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Toshiba's Portege X20W is a sleek, durable convertible
Ever since Toshiba stopped making consumer notebooks, it's been quietly regrouping and fine-tuning its business-grade notebooks. Here at CES 2017, Toshiba is showing off its first convertible laptop with a 360-degree hinge for business users. It's called the Portégé X20W and, after my brief hands-on with it, I'm taken with its sturdy build, sharp design and promised endurance. But its lack of ports are a questionable decision to me.
The big VAIO, Toshiba and Fujitsu merger is still on
We've been reporting on rumors that three of Japan's PC makers, VAIO, Toshiba and Fujitsu are planning to merge their computing divisions for a while. Now, Bloomberg has apparently received confirmation that a deal is on the cards thanks to Hidemi Moue, CEO of Vaio's parent company. If the news organization is to be believed, the agreement to bring together the three businesses will be signed by the end of March. The new firm (which is likely to be called VAIO) will control more than 30 percent of Japan's market, making it bigger than current number one Lenovo.
ICYMI: Space X's near-landing, Fukushima's new robot and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-602955{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-602955, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-602955{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-602955").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: Space X's latest Falcon 9 autonomous landing almost went according to plan. The rocket's satellite made it into orbit and the first stage booster set down on its drone barge but promptly fell over and exploded on account of a faulty landing strut -- because that's how rockets do.
Toshiba's wrecking-bot will dismantle Fukushima
The Japanese government plans to begin disassembling parts of the Fukushima-Daiichi power plant next year, beginning with the removal of some 566 fuel rods from the crippled number 3 reactor. But rather than send human technicians into the radiation-soaked reactor (and certain death), Toshiba unveiled on Monday a remote controlled robot that will do it for us.
Sony's smart light turns on the TV when you enter a room
Sony is launching a connected light that performs a surprising number of chores. The "Multifunctional Light," developed using Toshiba's LED lighting tech, can (of course) output a full spectrum of light to match your mood. When it's connected to your smartphone or other WiFi device, you can also activate it remotely or set it up on a scheduled timer, like most other smart bulbs. That's just scratching the surface of this product, though. It also has built-in motion, luminance, temperature and humidity sensors, along with a memory card slot, infrared controller, speaker and microphone. For a light fixture, that lets it do a ridiculous amount of stuff.
Toshiba thinks it has a Surface competitor in the DynaPad
Yes, it's another Surface competitor. So far, before today, we've seen a slew of companies copying Microsoft's tablet-and-keyboard-dock formula, from Apple to Lenovo to Dell to HP. Not keen to sit out a trend, Toshiba is also trying its hand with the 12-inch DynaPad, which the company claims is the world's lightest 2-in-1. It's up for pre-order now, and Toshiba seems confident that it's good enough to win over American consumers. The fact that it's even being sold in the states is notable; the "Dyna" brand isn't exactly a household name here. It's so promising too that even the Microsoft Store will be selling it, and say what you will about Microsoft, but they tend not to sell junk. (When's the last time you saw one of Toshiba's crappy bargain-basement notebooks sold there?)
Fujitsu spins out its PC and mobile divisions
Much in the same way that Sony got rid of its PC division last year, Fujitsu has announced that it'll do the same in 2016. The outfit's leadership has revealed that its laptop and desktop firm will be spun out into a new wholly owned subsidiary, Fujitsu Client Computing Limited, on February 1st. In addition, the firm will do the same to its mobile arm, tossing it out to become the newly-formed Fujitsu Connected Technologies Limited.
Toshiba Radius 12 review: A 4K laptop with compromises
Toshiba hasn't always made the best laptops. The company is perhaps known for the sort of bargain-basement machines you'll find at big-box stores like Best Buy, and when it has dabbled in flagship systems, its efforts have sometimes fallen short. The Radius 12 could be different, though. It ticks off almost all the right boxes, with a 4K, Technicolor-certified screen option and a 2.9-pound design -- particularly impressive for a convertible like this with a 360-degree hinge. And though the entry-level $1,000 model makes do with a lower-res, lower-tech screen, even that configuration offers some impressive specs for the money. All good things, and yet, I can't recommend it -- not now, anyway.
Toshiba to cut 6,800 jobs following accounting scandal
The fallout from Toshiba's accounting scandal is hitting in force, and it's not pretty. The Japanese company has announced that it will take a $4.5 billion loss and cut 6,800 jobs, or about 30 percent of its total consumer electronics workforce. Although some of the losses can be chalked up to a tight market, Toshiba took a serious hit after admitting it lied about profits for nearly six years. As part of the restructuring, it will sell off its TV and washing machine factories to Hong Kong partner Skyworth. The company recently sold its image sensor business to Sony and stopped building TVs for the US market.
Toshiba, Fujitsu and Vaio could merge their PC divisions
The PC business as we know it is dying, and whenever an industry reaches this point in its life, it has to team up with the other survivors to avoid oblivion. To that end, Nikkei Asian Review believes that Toshiba, Fujitsu and Vaio, Sony's spun out computing division, are considering merging their PC divisions together. The move would create a desktop, laptop and tablet-manufacturing supergroup that controlled more than 30 percent of Japan's market -- making it bigger than Lenovo, the current local champion. The paper believes that Vaio would be the name that survives, absorbing its rivals into its existing operations.
Sony buys Toshiba out of the sensor business for $155 million
Sony has purchased Toshiba's image sensor business for 19 billion yen, or around $155 million, confirming rumors from October. It recently re-organized its sensor division into a wholly-owned subsidiary called the Sony Semiconductor Corporation. The move will bolster the new company and remove Toshiba as a primary competitor in the smartphone and camera image sensor business. Sony manufacturers such chips for its own smartphones along with models by the likes of Apple and Xiaomi. Its chips are also used in DSLRs made by Nikon and its own Alpha models.
Toshiba is reportedly selling its camera sensor business to Sony
Toshiba's accounting scandal may cost it a lot more than just a CEO and a wad of cash. Sources for Bloomberg, the Japan Times and Reuters all claim that the tech giant is expected to sell its camera sensor business (specifically, its manufacturing plant) to Sony for about $165 million in a bid to raise funds. Neither company is confirming anything, but the talks are reportedly far along enough that you could see an official announcement as soon as next week. The reported selloff would mark the end of an era for Toshiba, although it wouldn't come as a total surprise if you knew the histories of both sides.
Toshiba's Surface-like DynaPad is coming to the US next year
Toshiba has unveiled the DynaPad, a 12-inch, Surface Pro-like convertible that packs an exotic Wacom Active Electrostatics TruPen stylus. Microsoft revealed the news on its Windows blog, where it's been keen to promote third-party Windows 10 hardware after launching its own Surface Book. Toshiba says the stylus' 2,048 levels of pressure and specially coated 1,920 x 1,280 3:2 IPS screen help artists feel like they're "writing on paper with a real pen." However, the DynaPad's performance may disappoint artists familiar with the Surface Pro, as it's limited to a 1.44GHz Intel Atom CPU and 4GB of memory.
Toshiba's pixel-packed 4K convertible arrives next week for $1,299
Toshiba has revealed more details about its Satellite Radius 12 Windows 10 convertible, including the price and availability. It looks like a serious contender if you're considering a Lenovo Yoga Pro 3, Microsoft Surface Book or another high-end convertible or Ultrabook, given the claimed all-day battery life, brushed metal case, 0.6-inch thickness and 2.9-pound weight. As for the screen, squeezing 4K into a 12.5-inch screen gives you 352 pixels-per-inch, which is now quaint for a smartphone, but stellar on a laptop (a 1080p option is also available). The screen is also coated with Gorilla glass and Technicolor-certified for color accuracy.
Toshiba's retooled Chromebook 2 arrives in October, starts at $330
Toshiba has announced an upgraded version of its Chromebook 2, which is scheduled to ship next month. Compared to last year's, the company's new Chrome OS laptop will be available with 5th-generation (Broadwell) Intel Core i3 or Celeron processors -- both are geared toward performance, so you can expect this machine to be much snappier than its predecessor. Additionally, the refreshed Chromebook 2 features a backlit LED keyboard for the first time. What does carry over from the previous model is that great 13.3-inch, 1080p IPS display, an HD webcam, two USB ports (3.0, 2.0) and the option to add up to 4GB of RAM. Battery life rating, meanwhile, continues to be about nine hours, but hopefully those fresh processors will make Toshiba's Chromebook 2 last longer than before. It'll be available in October for $330 and $430 for the Celeron and Core i3 models, respectively.
Toshiba's latest laptop does convertibility on the cheap
With recent models from Dell and Lenovo tablet laptop hybrids a la Surface are suddenly de rigeur. If those models are outside your budget, Toshiba has just introduced its own low-cost Windows 10 model, the Satellite Click 10. It weighs in at a scant 2.2 pounds and when you detach the keyboard, you've got a 0.36-inch (9 mm) thick, 1.2 pound tablet. Either way, you get features like a 10-inch 1,900 x 1,200 multi-touch display, front 8-megapixel and 2-megapixel rear cameras, 32GB or 64GB of SSD storage (expandable via a MicroSD slot), a Micro HDMI port for TV output and Dolby Digital Plus stereo speakers.
Toshiba's convertible 4K laptop is somehow light, stylish and thin
Yes, 4K devices (that aren't TVs) are everywhere at IFA 2015. If it's not a Sony smartphone packing a ridiculous high-resolution display, then it's Samsung's Ultra HD Blu-ray player -- the first of its kind. Toshiba's getting involved too, with a convertible 4K 12.5-inch laptop. As is the case with most of the PCs and laptops spotted this year at Europe's biggest tech show, the Satellite Radius 12 has Intel's latest sixth-generation Core processor to power it, but still only measures 0.6 inch thick and weighs 2.9 pounds -- quite a feat for a convertible with a 4K display. (Especially since we can still remember Panasonic's hulking 4K tablet from a few years ago.)
Toshiba unveils a 12-inch convertible laptop with a 4K display
Toshiba may have been, er, less than original when it unveiled its Yoga-like Satellite Radius series, but the latest model in its laptop-slash-tablet line does quite a lot to stand on its own merits. The newly launched Satellite Radius 12 packs a 12.5-inch 4K touchscreen into a compact convertible that measures a scant 0.6 inches thick and weighs 2.9 pounds. That's more than a little impressive when you consider that Lenovo's equally new (and equally light) ThinkPad Yoga 260 sticks you with a 1080p display. You'll also get your choice of speedier, more energy-efficient sixth-generation Intel Core processors and an infrared camera that can sign you in using facial recognition.
Toshiba's new flash chips hold twice the data
Judging by recent announcements, we're about to enter a golden age of fast, nearly unlimited storage for all the high-res selfies you can shoot. Following an announcement by Intel and Micron last week, Toshiba and partner SanDisk revealed their own 256Gb flash chips. Toshiba already has the smallest flash cells in the world at 15 nanometers, which it stacks in 48 layers to maximize density. The new chips add in 3-bit tech (first used by Samsung) to squeeze even more bytes in, helping it double the storage of chips it announced just a few months ago. The result will be faster and more reliable memory for smartphones, SSDs and other devices.
Toshiba CEO quits after company lied about $1.2 billion profits
We knew it was coming, but Toshiba's CEO and president Hisao Tanaka is no longer at the company. As the electronics giant attempts to recover from the fallout following the disclosure that it declared $1.2 billion in false profit, Tanaka and two other executives have announced their resignations to take responsibility for the scandal. An independent investigation found that management lied about operating profits for over six years in a bid to meet internal targets, starting just after the financial crash seven years ago.
