Panasonic plans new Toughbook laptops
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InfoWorld - Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. (Panasonic) is refreshing its&#160;Toughbook rugged laptop PC line&#160;and aiming for a big jump in international sales of the computers over the next three years.
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Japan's Toshiba Corp. said on Wednesday it would introduce notebook computers with HD DVD technology in the last quarter of 2005 in a move to pressure rivals in the battle over formats for next-generation DVDs.
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Blog: Panasonic plans to announce new digital cameras and high-definition camcorders at an event in New York.
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Panasonic said on Thursday it would   start selling the world's largest television set, featuring a   103-inch (262-centimetre) screen, for $80,000.
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(InfoWorld) - Making an effort toÂ compete with DellÂ for business users, Lenovo Group has launched a widescreen version of its ThinkPad line of notebook PCs. The ThinkPad T60 will use a 15.4-inch widescreen, yet hold its weight down to 5.1 pounds, lighter than any comparable notebook from the top five PC vendors, Lenovo said Tuesday. The company also hopes that adding this feature will regain consumers' confidence after Lenovo was forced in September toÂ recall the batteries from 526,000 ThinkPad modelsÂ -- including the T60. Like notebooks sold by competing vendors Dell, Apple Computer, and Toshiba, those computers used lithium-ion batteriesÂ manufactured by Sony, whose faulty design could lead to overheating and fire. Lenovo already sells widescreen notebooks in other product lines, such as the Z-series and 3000-series for small businesses, but this is the first widescreen model for corporate users, said Rajat Aggarwal, product marketing manager for the T-Series at Lenovo. Those customers can already chose a T60 notebook with 14- or 15-inch screen, but have recently been asking for the full widescreen version, allowing them to display more columns on an Excel spreadsheet, show multiple windows and fit better onto airplane tray tables, Aggarwal said. In another nod to high-end users, the notebook will be capable of running Microsoft's new Vista OS, with a dual-core Core 2 Duo processor from Intel and graphics card from ATI. Despite this package, Lenovo is lagging behind its rival PC vendors in delivering widescreen notebooks to the business market, analysts said. "Lenovo is playing catch-up in the widescreen game," said Samir Bhavnani, research director at Current Analysis. "Lenovo is a little late to the game because Dell's entire lineup of corporate systems is available in widescreen right now. Dell just identified a market shift before Lenovo did." Still, the product should be popular with Lenovo's core audience, the corporate user, Bhavnani said. Since acquiring IBM's notebook PC division in 2005, Lenovo has succeeded at preserving the ThinkPad brand's history of innovation, rolling out features such as the tablet PC and integrated wireless broadband. Lenovo is selling the ThinkPad T60 notebook with 15.4-inch display for $1,399 in the base model. Users can upgrade to a version that works as a laptop workstation for faster numeric computation or to run the Vista Premium OS.ADVERTISEMENTNEW IT SERVICES FROM IBM: EASIER TO BUY AND IMPLEMENTDiscover a simpler, more cost-effective way to get the solutions your company needs to grow more flexible and efficient.
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Apple Inc. today unveiled new MacBook Pro laptops that feature Intel's latest Santa Rosa chip set and -- in its 15-in. models -- LED-backlit screens.
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Updated OS, new consumer products expected to be introduced next month.
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Panasonic brand maker Matsushita Electric  Industrial Co Ltd  and microchip maker Renesas  Technology have agreed to tie up in developing next generation  semiconductors, the Nikkan Kogyo newspaper reported on  Thursday.
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LAS VEGAS - Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. (Panasonic) and Microsoft Corp. are working together to realize digital rights management (DRM) system interoperability between Windows Media and SD (Secure Digital) memory card, Panasonic said Wednesday at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES).
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(InfoWorld) - Apple will show off new MacBook Pro notebooks along with a full demonstration of the next operating system, Mac OS X 10.5 (a.k.a. Leopard), at next month's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), a Wall Street analyst predicted Wednesday. PiperJaffray analyst Gene Munster rejected rumors that Apple will tout its iPhone at the conference, which opens June 14 in San Francisco. Instead, Apple will launch the new cellular phone in late June. At WWDC, Munster wrote in a note to investors, CEO Steve Jobs and crew will flesh out the remaining undisclosed features of Leopard, announce updated or new MacBook Pro models, and perhaps unveil a revamped iMac desktop lineup. "We believe the Street would react positively to such product announcements," he said. Munster's forecast didn't exactly come from left field. Apple has already promised that Leopard, once scheduled for a spring release but now shooting forÂ October,Â would be feature-complete by WWDC. Developers, in fact, are to receiveÂ beta copiesÂ of the new operating system at the conference. Nor is the MacBook call a long shot. Just last week the Cupertino, Calif. computer makerÂ tweakedÂ the MacBooks by boosting hard disk capacity and bumping up processor speeds, clearing the way for an upgrade to the pricier Pro models. Analysts, pundits, and bloggers have for weeks been hyping the idea ofÂ LED-backlitÂ MacBook Pros using the new Intel Santa Rosa chip set. Although neither Apple or AT&TÂ have spilled an iPhone launch date, Munster figures it will come after WWDC. That means there's little chance sales will boost Apple's bottom line for the quarter ending June 30. However, during the next three months, Munster predicted Apple would sell approximately one million iPhones at an average price of $550 each. But because Apple plans to account for iPhone revenues over the life of each phone's contract, the company will see only $27.5 million in recognized revenues for the quarter. Munster also pegged the September quarter as the time frame for a widescreen iPod -- essentially a stripped iPhone. "Expect Apple to launch new widescreen iPods with the iPhone's multi-touch technology at a price-point below the iPhone's $499," said Munster. "Like $399." PiperJaffray maintained its Outperform rating for Apple shares, with a price target of $140. On Wednesday, Apple closed $112.89, down 65 cents or 0.57 percent, for the day.
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Blog: Panasonic upgrades its Toughbook line, and General Dynamics shows off a tiny drop and spill-proof notebook.
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TechWeb - Panasonic will debut the drive, only 0.37 of an inch thick, next month at the Consumer Electronics Show.
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Devices to power to PDAs, cell phones, and laptops could be available next year.
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Japanese electronics giant Matsushita, the maker of Panasonic products, has begun recalling some 6,000 laptop batteries due to fears that they may overheat, a company spokesman has said.
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Panasonic brand products maker Matsushita Electric Industrial unveiled five new DVD recorders on Wednesday and said it was aiming to boost its share of the domestic market to over 40 percent from around 35 percent.
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(InfoWorld) - Japan's Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.Â (Panasonic) said it has developed a lithium-ion battery that won't overheat even if a short circuit occurs. The new battery includes a heat-resistive insulator inside the battery cell, next to an existing separator that insulates the anode and cathode. If that separator is punctured a short circuit occurs that typically causes the battery to overheat and in some circumstances catch fire. Panasonic said its insulator layer ensures that the battery won't overheat even in the event of a short circuit. Panasonic's announcement responds to consumers' concern about the safety of lithium-ion batteries following a number of incidents involving them. Earlier this year most major laptop computer makersÂ started recall or exchange programsÂ for batteries containing lithium-ion cells made by Sony after a number of batteries overheated and caught fire. Sony blamed the problem on metallic particles that got inside the battery during production, puncturing the separator layer and causing a short circuit. The replacement program covers 9.6 million batteries and willÂ cost SonyÂ up to Â¥51 billion (US$432 million). Then on Dec. 7, Japanese mobile-carrier NTT DoCoMo and handset-maker Mitsubishi ElectricÂ recalled 1.3 million cell-phone batteriesÂ made by Sanyo Electric, saying they could overheat and catch fire. Panasonic's new batteries are made by another company in the Matsushita group, Matsushita Battery Industrial Co., and are ready for mass production, said Akira Kadota, a spokesman for Panasonic in Tokyo. The batteries aren't available directly to end users but are sold in bulk to electronics product manufacturers, so Panasonic wouldn't reveal their price. Kadota said they could be more expensive than current cells but could also work out cheaper if large orders are placed. Matsushita Battery Industrial is one of the largest battery makers in Japan. Â
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Contains 'thermally resilient' layer Panasonic parent Matsushita today announced what it claims is a "safe" lithium-ion rechargeable battery. The secret: inserting a layer of heat-resistant insulating material to prevent fire-starting internal short-circuits of the kind that ignited a number of notebooks this year.â¦