Toshiba

Toshiba to acquire Western Digital's 3.5-inch HDD manufacturing equipment

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies and Western Digital (WD) announced today a mutual and definitive agreement of property divesting between the two.

Under the agreement, Toshiba will acquire from WD manufacturing and related intellectual property for 3.5-inch hard drives (HDDs), used in desktop PCs and consumer applications, and near-line HDDs for server applications. Near-line storage is a type of data storage supporting larger capacity and with higher reliability than HDDs for desktop PC applications.

"The purchase of part of Western Digital's 3.5-inch HDD manufacturing equipment and with it the capability to produce 3.5-inch HDDs for desktop … Read more

Ultrabooks are underpricing Apple at retail--and they'd better

Ultrabooks from Toshiba, Acer, and Samsung remain at relatively low prices at major retailers like Best Buy compared to analogous offerings from Apple.

Prices for the 13-inch Toshiba Portege (Z835-P330) and 13-inch Acer Aspire S3 (S3-951-6646) have stayed at $799 for many weeks since they were announced last fall. Currently, both are listed at Best Buy for $799.99.

Comparable 13-inch MacBook Air laptops from Apple are typically priced a few hundred dollars more.

Apple is an important benchmark because the ultrabook category was created, in part, to compete with the increasingly popular MacBook Air. And an analyst said this week … Read more

CEO Appleton reflected Micron's high-risk business

Steve Appleton mirrored the survivalist streak in the company he led.

Micron Technology CEO Appleton died Friday at 51 years old when a high-performance Lancair plane he was piloting crashed at Boise Airport in Idaho.

Lancairs aren't easy to fly. In fact, they're difficult enough that the Federal Aviation Administration gave notice to Lancair operators in 2009 that the planes had a "disproportionate" number of fatal accidents.

Though Lancairs accounted for only 3 percent of the nation's amateur-built airplanes, they accounted for 16 percent of the fatal accidents in the 11 months prior to the … Read more

Super slates: Tablets with a little something extra

When you're up against the Apple iPad, you need more than just a cool name and a low price. You need a hook. You need a feature that no one else has--not even Apple.

Whether it's the waterproof design of the Pantech Element, the stereoscopic camera on the back of the T-Mobile G-Slate (shown right), or the remote control IR blaster integrated into the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus, tablet makers have really shown remarkable inventiveness when it comes to giving their slates a little something extra.

To honor these creative efforts, we've rounded up our … Read more

2012 TVs: Every new HDTV compared

Here's nearly all of the information I've been able to get from CES and since regarding the shiny new TVs of 2012.

I know it's not every TV; minor brands aren't represented, and lack of information from some manufacturers (namely Samsung) prevents me from capturing a few midrange and entry-level models. But as of press time I'm confident that the chart above contains the most comprehensive, current information on forthcoming 2012 models available anywhere.

… Read more

What is 4K? Next-generation resolution explained

As if LED and 3D TV weren't confusing enough, in the last few months we have seen a new HDTV technology called 4K, or its official name, Ultra HD. It's being heralded as the next high-def, and judging by the show floor at CES 2013, manufacturers are lining up to bring you a new array of products.

But just as was the case with 3D, it's the hardware chicken before the software egg: there's no consumer 4K content available. Still, if you listen to the industry, it'll tell you it's the last resolution you'll ever need. So what is 4K anyway, and what makes it different from high definition?

Editors' note: This was post was originally published January 23, 2012, and has been updated several times thereafter with expanded information, most recently on January 17, 2013.… Read more

Eye-Fi calls shenanigans on the SD Association

SD cards now have a patent spat of their own.

During CES, Toshiba and the SD Association made a couple of announcements that flew under my radar: a new specification dubbed Wireless LAN SD, aka iSDIO, (PDF) and a formal announcement by Toshiba about its FlashAir card, the first to support iSDIO.

Friday morning, Eye-Fi issued a statement on its blog expressing its displeasure over the SDA's announcement. In its statement, Yuval Koren, CEO of Eye-Fi, claims the announcement was premature, issued before the draft consideration process was complete, and that it runs the risk of violating some of … Read more

Toshiba glasses-free 3D TV demo: It works, just not very well

LAS VEGAS--Although Toshiba's glasses-free 3D TV is coming to the U.S. in the next couple of months, and at a price we expect to be north of $10,000, it still has some issues.

Fellow CNET TV reviewer Ty Pendlebury and I both got the chance to check out the set here at CES 2012, and while the head-tracking technology is impressive, and the fact that you can actually see 3D effects without glasses is kind of mind-blowing, the TV we saw definitely felt more like a prototype than a product ready for prime time--especially for that price.… Read more

Ultrabooks: The next, cheaper phase

Toshiba is already pushing toward the next phase of ultrabooks--which can be summed up as making the skinny laptops more affordable.

Upcoming ultrabooks from Toshiba will break below the $700 mark, according to Carrie Cowan, a product manager in Toshiba's Digital Products Division. She spoke to CNET on Wednesday on the CES show floor (see video below).

To date, Toshiba's sole ultrabook offering has been the Portege Z830. Though it has been priced on occasion as low as $699 at Best Buy, it is usually listed at $799 or higher.

And Portege laptops are typically listed at even higher prices, as the brand represents Toshiba's upscale offerings.

But this spring Toshiba plans to bring ultrabooks into its most affordable Satellite line. That means prices at $699 and possibly even lower, Cowan said. … Read more