Toshiba has spent the last 25 years refining the basic laptop design of flat screen, x86 processor, full-size keyboard and removable storage. Its Portege R700 will continue that tradition when it goes on sale next quarter, but two other new portable computers Toshiba will release around the same time take the company in new directions.
E-readers like the Kindle and Nook are surging in popularity but will hit a wall in 2014 when sales drop off due to competition from a wide range of consumer electronic devices, including the iPad, according to Informa Telecoms & Media of London.
A new research study estimates that 163 million "smartbooks" will ship worldwide in 2015 - a significant rate of growth given that the very first models only appeared in 2008.
Hewlett-Packard's first smartbook, the Compaq AirLife 100, announced on Friday, could be a rival to Apple's iPad as the two companies aim to attract buyers looking for netbook alternatives, analysts said.
Hewlett-Packard has launched the Compaq AirLife 100, a smartbook based on the Android OS and Qualcomm's Snapdragon processor, it said on Friday.
According to a rising chorus of rumors, Apple will announce its mythic tablet PC, possibly dubbed the iSlate, later this month. Combined with Lenovo's announcement of Skylight Smartbook, and its upcoming IdeaPad U1--a hybrid notebook and tablet PC, consumers may have a hard time making sense of the overlapping array of available gadgets.