Widening the scope of the powerful Cell processor yet further, Toshiba’s Digital Products Division (DPD) has this week announced the arrival of the world’s very first laptop equipped with Cell processing technology.
Toshiba unveils world\'s first Cell-equipped laptop via the Qosmio G55-Q802. Image: Toshiba.
Labelled the “Quad Core HD Processor” by the computer boffins at Tokyo-based Toshiba Corp., the considerable power of Cell technology will be made available through the consumer electronics manufacturer’s Qosmio G55-Q802 high-performance laptop.
The result of a joint development venture between Sony, IBM and Toshiba, the Cell microprocessor is perhaps more widely known for providing the core source of performance for Sony’s Computer Entertainment’s popular PlayStation 3 videogames console. Several thousand variants of the Cell processor are also used in IBM’s industry-leading Roadrunner supercomputer.
“The addition of the TOSHIBA Quad Core HD Processor marks a watershed moment in the multimedia and HD segments,” claimed Jeff Barney, vice president and general manager of Toshiba’s Digital Products Division. “Qosmio G55-Q802 laptop PC users now have the power and ability to control and manipulate their personal content with unmatched precision and speed while also enjoying their full DVD collections at resolutions up to 1080i.”
Citing innovation as the “key ingredient” to the development of its Qosmio brand, Toshiba outlines that the Quad Core HD Processor was designed to reduce processing stresses placed on the CPU in order to increase the effectiveness of the creative process and handle a wide selection of multimedia-based tasks.
Toshiba is looking to follow through on that design statement by tethering the performance of its newly implemented Cell chip alongside Intel’s latest Core 2 Duo processing technology and NVIDIA’s muscle-heavy GeForce 9600 GT graphics card. According to Toshiba, such an oomph-worthy blend of core components will enable creative professionals and enthusiasts to use the Qosmio G55-Q802 to complete high-intensity tasks “in a fraction of the time” it would ordinarily take.
Beyond the cutting-edge professional efficiencies associated with facial-recognition Video Indexing for swift video cataloguing, and the HD conversion and video-editing advantages provided by Transcoding, more mainstream temptations connected to the Quad Core HD Processor include:
Upconvert and Upconversion, a feature that enhances standard-definition (SD) video files, such as home movies and DVDs, boosting their performance to a 720p high-definition standard. Used in conjunction with a HMDI-CEC port, users are further able to output standard DVDs in 1080i high definition via a HDTV.
And the introduction of Gesture Control, which negates the need for a conventional remote control unit for watching DVDs, listening to CDs or conducting PowerPoint demonstrations. With Gesture Control, the G55’s built-in Web camera interprets physical movements that define play, pause, stop, rewind and fast forward during movies, music playback, and presentation slides.
Other temptation-defining media features attached to Toshiba’s Qosmio G55 series laptop include an 18.4-inch widescreen TruBrite high-definition screen (with true 16:9 aspect ratio), two premium Harman Kardon stereo speakers, a sub-woofer and Dolby Home Theater technology.
The Qosmio G55 line comes in two flavours, one with the Quad Core HD Processor, and one without. Their specifications are:
Qosmio G55-Q802
* OS selection at first boot: Windows Vista Home Premium (SP1, 64-bit5 version) or Windows Vista Home Premium (SP1, 32-bit version)
* Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7350 (2.0 GHz)
* 3MB L2 Cache and a 1066MHz front side bus (FSB)
* Toshiba Quad Core HD Processor
* 4096MB PC2-6400 DDR2 800MHz SDRAM memory
* 500GB of storage using two 5400RPM Serial ATA hard disk drives (HDDs)
* DVD SuperMulti (+/- double layer) drive with Labelflash supporting 11 formats
* NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT with 512MB GDDR2 discrete graphics memory
* Atheros 802.11 b/g/n wireless-LAN
Qosmio G55-Q801
* OS selection at first boot: Windows Vista Home Premium (SP1, 64-bit(5) version) or Windows Vista Home Premium (SP1, 32-bit version)
* 320GB of storage using a 5400 RPM Serial ATA HDD
* NVIDIA GeForce 9200M GS with 256MB GDDR2 discrete graphics memory
The Qosmio G55-Q802 (with Quad Core HD Processor) is expected to arrive at retail with a price somewhere in the vicinity of $1,550 USD. The Q801 non-Quad Core model will be priced somewhere around $1,300 USD. The G55 line can also be purchased direct from Toshiba by clicking here.
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