Toshiba Unveils Android Tablet
Toshiba will officially join the tablet race later this year with the release of its Android-powered computer. The yet-to-be-named device was one of several shown Tuesday in Las Vegas on the eve of the CES. The demo device is running Android 2.2, but the launch model may run on Android 3.0. Honeycomb, the new version of Google’s operating system, has better support for tablets than current versions.
The tablet includes Toshiba’s Resolution Plus, which enhances standard-definition video to give it the appearance of high-def. The tablet will also use Toshiba’s Nvidia Tegra processor as opposed the current system that run on a custom chip, Toshiba’s SpursEngine processor. Other features include a 10-inch screen with 1280 x 800 pixel resolution, and two webcams: a 2-megapixel front-facing camera and a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera. It has connectors for USB, Mini USB, HDMI and an SD Card slot. Toshiba also showed off a new version of its Qosmio multimedia laptop with built-in 3D display that has no need for 3D glasses. It uses dual cameras that track the user’s eyes and help the laptop deliver a picture with the illusion of depth.
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Motion Interface Device soon in your PCs
Heads up, gamers! Very soon your PC can also boast a motion controlled interface, thanks to Wavi Xtion, a gaming interface set to be launched by Personal Computer next year. PrimeSense, an Israel-based company which licensed core Kinect technology to Microsoft, has announced that it is teaming up with PC and peripheral maker Asus to create a motion interface device for the PC. The gear will be shown at CES in Las Vegas. Even better, the interface will not only be used for gaming but for browsing and accessing content on the PC as well. There will also be APIs for third-party developers and a Wavi Xtion store where developers can sell motion-controlled apps.
PrimeSense’s motion controller gets the Xtion part of its name from its own 3D capture technology called the Xtion, which is mated to a transmitter/receiver dubbed as WAVI (Wireless Audio & Video Interaction system ). The system will reportedly launch in the second quarter of 2012.
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Toshiba to make history with world’s first large, glasses-free 3-D TV
You know those funny looking 3-D glasses? Well pretty soon you won’t need them and can still enjoy your favorite shows in all their 3-D glory— in your Toshiba 3-D TV. Toshiba Corp. is set to sell the world’s first large-sized 3-D televisions that don’t require viewers to wear special glasses.
The Tokyo-based electronics-maker will reportedly introduce in the year starting in April 3-D TVs 40-inches and larger that do away with the need for the glasses. This was announced by Vice President Atsushi Murasawa at a briefing today at CES in Las Vegas. According to Murusawa, the sets will be sold in Japan, North America and Europe.
Toshiba expects the new models to help boost TV sales 33 percent to 20 million units next fiscal year, with the North American market share rising about 2 percentage points to 10 percent, Murasawa said. Larger rivals Samsung Electronics Co. and Sony Corp. are also offering 3-D TVs that require viewers to wear special glasses. According to Murusawa, Toshiba is also planning to introduce next year TVs equipped with Google Inc. software that allows users to browse the Internet. The company has started selling 12-inch and 20-inch glasses-free 3-D sets in Japan last month.
