Toshiba puts Cell-based chip into Qosmios

By Darius Chang
Jul 29, 2008

SINGAPORE--With Centrino platforms dominating the mobile market, it is difficult to differentiate one's product from another. Other than design, most vendors value-add to their laptops by bundling proprietary software, which may or may not be appreciated. However, Toshiba has made a strong leap forward in its new Centrino 2-based Qosmio series.

The new Qosmio X300 has an aggressive Fire Shark design.

Forget multitouch trackpads. The Qosmio G50 and F50 brings the future here with gesture navigation. The new systems are the first to incorporate the proprietary Toshiba Quad Core HD processor for this purpose, which leaves the Core 2 Duo chip and Nvidia graphics engine free for other tasks. The Toshiba Quad Core HD chip is based on the Cell technology, the heart of the PlayStation 3 console.

Not only does the new chip take on the job of rendering, decoding and encoding HD videos, the Quad Core HD processor allows the Qosmio G50 and F50 to incorporate gesture controls and face navigation. By simply moving one's hands in front of the Webcam, the user can move the mouse cursor as well as control multimedia playback. The face navigation feature recognizes individual mugs and displays an index of videos specific to that person. This makes searching for a particular clip much simpler.

But despite all the excitement over these new features, we did not forget the newest member of the Qosmio family, the X300. Sitting between the 15.4-inch F50 and 18.4-inch G50, the Qosmio X300 is decked out in a new Fire Shark design which proclaims its affinity for gamers. It may not have the fancy Toshiba Quad Core HD processor or built-in TV tuner, but with an Nvidia GeForce 9700M GTS graphics engine and 5.1-channel audio system, the Qosmio X300 will make short work of most gaming titles. And for a limited time only, the Qosmio X300 will come bundled with a Razer Krait mouse, Goliathus soft mat and a Bagman backpack.

New products

Model name	In a nutshell
Toshiba Qosmio F50 Click for more details	Wow factor: The Qosmio F50 is the most portable of the Qosmio series, yet remains decked out with high-end entertainment features and the new Toshiba Quad Core HD processor. Notable features: Core 2 Duo processor 15.4-inch display Nvidia GeForce 9600M GT graphics 5.1-channel audio system Toshiba Quad Core HD processor with gesture controls and face recognition Hybrid analog/digital TV tuner FM tuner Regza Link (HDMI-CEC) port USB/eSATA combo port Windows Vista Ultimate Edition Expected: To be announced Price: To be announced
Toshiba Qosmio X300 Click for more details	Wow factor: The Qosmio X300 may not have the fancy Toshiba Quad Core HD processor or a TV tuner, but its Nvidia GeForce 9700M GTS chip should blast though most games. Notable features: Core 2 Duo processor 17-inch display Nvidia GeForce 9700M GTS graphics 5.1-channel audio system Dual HDD slots FM tuner Regza Link (HDMI-CEC) port USB/eSATA combo port Windows Vista Ultimate Edition Expected: To be announced Price: To be announced
Toshiba Qosmio G50 Click for more details	Wow factor: With a full-HD display, Toshiba Quad Core HD processor and 5.1-channel audio system, the only thing missing from the flagship Qosmio G50 is a Blu-ray drive to make it complete. Notable features: Core 2 Duo processor 18.4-inch full HD display Nvidia GeForce 9600M GT graphics 5.1-channel audio system Toshiba Quad Core HD processor with gesture controls and face recognition Hybrid analog/digital TV tuner FM tuner Regza Link (HDMI-CEC) port USB/eSATA combo port Windows Vista Ultimate Edition Expected: To be announced Price: To be announced