Toshiba unveils Ivy Bridge laptops and ICS tablets

Toshiba's massive 13.3 inch tablet.

The next generation of Intel’s Core processors may not have been officially announced, but Toshiba is getting things started with an announcement in America detailing laptops taking advantage of the new chips, as well as faster and bigger tablets coming in 2012 too.

First up is a new Satellite laptop from Toshiba offering the 3rd generation Intel Core processing technology, known as Ivy Bridge. The Satellite P800 will come in three versions, spanning 14 inch, 15.6 inch, and 17.3 inch display sizes. Each model will come with USB 3.0 ports, Nvidia GeForce graphics, and an aluminium body.

The Toshiba Qosmio... now with aluminium and a glowing red logo.

Toshiba’s gaming computers receive a refresh too, with the Qosmio updated for Intel’s latest processors. The Qosmio X875 will run on 3rd generation Intel Core processors, Nvidia GeForce GTX 670M graphics with 3GB RAM, and feature a 17.3 inch screen that will arrive in either 1600×900 or Full HD 3D.  Up to two terabytes of storage are on offer in the laptop with four USB 3.0 ports, Gigabit Ethernet, and Harman/Kardon speakers. Like the Satellite P800 series, the new Qosmio will feature an aluminium chassis.

Using aluminium as a body material is a welcome change for a company known for relying mostly on plastic, but not all the laptops will be receiving the metal chassis.

The Satellite L800 series will take advantage of Ivy Bridge chips, but feature plastic bodies in a variety of colours, while offering the raised island key keyboards and a budget price tag. AMD chips could also feature in these machines, though it’s unknown whether Australia will see AMD-based models.

Not all of Toshiba's laptops will feature aluminium bodies. Some, like the L800, will still be plastic.

It’s not just laptops, though, as Toshiba seeks to take more of the tablet market with three more models that will probably replace the current AT200 10 inch and AT1S0 7 inch tablets available in Australia.

The three new tablets will all run Google’s latest version of Android – Ice Cream Sandwich – and feature the Nvidia Tegra 3 processor, the same chip running in the well-reviewed Asus Transformer Prime tablet and HTC’s recently released One X smartphone.

Overseas, the tablets are called “Excite”, which is a slight departure from the “Thrive” branding it initially received, a brand Toshiba Australia ignored due to the name being connected with a brand of fertiliser locally.

Toshiba's new 7.7 inch tablet has a different style to its previous 7 inch AT1S0.

As mentioned previously, there will be three tablets, with each of the three differing in size. First up will be a small model likely to replace the AT1S0, featuring a 7.7 inch AMOLED display, Tegra 3 processor, storage capacity in either 16 or 32GB, microSD expansion slot, and a thickness similar to the AT200.

Next is the mid-size tablet, with the Excite 10, a model that will probably be renamed to the AT300 locally. This one features the Nvidia Tegra 3 processor, 10.1 inch LED display, SD card slot, micro HDMI, and storage options available in 16, 32, and 64GB.

And there will even be a third tablet making its way from Toshiba this year, with the company investing in a 13.3 inch tablet. As you can expect, this model features a huge 13.3 inch screen, huge at least from the point of view that this is a tablet and not a laptop. Toshiba is saying that this thing will deliver up to 13 hours of battery life and a week of stand-by time.

This news comes courtesy of Toshiba’s press department in the USA, and while there’s no official word from Toshiba Australia on availability and pricing (or local model names), we’d hazard a guess that we’ll hear something in the next few weeks.