Toshiba Maximizes Windows 7 Features, Delivering Windows Touch, Fast Sleep-and-Resume on New Satellite Laptops

IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Toshiba’s Digital Products Division (DPD), a division of Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., today unveiled several enhancements to its line of Satellite^® laptops that take advantage of new capabilities in Windows^® 7.

“We are applying our expertise in tablet PCs to bring an intuitive touch experience to laptops built for mobility – so customers can easily interact with their media on the go.”

Two new Satellite laptops will feature touch screens, the Satellite U505 Touch and Satellite M505 Touch models. In addition, the recently announced ultrathin Satellite T100 laptop takes Windows 7 performance a step further, with Fast Sleep-and-Resume functionality so it’s ready when needed – up and running in seconds.

“The performance and functionality in Windows 7 has enabled us to deliver the features that consumers want, such as touch and Fast Sleep-and-Resume, in affordable mainstream laptops,” said Carl Pinto, vice president of product development, Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., Digital Products Division. “We are applying our expertise in tablet PCs to bring an intuitive touch experience to laptops built for mobility – so customers can easily interact with their media on the go.”

New Ways to Interact

Users now will have a new choice in ways to interact with their laptop, whether flicking through photos, shuffling files, browsing online or playing games, utilizing Windows Touch-enabled functionality. The new Satellite M505 Touch and Satellite U505 Touch laptops let users tap, drag-and-drop and scroll through files, Web pages and images.

To bring the new Windows Touch feature to life, Toshiba is also introducing new, innovative touch-ready software pre-installed exclusively on the new touch-enabled laptops, called Toshiba LifeSpace™. LifeSpace consists of two applications designed to increase personal productivity in a unique and fun way:

• Bulletin Board – Gives users fast access to day-to-day activities, tasks and projects in a simple, visual and fun way. Get creative when organizing projects with the ability to drag and drop photos, videos, links, documents and applications into one place. Personalize and organize the board by moving, rotating and resizing using gestures to fit personalized style. Bulletin Board also includes several built in gadgets such as labels, calendars, a clock and a to-do list.
• ReelTime™ – Helps users easily find files based on when they were opened with a simple, fun visual history. With the flick of a finger, quickly scroll through automatically generated previews of documents, photos, videos and more, filter by file type or use the calendar to go back weeks or months.

Simplified Desktop, Faster Boot

Toshiba will also deliver a simplified, clean desktop on all new Windows 7 laptops. Out of the box, customers will simply have the Recycle Bin on their desktop and minimal software running in the background like anti-virus on startup. As a result, startup, shutdown and Fast Sleep-and-Resume performance will be improved. Customers will also experience longer battery life, as a result of several power conservation improvements in Windows 7, such as a reduction in background activities, which enable the laptop’s processor to remain idle more often and intelligent screen brightness optimization.

Features available on the Toshiba Satellite M505 Touch (M505-S4990-T) laptop include:

• 14.0-inch diagonal widescreen HD TruBrite^® LED Backlit TFT LCD Touch-screen display
• Windows^® 7 Home Premium
• Intel^® Core™ 2 Duo processor T6600 (2.2GHz)¹
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD
• 4GB DDR2 800MHz RAM, upgradable to 8GB²
• 500GB HDD³
• Slot-loading DVD SuperMulti drive with Labelflash^® supporting 11 formats
• Webcam and microphone
• Fusion Finish in Sonic Black
• 802.11b/g/n wireless LAN⁴ and 10/100 Ethernet
• 5-in-1 Memory Card Reader
• HDMI-CEC
• S/P DIF output port
• 6-cell Lithium Ion battery
• 1 eSATA/USB combo port with USB Sleep-and-Charge⁵ and 2 USB 2.0 ports
• Toshiba PC Health Monitor
• Toshiba eco utility™
• One-year international limited warranty and award-winning Toshiba service and support

Features available on the new Toshiba Satellite U505 Touch (U505-S2980-T) laptop include:

• 13.3-inch diagonal widescreen TruBrite TFT LCD Touch-screen display
• Windows 7 Home Premium
• Intel Core 2 Duo processor T6600 (2.2GHz)¹
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD
• 4GB DDR2 800MHz RAM, upgradable to 8GB²
• 500GB HDD³
• Slot-loading DVD SuperMulti drive with Labelflash supporting 11 formats
• Webcam and microphone
• Textured Finish in Luxe Brown
• 802.11b/g/n wireless LAN⁴ and 10/100 Ethernet
• 5-in-1 Memory Card Reader
• HDMI-CEC
• S/P DIF output port
• 6-cell Lithium Ion battery
• 1 eSATA/USB combo port with USB Sleep-and-Charge⁵ and 2 USB 2.0 ports
• Toshiba PC Health Monitor
• Toshiba eco utility
• One-year international limited warranty and award-winning Toshiba service and support

Pricing and Availability

The Satellite M505 Touch laptop ($949.99 MSRP⁶) will be available on October 22 and Satellite U505 Touch laptop ($1,049.99 MSRP⁶) will be available on November 1 at select retailers, as well as direct from Toshiba on toshibadirect.com.

More information and detailed specifications about the Satellite M505 Touch laptop can be found at laptops.toshiba.com/laptops/Satellite/M505.

More information and detailed specifications about the Satellite U505 Touch laptop can be found at laptops.toshiba.com/laptops/Satellite/U505.

Image Gallery: bit.ly/ToshibaWin7Mobility

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About Toshiba America Information Systems Inc. (TAIS)

Headquartered in Irvine, Calif., TAIS is comprised of four business units: Digital Products Division, Imaging Systems Division, Storage Device Division, and Telecommunication Systems Division. Together, these divisions provide mobile products and solutions, including industry leading portable computers; projectors; imaging products for the security, medical and manufacturing markets; storage products for automotive, computer and consumer electronics applications; and telephony equipment and associated applications.

TAIS provides sales, marketing and services for its wide range of information products in the United States and Latin America. TAIS is an independent operating company owned by Toshiba America, Inc., a subsidiary of Toshiba Corporation. Toshiba Corporation is a world leader and innovator in high technology, a diversified manufacturer and marketer of advanced electronic and electrical products. These products span from information & communications systems; digital consumer products; electronic devices and components; as well as power systems including nuclear energy; industrial and social infrastructure systems; and home appliances. Toshiba was founded in 1875, and today operates a global network of more than 730 companies, with 199,000 employees worldwide and annual sales surpassing US$67 billion. For more information on Toshiba visit toshiba.com.

© 2009 Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc. All product, service and company names are trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of their respective owners. Information including without limitation product prices, specifications, availability, content of services, and contact information is subject to change without notice. All rights reserved.

¹ Processor. CPU performance may vary. See Processor Legal Footnote at www.info.toshiba.com.

² Memory. Memory size may vary. See Memory Legal Footnote at www.info.toshiba.com.

³ Hard Disk Drive Capacity. Hard drive capacity may vary. 1 Gigabyte (GB) means 109 = 1,000,000,000 bytes using powers of 10. See Hard Disk Drive Capacity Legal Footnote at www.info.toshiba.com.

⁴ Wireless. May require purchase of additional software, external hardware, or services. Transmission speeds may vary. See Wireless Legal Footnote at www.info.toshiba.com.

⁵ USB Sleep & Charge. The “USB Sleep & Charge function” may not work with certain external devices even if they are compliant with the USB specification. In those cases, turn the power of the computer ON to charge the device.

⁶ Price. Reseller prices may vary. MSRP means “Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price.”