Toshiba Unleashes New gigabeat^® Featuring Premium Audio Playback

IRVINE, Calif.--(EON:Enhanced Online News)--Toshiba’s Digital Products Division, a division of Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., today announced the gigabeat^® T400, the company’s first flash-based portable digital media player featuring high-end audio H2C audio enhancement technology and support for WMA Lossless audio files for $119.99¹. Toshiba has also expanded its recycling program to include its gigabeat^® portable media player lineup.

“In bringing the gigabeat T400 to market, Toshiba wanted to offer users a unique alternative to the portable media players currently available from a technology, durability and pricing standpoint”

Toshiba’s gigabeat T400 incorporates H2C technology to improve the quality of compressed audio for an unmatched listening experience. H2C technology enhances the quality of MP3 and WMA audio files by restoring some of a song’s treble & bass signals that get lost when tracks are ripped. In addition to H2C, the gigabeat T400 can play WMA Lossless music files to further supply users with the option of enjoying music at the highest level possible from a compressed file format. These functions are enhanced through a 1-bit digital amplifier, and DCTSC filter, which reduce noise in audible frequencies.

The gigabeat T400 has 4GB² of NAND flash memory that can store up to 1000 songs³, 4,000 photos³ and up to six hours of video³. To take advantage of this storage capacity, the gigabeat T400 can deliver up to 16 hours⁴ of audio playback or up to 5 hours⁴ of video playback on a single battery charge⁴. Toshiba also designed the gigabeat T400 with a stunning 2.4-inch LCD color display, which is one of the largest screens in this class of flash-based portable media players. As a mobile companion, the gigabeat T400 is constructed with a magnesium alloy frame to give the player a greater level of strength and durability.

“In bringing the gigabeat T400 to market, Toshiba wanted to offer users a unique alternative to the portable media players currently available from a technology, durability and pricing standpoint,” said Jeff Barney, vice president of marketing, Digital Products Division, Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc. “For under $120, few products on the market can match the gigabeat’s ease of use and playback quality.”

Each gigabeat sports Toshiba’s PlusPad^TM control button to provide an easy and intuitive user-experience for navigating an extensive library of music and video files, including MP3, WMA WAV, WMA Lossless and WMV. Meanwhile, the Toshiba gigabeat T400 is compatible with Windows Media Player version 10 and above, which makes transferring entire media collections as simple as a few clicks. The gigabeat T400 is compatible with some of the most popular download sites on the Internet, including Napster^® and eMusic^®. Through these sites, gigabeat users have access to a database of several million songs.

Toshiba’s newest gigabeat is available in three unique color trim options of Blue, Pink and Orange that are set on a contrasting black finish. The gigabeat T-series has a starting price of $119.99¹ and is available at www.toshibadirect.com, as well as a variety of major consumer electronics and computer stores nationwide with the following specifications:

gigabeat T-Series: T400 Unique Specifications (ESUP $119.991)
--		Audio playback format
		--		MP3, WMA, WAV and WMA Lossless
--		Video Playback Format
		--		WMV
--		Photo format
		--		JPEG
--		Built-in Rechargeable Li-ion Battery
		--		Up to 16 hours4 of audio playback, 5 hours of video playback4
--		4GB2 NAND flash memory
--		2.4-inch Color LCD (QVGA)
--		USB 2.0
--		Dimensions: 3.37" x 2.13" x .4"
--		Weight: 2.05 oz
--		One-year standard limited warranty5

The gigabeat T-Series is available with a one-year standard, limited warranty⁵. All new Toshiba consumer products are RoHS-compatible⁶, effectively reducing the environmental impact by restricting the use of lead, mercury and certain other hazardous substances.

Toshiba’s recycling initiative is also an efficient means for properly disposing of used computers, consumers now have a means for recycling used gigabeat portable media players for free and without obligation to purchase a new Toshiba product. Additionally, non-Toshiba digital media players, computers and other consumer electronic products can be recycled for a small fee. For more information, please visit: www.reuse.toshiba.com.

In addition to its recycling program, Toshiba offers users the option to trade-in pre-owned and functioning gigabeat’s for cash, and has provided a Trade-in Estimator at http://toshiba.eztradein.com/toshiba/. The use of the Trade-in Estimator helps ensure that the recycling and trade-in experience are both quick and easy.

About Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc. (TAIS)

Headquartered in Irvine, Calif., TAIS is comprised of four business units: Digital Products Division, Imaging Systems Division, Storage Device Division, and Telecommunication Systems Division. Together, these divisions provide mobile products and solutions, including industry leading portable computers; projectors; imaging products for the security, medical and manufacturing markets; storage products for automotive, computer and consumer electronics applications; and telephony equipment and associated applications.

TAIS provides sales, marketing and services for its wide range of information products in the United States and Latin America. TAIS is an independent operating company owned by Toshiba America, Inc., a subsidiary of Toshiba Corporation, which is a global leader in high technology and integrated manufacturing of electrical and electronic components, products and systems, as well as major infrastructure systems. Toshiba has more than 191,000 employees worldwide and annual sales of over US $60 billion (FY2006). For more information on Toshiba’s leading innovations, visit the company’s Web site at www.toshiba.com.

1. Price. Reseller prices may vary. ESUP means “Estimated Single Unit Price.”

2. Flash Memory Capacity. Flash memory devices as well as the PC’s operating system calculate the storage capacity as 1GB (gigabyte) = 2³⁰ = 1,073,741,824 bytes. Available storage capacity will be less as some listed capacity is used for formatting and other functions. See Legal Footnote at www.info.toshiba.com.

3. Media Storage. Based on 4mb per song, 1mb per photo and video is based on WMV 800kbps at 320x240 resolution.

4. Battery. Battery life may vary. See Battery Life Legal Footnotes at www.info.toshiba.com.

5. Warranty. The terms and conditions of Toshiba’s standard limited warranty, extended warranty and service upgrade terms and conditions are available at www.warranty.toshiba.com.

6. RoHS. This product is compatible with European Union Directive 2002/95/EC. See RoHS legal footnote at www.info.toshiba.com.

© 2007 Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc. All product, service and company names are trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of their respective owners. Information including without limitation product prices, specifications, availability, content of services, and contact information is subject to change without notice.

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