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Toshiba's new Kira Ultrabook promises 22 hours of use on a single charge
We praised Toshiba's last flagship Ultrabook for its brilliant screen and speedy boot-up time, but the company's newest Kirabook has a notable new feature -- an estimated 22 hours of battery life. Intel's new Haswell chips may have shifted our expectations of what we expect laptops can deliver battery-wise, but almost running a whole day remains an impressive feat. That's Toshiba's claim for its new Dynabook KIRA V654, which sidesteps touch compatibility on its 13-inch 1,366 x 768 resolution screen to add to the battery savings and weighs in at just 1.12kg. Alongside an additional high-resolution model (2,560 x 1,440), if you simply must have swipeable screens on your Windows 8 machine, there's also the similarly-sized Dynabook Kira V834, although that model will only manage a paltry 14 hours of work and / or play. (We kid.) The two machines will launch in Japan on 20th November, with the touch-capable V834 starting at 153,000 yen ($1,530), while the endurance-specialized V634 will start at 144,000 yen (roughly $1,446). As is often the way with these made-in-Japan PCs, there's no word on whether the rest of the world will get to see either model yet, but we'll let you know if we hear anything from Toshiba.
This week on gdgt: Toshiba brings a Retina-class display to Windows
Each week, our friends at gdgt go through the latest gadgets and score them to help you decide which ones to buy. Here are some of their latest picks -- along with a few you should probably avoid. Want more? Visit gdgt anytime to catch up on the latest, and subscribe to gdgt's newsletter to get a weekly roundup in your inbox.
The Daily Roundup for 05.17.2013
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Toshiba Kirabook review: Toshiba tries to reinvent itself with a flagship Ultrabook
More Info Toshiba's Kirabook rocks a 2,560 x 1,440 display, arrives May 12th starting at $1,600 Toshiba Kirabook hands-on Chromebook Pixel review It's not like Toshiba is new to laptops -- it's been making them for decades -- but for whatever reason, US consumers don't seem to trust the company with top-shelf products. Four-hundred-dollar machines, maybe, but a designer laptop? An Ultrabook, no less? Toshiba has an image problem, to be sure, and the executives in Tokyo know it. The answer, they hope, is to start fresh with a clean slate. The company recently announced a new family of premium devices, called Kira, with the 13-inch Kirabook being the inaugural product. At first blush, it has all the trappings of a flagship machine, with an all-metal chassis, backlit keyboard, 8GB of RAM, a two-year warranty and a 2,560 x 1,440 display, one sharp enough to rival the Chromebook Pixel and Retina display MacBook Pro. In fact, this is the first Windows laptop to offer such a high-resolution panel, which gives Toshiba a big opportunity indeed: to lure people who still haven't found their perfect Ultrabook. The problem with "perfect," of course, is that it comes at a price: $1,600 and up, in this case, and the touchscreen isn't even standard. That leaves just one question, then: is it worth it?%Gallery-187940%
The Daily Roundup for 04.18.2013
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Toshiba Kirabook hands-on (video)
Take a stroll through the laptop section at Best Buy recently? If you have, you know Toshiba's got a firm stronghold on the cheapie notebook market. The thing is, $400 systems don't exactly offer high margins -- a problem when people aren't buying that many PCs to begin with. And besides, who wants to be known for shoddy build quality and ho-hum designs? Not Toshiba, anyway. The suits in Tokyo were so fed up with the company's low-rent reputation that they decided to launch a premium line to prove Toshiba is indeed capable of making high-end machines. That line is called Kira, though for now there's just one product to speak of: the Kirabook, a 13-inch ultraportable starting at $1,600. For the money, you get a mix of modern design, top-shelf components and a whole lot of sucking-up from Toshiba's technical support. Topping the list is a 2,560 x 1,440 display, making this the first Windows Ultrabook to sport such a high-res screen. (We've already seen similar panels on the Chromebook Pixel and the Retina display MacBooks.) Additionally, users receive two years of warranty coverage and a dedicated support line, with near-instant pick-up times and a US-based staff (something customers have been asking for, says Toshiba). Also included: full versions of Adobe Photoshop Elements 11 and Premiere Elements 11, along with 25GB of online storage and a two-year Norton subscription -- something HP already bundles on select machines. The Kirabook will be sold in the US, Japan and Australia, with prices ranging from $1,600 to $2,000. It'll ship May 12th and go up for pre-order on May 3rd, but for now, we've got a detailed walk-through video waiting after the break, along with some early impressions. So come join us -- because who doesn't enjoy laptop porn?
Toshiba's Kirabook rocks a 2560 x 1440 display, arrives May 12th starting at $1,600
Toshiba's been holding its own at the affordable end of the laptop and PC market for a while, but that doesn't mean it can't do classy. Perhaps that's why it's just announced KIRAbook, a 13-inch Ultrabook aimed squarely at the high end. All the usual top-tier treats are here, plus an impressive 2,560 x 1,440 (221 ppi) panel, making this the first Windows Ultrabook to offer such a high-resolution screen. There's also a pressed magnesium housing and touchscreen input (non-touch version also available). That tactile input option also comes with a 10-point Corning Concore sheet of glass between your digits and the Windows 8 operating system. That OS will be housed on a 256GB SSD, supported by 8GB of 1,600 MHz RAM and third-gen Intel Core processors. There is also 25GB of cloud storage if you need a little more. At launch, there will be three configurations starting at $1,599, rising to $1,999 if you want all the bells and whistles (i.e., Core i7 and that touchscreen). If this sounds like your thing, then you can pre-order in May 3rd, or walk into bricks and mortar stores on May 12th.%Gallery-185995%
