Evolution of Notebook PCs for Business Use Prospects for Business-Use Notebook PCs toward the Ubiquitous Societyt SANADA Tsutomu Trends in Notebook PC Market KUNII Shimpei According to the latest forecast, the share of notebook PCs in the U.S. and European PC markets will exceed 50 % in 2008. The widespread dissemination of notebook PCs signifies the arrival of the ubiquitous society, and the degree to which they are appropriately utilized is beginning to have an effect on the results achieved by business users. Toshiba has recognized the importance of increasing productivity for end users and improving operating costs, thanks to the valuable opinions gathered from corporate users. We are therefore proposing notebook PCs providing higher user value for business customers. New products having enhanced durability and security were released in early 2005, embodying the results of our research and development efforts to realize notebook PCs with higher value. Design and Evaluation of Thin and Light PC Chassis and Printed Circuit Boards NAKAJIMA Yuji / YAMADA Keiko The ultracompact libretto U100 and ultrathin dynabook SS SX notebook PCs were developed as commemorative models for Toshiba's 20th anniversary in the notebook computer business. The structural design of thin and light PCs involves greater challenges due to their weaker chassis, more difficult manufacturing process, and less efficient thermal diffusion. These issues were solved by applying layout design, collaborative design with printed circuit board computer-aided design (PCB-CAD) and mechanical-CAD, structural analysis using computer simulation, and PCB strain measurement. The libretto U100 and dynabook SS SX join Toshiba's "Thin & Light PC" lineup along with the robustly designed dynabook SS MX and dynabook SS LX models. Durable Design Technologies for Thin and Light PCs KAWAMURA Noriyasu / NAKAMURA Koj / MUKAI Minorui With the increasingly widespread use of portable PCs, demand has arisen for the protection of PCs and the data contained in their hard disk drives (HDDs) against unexpected shock. In response to this demand, Toshiba has developed durable design technologies and applied them to the new dynabook SS MX and SS LX models without compromising the "Thin & Light" design concept. These durable design technologies include an HDD protection system with a built-in three-axis acceleration sensor, simulation-aided design for shock protection structures, and chassis design with rubber padding unit supports. Printed Wiring Board Technologies for Thin and Light PCs KOGA Yuichi / HAPPOYA Akihiko / YAMAMOTO Nobuhiro In the field of thin and light PCs, minimization of the printed wiring board (PWB) area is indispensable. Even when products are compared with those in the same category from several years ago, new elements such as enlarged chip sets and the addition of a cooling mechanism are now being incorporated in PWBs while reduction of the mounting space is progressing. Toshiba has developed a high-density parts mounting technology that realizes a low loss stack via PWB and narrow part, as well as a ball grid array (BGA) table reverse side mounting technology. These technologies have been adopted in the dynabook SS SX/190 and libretto U100 notebook PCs. The PWB area in these models is less than 70 % that in conventional models. TOSHIBA RAID - RAID Technologies for Notebook PCs SUZUKI Noboru / KURASHIGE Takehiko / ARAMAKI Yasunori Toshiba has enhanced its MAGNIATM ATA RAID technology for notebook PCs and implemented the functions of a redundant array of independent (inexpensive) disks (RAID) on the Portege S100 (dynabook SS LX) and Qosmio G20 models as TOSHIBA RAID. The Portege S100 is the first RAID-powered product under 2.5 kg in the lightweight mobile category. RAID creates a pool of data storage space from several hard disks to provide redundancy and/or performance. The Portege S100 provides RAID-1 (mirroring), while the Qosmio G20 provides RAID-0 (striping) and RAID-1. TOSHIBA RAID actualizes new added value for notebook PCs, realizing "Safety and Security" as well as "Surprise and Sensation" in line with Toshiba's new concepts for notebook PCs. Security Technologies for Business Notebook PCs MATSUOKA Yoshio / UEDA Kunio Information security is currently attracting considerable attention, especially in Japan with the recent enactment of the Personal Information Protection Law. PCs used in the corporate environment contain huge volumes of personal information. As a result, the risks of the leakage of such information have become so high that the existence of the corporation itself may be threatened, through having to pay compensation for damages, for example. In the case of business notebook PCs, it has therefore become mandatory to provide customers with the security of having clear ways to protect information, because the greater portability of these PCs also increases their vulnerability to theft and loss. Utilizing its long-accumulated in-house technologies in both BIOS and application software, Toshiba has been aggressively strengthening information security while taking ease of use into consideration. Among the information security technologies that we have developed are protection against malicious alteration of a computer's BIOS, BIOS password, hard disk drive password, secure digital (SD) card token, device lock, fingerprint authentication, and handwritten signature log-on. |