Toshiba

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 reviewed: Thin, sleek 13-incher for the business set

Especially in an age of iPads and tablets, thin laptops seem to be back on the rise. Emerging into a landscape full of MacBook Airs, Samsung Series 9s, and Toshiba Porteges--to name a few--is Lenovo's corporate take on the thin, sexy 13-incher, the ThinkPad X1. We've played with one for a week now, and have finally emerged with our review of Lenovo's sex(ier) beast.

The ThinkPad X series has been alive and well for years--the x100e and X201 are recent members of the ThinkPad's ultraportable line--but the X1 is a 13.3-incher that's … Read more

Imagining a future MacBook

In the wake of the story from SemiAccurate and other, more concrete indications, it's likely that Apple is on a quest to make its MacBooks more Post-PC-like. So, what could a future MacBook look like?

We have hard physical evidence of this design trend already with the 2010 MacBook Air. Namely, the 11.6-inch model. Though based on ancient Intel (Core 2 Duo) chips, it delivers good-enough performance (with the help of Nvidia silicon)--performance not unlike what a future Apple A series processor may deliver (or future ARM chips from Texas Instruments or Qualcomm, for that matter).

So, … Read more

Android Atlas Weekly 45: I sue you, you sue me

Apple sues Samsung, Samsung sues Apple, the Army uses Android in the battle field, and we get a tour of the latest round of Android Tablets. Join Justin Eckhouse and guest hosts Eric Franklin and JT Tabencki as they dive into the world of Android.

News Stories

Apple sues Samsung for ‘copying’ smartphones, tablets http://news.cnet.com/8301-27076_3-20055033-248.html

Samsung countersues Apple over iPhone, iPad http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/22/us-samsung-apple-idUSTRE73L0DG20110422

Android phones record user-locations … Read more

Free books for your Kindle

Links from Thursday's episode of Loaded:

Amazon.com launches a library lending program for its Kindle e-reader

Toshiba's tablet will come out in June in Japan and shortly thereafter abroad

eBay purchases geolocation service Where

Google launches Earth Builder for cloud storage of geographic and geospacial data

Gamefly wins its case against the U.S. Postal Service

Semiconductor sales rebound 24 percent in 2010

Sales of semiconductors staged a healthy recovery around the world last year thanks to strong demand from makers of smartphones, tablets, notebooks, e-readers, and other popular consumer devices, according to data out today from IDC.

For the year, chip sales rose by 14 percent to $282 billion, a rebound that was felt across all sectors and global regions of the market. Among the more than 100 semiconductor makers tracked by IDC, Intel was once again the top dog, bringing in total revenues of $41.9 billion last year.

Samsung took the No. 2 spot with sales of $27.6 billion, … Read more

Toshiba tablet momentarily priced and named

(Update: Toshiba has since announced their tablet's official product name -- the Toshiba Thrive.)

We may finally have a price and a name for Toshiba's Android Honeycomb tablet, thanks to a product listing on Newegg (pictured right) that has since been taken down.

The listing showed the tablet in three capacities: 8GB (for $450), 16GB ($500), and 32GB ($580). If you're balking at the lack of a 64GB model, keep in mind that each model accepts up to 32GB of additional storage via SDHC memory cards. The price is reasonable, given specs such as GPS, 5-megapixel rear … Read more

This hard drive will self-destruct

Links from Friday's episode of Loaded:

New rules in Europe prevent Internet advertisers from tracking people without permission

The next version of Apple's OS X operating system may have a do-not-track option in the built-in Safari browser

Toshiba has a new hard drive that will self destruct in the wrong hands

Google now allows you to set your own background image in Gmail

You can now control your Netflix queue with motion control in Microsot Kinect

The Nook Color is coming to Staples

The next Madden NFL game will launch August 30

iPad, tablets take a bite out of PC shipments

Hurt by demand for the iPad and other electronic gadgets, PC shipments around the world dropped by 1.1 percent in the first quarter, according to preliminary results out today from Gartner.

Global PC shipments fell to 84.25 million during the quarter, compared with 85.18 million a year ago, their first decline in six consecutive quarters. The drop surprised Gartner, which had been looking for a gain of 3 percent. Though PC sales typically slow during the first quarter, the numbers point to this as more than just an expected seasonal dip, in Gartner's opinion.

"Weak … Read more

Toshiba to launch self-erasing hard drives

Toshiba will soon debut a series of hard drives that can automatically erase or prevent access to their own data should the drives end up in the wrong hands.

The company's new self-encrypting drive family will include a new feature that detects if the drive is connected to an unknown and undefined computer or other system. If so, the drive can either securely wipe all of its data or just deny access to that data. Customers can apply the feature to specific data on the drive and choose how and when to render the data indecipherable, according to Toshiba.… Read more

Toshiba adds new business laptops, including a version of the hot Portege R800

PC maker Toshiba recently knocked our socks off with the Editor's Choice winning Portege R835 laptop, which offered consumers a solid set of specs in a well-made 13-inch chassis for as little as $749. The company's business arm obviously didn't want to be left out, and this morning brings us the corporate version of the system, called the Portege R830, as well as a handful of other biz-friendly laptops.

Joining the Portege R830 are a pair of laptops from the Tecra line, the 14-inch Tecra R840 and the 15-inch Tecra R850. All three models have USB 3.… Read more