Toshiba Unveils Tecra A8 Notebook Computer

Toshiba's Digital Products Division, a division of Toshiba America Information Systems Inc., today announced its latest engineering breakthroughs with the launch of the Tecra(R) A8 notebook computer. The Tecra A8 is the result of Toshiba's quality assurance and design engineers collaborating to develop a mobile computing solution that dramatically increases reliability, quality and productivity expectations for a notebook computer.

This new addition to Toshiba's award-winning, business-class notebook family is engineered to lower the total cost of ownership (TCO) and surpass reliability demands of mobile professionals and students. To further enhance TCO and demonstrate the company's confidence in its latest engineering milestones, Toshiba is bundling the Tecra A8 with a free year of SystemGuard(R) the company's exclusive accidental damage coverage in addition to its standard, limited warranty coverage(1). This coupling furnishes users with a high level of comfort, knowing that Toshiba will stand by the Tecra A8 under any circumstance. SystemGuard is valued at $129(2).

To achieve this design breakthrough, Toshiba's Tecra A8 includes several new system enhancements:

Resilient Hinge Toshiba fine-tuned the hinge of the display to withstand years of open/close cycles.

Motherboard Optimization Engineers strategically repositioned the motherboard and increased the thickness by 13 percent from previous generations. These enhancements result in the protective external chassis absorbing more of the shock and reducing flex to improve system performance and longevity.

Protective Display Cover Toshiba enhanced the design of the display cover to better guard against potential screen damage from the daily rigors of mobile computing.

HDD Protection Toshiba implemented a denser Vibration Dome to add a fortified layer of protection to the system's hard disk drive and better guard against possible shock and vibration.

Reinforced Keyboard Toshiba integrated a reinforced keyboard with greater tactile response for a better typing experience.

Building on its heritage of producing highly reliable mobile computing solutions, the company tested the Tecra A8 utilizing Toshiba's Highly Accelerated Lifecycle Testing procedure (HALT) during every phase of system design. This exhaustive procedure subjected the Tecra A8 to accelerated stress testing to allow the quality assurance and design teams to identify and eliminate potential design concerns to deliver the company's most durable notebook computer to date.

In addition to these new enhancements, the Tecra A8 incorporates Toshiba's exclusive EasyGuard(TM) technology(4). This collection of hardware and software enhancements is designed to boost mobile security, system and data integrity, network connectivity and overall ease of use. Toshiba categorizes EasyGuard technology into:

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Protect & Fix

Utilizing a multi-level approach to data protection, the Tecra A8 incorporates specially made shock-absorbing materials to help safeguard critical components such as the hard disk drive and LCD display. Internally, the hard drive and display are housed within their own casings for better isolation against shock and impact. The sleek industrial design integrates impact bumpers on the four corners of the notebook to establish protection zones and separate internal components from the outer enclosure.

The Toshiba Hard Disk Drive (HDD) Protection System helps safeguard the notebook's hard disk drive against possible damage resulting from accidental dropping, turbulence, impact or vibration. Through the integration of a 3D accelerometer, the Toshiba HDD Protection System detects when the notebook experiences unsafe, sudden "acceleration" in any direction. Once danger is detected, the hard drive immediately places itself into a protected mode and parks the hard drive head until the system determines it is safe to resume normal operation.

The Tecra A8 also features an enhanced spill-resistant keyboard(5) that affords users time to save work and shut down the system in the event of an accident helping to prevent the loss of data.

Secure

Toshiba's new notebook also employs a multi-pronged approach to security in order to help defend itself against unauthorized access, data theft and virtual attacks. The root of Toshiba's security design is the Trusted Platform Module, an embedded security chipset that stores encryption keys, passwords and user credentials to ensure that data cannot be accessed or seen by anyone but an authorized user.

Further building on its security infrastructure is an integrated biometric fingerprint reader with single sign-on functionality. This added security feature associates the user's passwords for the BIOS, hard drive and operating system with one's fingerprint. By assigning passwords to three critical components of the notebook this presents unauthorized users with three unique password challenges just to launch the system's operating system. Large and small businesses will appreciate the ability to implement complex password schemes to maintain the integrity of secured data and applications. On an individual basis, users can benefit from the simplicity of password management for quick and easy access to the system and data.

Connect

To simplify wired and wireless connectivity, the new Tecra A8 is outfitted with a complete suite of communication technologies including Gigabit Ethernet, and V.92 modem and the Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection (802.11 a/b/g)(6) as part of the notebook's standard configuration. Additionally, the notebook can be configured with optional Bluetooth(R) v.2.0+EDR technology to connect with the growing number of Bluetooth(R) devices available.

The Tecra A8 features proprietary technologies such as Toshiba's recently upgraded ConfigFree(R) application and patented Diversity Antenna. ConfigFree is Toshiba's intuitive graphic connectivity management utility created to simplify the connectivity experience when using wired and wireless Ethernet or Bluetooth(R). Toshiba's Diversity Antenna design delivers superior wireless signal reception through the integration of strategically placed Bluetooth(R) technology and dual-band Wi-Fi(R) antennas in the notebook's display.

Optimize

The fourth element, Optimize, is a series of proprietary software enhancements, enabling users to customize notebook settings for maximum system performance and battery life based on individual needs and preferences. Features include Toshiba Power Saver to maximize battery life and breeze through meetings while fully connected, Toshiba's Presentation button, a one-touch button to display the screen's image onto an LCD projector or external monitor easily and instantaneously and a wireless on/off switch enabling and disabling the integrated wireless LAN and Bluetooth(R).

The Tecra A8 houses the latest Intel(R) Centrino(R) Duo Mobile Technology to give the company the fullest collection of business-class mobile computing options with dual core processing functionality. This notebook incorporates a 15.4-inch diagonal wide aspect TruBrite(R) display(7). The large display eliminates the need for a user to purchase an additional external monitor because of the increased display real estate. To further protect user investment, the Tecra A8 features Microsoft(R) Windows(R) Vista(TM) Capable technologies(8).

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