Toshiba is getting back in the swing of things with a round of Summer updates for a bunch of laptops (at least in Japan). First up on the block is the Qosmio F40, the €1352, 15.4-inch model which now trades its HD DVD drive or a DVD multi option, sports a Core 2 Duo T8100 CPU atop a GN965 Express chipset, 2GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, and HDMI outs. The company has also updated the Dynabook AX (€922), which now comes in a pink, white, or shiny black casing, with a Celeron 550 CPU on board, 2GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, HDMI outs, and a Super Multi optical drive. The 15.4-inch, WXGA-screened TX gets an bump in the form of the Core 2 Duo T8100, plus 2GB of RAM, 200GB hard drive, and those HDMI / Super Multi drive fixin's, all for €1100. Finally, the smaller, 13.3-inch CX line sports the same CPU, 2GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, everything else that the other models have, and a totally awesome €1230 price tag.

[Via Akihabara News]

Sure, it's fun to carry around three, four, or even five devices at a time -- and now thanks to a new promotion from Palm, you can quickly up the number of gadgets hanging from your utility belt by two. Currently, if you purchase the PDA / smartphone-maker's $299 Palm TX, they'll throw in a $99 Zire Z22 for free. We're guessing those storage crates full of unsold product are probably starting to crowd Ed Colligan's basement.

[Via Palm Infocenter]

Sony is bringing the long lasting, EV-DO-packin' goodness to us yet again in the revamped version of its VGN-TXN10. The folks at Laptop Mag got their lucky paws on Sony's latest 3G ultraportable, and were more than pleased with the results. Housing a 1.2GHz Intel Core Solo processor, 1GB of RAM, 80GB 4200RPM hard drive, dual-layer DVD burner, Intel's GMA950 integrated graphics set, and an 11.1-inch 1,366 x 768 resolution LCD, reviewers were thrilled with the decent performance and exceptionally long "8 hours, 32 minutes" of battery life they realized in testing. Both the design and long list of ammenties were greatly appreciaited, but the wee keyboard and (unsurprisingly) high pricetag were complained about. The "star attraction," as it was so aptly called, delivered a very impressive "average throughput of 768Kbps," with peaks as "high as 1Mbps." They did note that upload speeds were a tad slow, but they hope that Sprint's continued rollout of Rev A technology will help the issue resolve itself. Overall, it came "pretty close to being the ultimate ultraportable," and should suit just about anyone with deep enough pockets quite well.

Our pals at the FCC have let another laptop slip, and this time it looks like a Core Duo upgrade to the TX790 and company. There's no hard facts on the specs, but according to the manual it doesn't look like this first wave will have 3G data, just the usual 802.11a/b/g and Bluetooth good times. Core Duo News is guessing Sony will stick with Core Solo ULV 1.06 and 1.2GHz chips for now, and wait for those Core Duo ULV chips coming this fall. There's an 11-inch screen and plenty of similarities to the current TX series, including a nicely skinny form factor, but we'll just have to sit tight to learn any more.

[Thanks, Staska]