Toshiba Unveils Multimedia Notebooks

Toshiba has launched a line of notebooks that come optimized for audio and video functions and will be made available worldwide.

Machines in the Qosmio range feature an in-house developed image processing chip and other enhancements such as the addition of a second backlight in the LCD to offer a brightness equivalent to that of a flat panel television, according to Toshiba.

Notebook Specs

The dedicated chip includes 11 image processing functions, most of them intended to clean up the image displayed on the computer's screen, says Midori Suzuki, a spokesperson for Toshiba in Tokyo. Functions include a deblocking filter, which is said to reduce block noise during playback; and an interlace-to-progressive scan converter, which can help reduce screen flicker and improve edges on fast moving objects.

On the audio side, the notebooks feature a pair of 30-millimeter Harman/Kardon speakers, which are the largest speakers yet to be offered in a notebook computer, according to Suzuki. The 4-watt audio system also supports the TruSurround XT and Wow XT systems of SRS Labs.

A problem usually faced by users who watch TV on their computers is the time taken for the operating system to start and load and for the TV application to begin. This process typically takes more than 30 seconds. To shorten it, Toshiba has made it possible to watch the TV, record, or time-shift programs without starting up Windows by including a Qosmio Player application that runs on Linux and can boot much faster than Microsoft Windows. A similar feature is included on a notebook launched by Sharp in Japan earlier this year.

The high-end model of the Qosmio range is based on an Intel Centrino Pentium-M Processor 715, while the other two models are based on a Centrino Celeron-M Processor 330. Other specifications include 256MB of memory, a 80GB hard disk drive, and a DVD drive. The integrated TV tuner includes a hardware MPEG2 encoder.

Toshiba couldn't immediately provide battery life figures.

Shipment Schedule

Toshiba is promoting the Qosmios in addition to the Pentium-based multimedia Satellite models introduced earlier this year.

The first two machines in the Qosmio line are scheduled to go on sale in Japan in early August, with a third model joining the line-up by the end of the month. The three launch models will have 15-inch screens. Toshiba is promising additional models with widescreen 15.4-inch and 17-inch displays by the end of the year.

Outside of Japan, Toshiba expects the notebook computers will go on sale between August and October. In the U.S., they will be launched in mid-August; in Europe, at the end of August; in Singapore, in August; and in China and South Korea, in October, according to Suzuki. Prices will be around the same as those in Japan, she says.