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Toshiba TVs with PC games streaming from cloud coming to the US
OnLive might not be the most successful cloud-based gaming platform, but with Sony's recent reveal of the Gaikai-powered PlayStation Now, the concept is only gaining more traction. Similar to OnLive's push for integration with tablets and TVs, Toshiba's incoming line of smart TVs will also offer game streaming capabilities via cloud-based gaming service GameNow. Toshiba's press release states that the GameNow-compatible L3400U, L5400U, and L7400U smart TV models are "scheduled to begin shipping" in the first quarter of 2014. Polygon reports that the service will feature PC games published by Capcom like Devil May Cry 4 and Resident Evil 5, as well as Warner Bros. games like Batman: Arkham City. GameNow creator Ubitus has also struck deals with Square Enix, Sega and Konami involving cloud-based versions of their games overseas, such as Dragon Quest X. Polygon described the rounds of Street Fighter X Tekken it played at CES with Logitch wireless controllers as "playable, but laggy," suggesting GameNow might be serviceable for genres where split-second timing isn't everything.
CES 2014: HDTV & home theater roundup
Every year, CES is filled wall to wall with flat-screen televisions and the things that plug into them. 2014's show brought its own variations to that theme. Curved TVs, OLED TVs, Ultra HD TVs or some combination popped up wherever we looked, and unlike last year, many of them will go on sale soon. Big manufacturers like Samsung, LG and Sony dominated news for high-end sets, but others like Vizio are promising an unprecedented slew of features at value prices.
Toshiba's high-res 3,840 x 2,160 laptop should arrive mid-year
And just like that, 2K screens are old news. While other companies announce laptops with 2,560 x 1,440 screens, Toshiba is doing the competition one better: the outfit is showing off a notebook with a 15.6-inch, 3,840 x 2,160 display. Dubbed the Satellite P50t, the laptop has a screen density of 282 pixels per inch, which, as you can imagine, means some onscreen objects are going to be very, very small (check out that still photo of Windows Media Player in our gallery to see what we're talking about). Other than that lack of optimized apps -- a problem for every high-res notebook -- the screen is quite nice, with good color reproduction and decent viewing angles. As for the rest of the specs, we don't know much, expect that it will have a mix of Core i5/i7 processors (whether that means Haswell or Intel's fifth-generation chips is a question for another day). We suppose all will be revealed when this finally goes on sale -- sometime "mid-year," says Toshiba. For now, enjoy the hands-on photos.
Toshiba's 5-in-1 laptop concept debuts at CES with a detachable keyboard
Sure, notebook makers crow about their 2-in-1 hybrids, but Toshiba's brought something to CES that'll humble its competition: a 5-in-1 laptop. The transforming device comes with a slick magnesium alloy case reminiscent of a MacBook, and a 13.3-inch touchscreen. So, just what can this laptop transform into? On the tamer side of things are a run-of-the-mill notebook configuration and tablet mode, the latter of which is achieved by pushing the display all the way back, much like with Lenovo's Yoga line of devices. The next three forms are where things get interesting, and they're made possible by a detachable keyboard and a bit of metal left attached to the screen's hinge, which acts as a stand and houses stereo Harman Kardon speakers. In "canvas" mode, the laptop is lifted from the table at an angle helpful for drawing, particularly handy since the hardware's display packs a digitizer and its top half holds its own stylus. "Presentation/TV" mode is the fifth and final form, which props the display upright. When it comes to connectivity, the laptop sports two USB ports, a microSD slot and a spot to jack in a mini-HDMI cable. Since the hardware's still in concept phase, there's no word on detailed specs, price or when it'll see the fluorescent lights of your local electronics store. For now, you can see it in all of its forms in the accompanying galleries.
Toshiba cares not for 4K, has an ultra-wide 5K TV ready for CES
4K? Pah, Toshiba's already working on something, you know, one better. One of our eagle-eyed readers sent in this picture of a "5K" extra-wide UHD TV on the show floor. Of course, like LG's 5K model, this is really just a 4K TV with a thousand extra pixels tacked on at the edges, but the plain technical facts shouldn't detract from this spectacular work of corporate one-upmanship. Naturally, we'll probably find out more about this hardware in a day or so, but until then, we'll just have to gaze upon this slightly blurry shot and wonder.
Toshiba Chromebook is the company's first Chrome OS device; arrives next month for $279 (hands-on)
We already knew Toshiba was coming out with a Chrome OS device, but in the four months since Intel teased it at IDF, we haven't seen anything in the way of specs, much less product shots. That changes today: The company just announced the Toshiba Chromebook here at CES, making this the first time we've seen the device up close. Of note, this has a 13-inch display, which, for whatever reason, has never been used on a Chromebook before. At any rate, Toshiba is betting that consumers coming over from Windows and Mac machines will want the same in-between-sized screen they're already used to -- especially if they plan on spending a lot of time in Gmail and GDocs. Due to that larger screen, this is naturally going to be a bit heavier than, say, the HP Chromebook 11 (three pounds vs. 2.3), but what you lose in portability, you'll make up for in power. While HP's offering makes do with an ARM processor, the Toshiba Chromebook offers a Haswell-series Celeron 2955U CPU for the same price, promising stronger performance and longer battery life (up to nine hours, say company reps).
Toshiba enters 2014 with extra-bright 4K TVs, simpler streaming media hubs
Toshiba knows how to shine in the 4K TV space when there's a sea of competitors -- by making brighter 4K TVs, of course. Its 2014 Ultra HD TV lineup (not yet pictured) centers on 58- and 65-inch Premier L9400U models that both have extra-bright "Radiance" LED panels. They similarly share a third-generation 4K video-scaling engine, a 240Hz refresh rate, DirecTV RVU support and voice control. If brightness isn't what you're looking for, there are more conventional alternatives. The 84-inch L9450U relies on more conventional local-dimming LEDs while preserving the rest of the L9400U's features, and the 50- and 58-inch L8400U sets cut costs through both their smaller sizes and 120Hz panels. All three TV lines are poised to ship this summer, although Toshiba isn't ready to commit to pricing. The electronics giant is also launching a pair of next-generation Symbio set-top boxes, both of which combine Blu-ray with streaming media using a newly simplified, one-page interface that brings Smart TV Alliance app support. The BDX5500 leads the group with 4K upscaling and 3D playback, while the BDX3500 saves some cash by sticking to 2D. Toshiba doesn't yet have pricing for the new Symbio line, but it should grace store shelves in the first quarter of the year.
How would you change Toshiba's Satellite U845?
When you're building a laptop to a price point, there's a fine line between success and failure. Take the Toshiba Satellite U845, an Ultrabook priced at the reasonably slender $750. When we placed it in the hands of our resident laptop critic, she found that the tasteful, pleasing design and sturdy performance were more than enough to offset the meager specs or shallow keyboard. So, now that you've had more than enough time to go out and use this piece of kit, why not share with us what it's been like for you?
Toshiba to buy OCZ's assets for $35 million, eyes solid-state supremacy
OCZ's memory technology won't fade into obscurity after all -- Toshiba has agreed to buy the ailing company's assets for $35 million through a bankruptcy auction. As long as the bid wins, Toshiba expects to acquire OCZ's solid-state drive businesses in January. The deal also supplies the financing that OCZ needs to fulfill customer orders during the transition. It's a quiet end for the once-popular storage brand, but the buyout is undoubtedly good news for Toshiba. The Japanese tech giant can now augment its SSD lineup with OCZ's controller chips and flash memory supply; if future Toshiba SSDs outperform their rivals, you'll know who to thank.
OCZ declares bankruptcy, may sell its assets to Toshiba
OCZ dropped off the radar shortly into 2013 as it struggled to correct dodgy accounting and stem ongoing losses. Unfortunately, it couldn't turn things around quickly enough -- the one-time legend in memory technology has declared bankruptcy. That isn't necessarily the end of the story, though. Toshiba has offered to buy all of OCZ's assets as long as the ailing company maintains its value. The bankruptcy represents a sad (potential) end for a firm that was once synonymous with speedy RAM and SSDs, but there's a good chance that its work will live on in future products.
Toshiba gives 7-inch Android tablets another shot with the $170 Excite 7 (hands-on)
Back over the summer when Toshiba refreshed its tablet lineup, it appeared that the company was pulling out all the stops: two of its new models had super-sharp 2,560 x 1,600 screens and made use of NVIDIA's new Tegra 4 chip. At the high end, one even allowed for pen input, thanks to a pressure-sensitive Wacom digitizer. There was, however, at least one glaring omission: there were no smaller-screened tablets in the lineup, and none of them cost less than $300. Well, lest you think Toshiba was giving up on the budget space, it just started selling the Excite 7, a 7-inch Android slate priced at $170. This is something of a full-circle moment for Toshiba. If you recall, the company's first 7-inch tablet suffered from cheap build quality and short battery life. Then, Toshiba overcompensated by coming out with the Excite 7.7, which rocked a vibrant AMOLED screen and featured what was then a top-of-the-line Tegra 3 processor. It cost $500, the same as nice 10-inch tablet, and not many people bought it. Now, the company's back with the Excite 7, and it clearly falls in that first category, if only because the price is so low. Heck, who are we kidding? The specs are low-end, too. For the money, you get 8GB of built-in storage (expandable via microSD), along with a quad-core 1.6GHz Rockchip processor, 1GB of RAM, dual 3MP/0.3MP cameras and a 1,024 x 600 display.
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.
Toshiba's new SDHC cards can save to your camera, phone and cloud service all at once
Despite the introduction of a wireless LAN SD standard last year, WiFi SDHC cards are still a fairly rare animal, with pioneer Eye-Fi the alpha dog. If you're into it, though, Toshiba's just added a high-capacity 32GB SDHC FlashAir model that'll let you simultaneously share photos to your smartphone or tablet, the internet and of course, the card itself. It does that through a special "pass-through" mode that permits connection to a second access point, such as a router or PC, even while saving wirelessly to your handheld device. The cards will support class 10 speeds along with 802.11n WiFi (finally), and Toshiba's also supplying firmware to owners of older FlashAir WiFi cards to give them the same pass-through capability. It'll be up for grabs in Japan on November 18th and the rest of the world a bit later, with the price to be determined -- though a 16GB FlashAir is about $90, if that helps.
Japan Display joins the Quad HD phone screen party with two new LCDs
LG clearly doesn't have a monopoly on Quad HD smartphone screens -- Japan Display has unveiled two low-temperature polysilicon (LTPS) LCDs that offer the extra-sharp 2,560 x 1,440 resolution. The headlining 5.4-inch panel is ever so slightly denser than its Korean equivalent, at 543ppi; there's also a 6.2-inch (473ppi) model for giant devices. Both LCDs have "dead-bands" that are just 1mm thick, which should lead to extra-slim bezels on finished products. Japan Display hasn't said which companies will use the Quad HD screens, but it's easy to see one of the joint venture's partners (Hitachi, Sony or Toshiba) calling first dibs.
Daily Roundup: LG's bendable displays, Fox News' revamped newsroom, FiLIP smartwatch and more!
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 announces five new business laptops, including three Ultrabook-like models
The last time Toshiba had a completely new business ultraportable for us to review was back in November 2011. That was when the Portege Z835 came out and since then, the company's only refreshed it with new CPUs. Today, though, the outfit announced a proper successor, the Z30, along with two bigger versions, the Tecra Z40 and Z50. Additionally, Toshiba unveiled its first-ever mobile workstation (also fairly lightweight for its class) and an old-school laptop with -- gasp! -- an optical drive. As you'd expect, they all feature Haswell, TPM and faster 802.11ac WiFi. Also, with the exception of two models, they'll all be available soon, on October 18th, with three-year warranties included. That's the short version, but if you follow us past the break, we'll give you a more detailed rundown of all the specs.
Toshiba bakes TransferJet file transfer and wireless charging into touchscreen kiosk, charges phones and credit cards
In an effort to make Toshiba's TransferJet more... business, the company revealed a touchscreen kiosk that allows you to buy (and immediately download) music, videos and more. Just in case that alone wasn't enough, the kiosk, which is adorably petite, also uses NFC to pair the device and (if you have the appropriate account or software) pay for downloadable content. The kiosk even throws in Qi wireless charging for your handset as you select, buy and download that new anime episode. Of course, if you don't have wireless charging (or TransferJet to grab the downloads in the first place), you might not get the most out of what Toshiba's offering here, but the idea is to place the device in places like airports and convenience stores, where people are likely to have time to kill and want something to watch or listen to right away. Darren Murph contributed to this report.
Toshiba's concept REGZA 40V and 50V 4K HDTVs double as pro-grade reference monitors
Toshiba's overall TV division may be ailing, but it's innovations like this that'll keep it from completely decaying. Displayed at the company's CEATEC booth here in Japan are two new 4K HDTV displays -- the 40-inch 40V and 50-inch 50V. Outside of devilishly-thin bezels and native 4K resolutions, the company's not talking specifications. What it's focusing on instead is the concept: it's dreaming of an Ultra HD range of displays that can operate as televisions and as pro-grade reference monitors. After all, budding editors who are being tasked with cutting together 4K footage certainly deserve a monitor that won't cut corners, right? A company representative informed us that while the displays weren't perfectly color accurate, they were far superior to rivals. Plus, the ability to easily toggle between reference mode and various other living room-accepted modes will enable a level of A/B testing that's pretty tough to get right now. Naturally, both monitors looked stunning up close, and if we're being candid, we're fallen in love with Photoshop all over again after seeing it displayed on these guys. Mat Smith contributed to this report.
Toshiba's TransferJet adapter does high-speed video transfer from micro-USB, smartphone chip coming next year
Toshiba's TransferJet has kept relatively quiet since we got the full explanation (spoilers: high-speed data transfer over very short distances) on stage at CES 2013. Finally, several Toshiba products are now ready for launch. Alongside a compatible SDHC card, there's also has a new micro-USB adapter that plugs into your (Android-only, although Toshiba are in discussions with Apple) smartphone, enabling those much-faster-than-Bluetooth data speeds over a distance of a few centimeters. It worked without a hitch on the show floor here at CEATEC, and the TransferJet duo is set to go on sale this December. Toshiba's spokesperson added that pricing for the pair of adapters will come in at around 10,000 yen (around $100), although it was the tiny chip sat next to it that really piqued our interest. Toshiba is planning to get its TransferJet tech embedded within smartphones and other products in the future, which could make a far more convincing argument for the file transfer technique. One module chip has been given a December production date, although the company wouldn't spill the beans on exactly which devices we'll see it in. Darren Murph contributed to this report.
Toshiba to cut 3,000 jobs and outsource production to stem TV losses
It's not as if Toshiba's TV division has been totally silent recently, but it apparently hasn't been making enough noise to justify the continued employment of its full, 6,000-strong workforce. Although it's not quite ready to give up, the Japanese manufacturer is scaling back its TV operation heavily: losing half of its staff globally and closing two of its three TV factories in favor of more outsourced production. The cuts are intended help Toshiba meet its target of $101 million in cost savings and the company hopes its TV division will return to profitability this year -- but as you'd expect, at a much smaller scale than it once had.
