrathin Satellite lineup sometime soon. Shown above is what appears to be a minty fresh update to the Satellite M135 on the Computex show floor. The 13-inch laptop looked mighty attractive — it’s about an inch thick, and as mentioned has the same sturdy keyboard as the Mini NB305. We’re not the biggest fans of the pattern etched into the metal palmrest, but on the plus side its touchpad has dedicated right and left buttons. We can’t tell you much in the way of specs, but it was on display at the Intel booth with a Core i5-U520 processor and also hanging out at the AMD booth with one of those new Athlon II Neo CPUs. This thing is bound to be official sometime soon, but in the meantime check out the hands-on shots below and start saving up for what could be one of the best ultrathins headed to the market.

Toshiba redesigns Satellite ultrathin laptops, we go hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Jun 2010 09:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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