New notebook to be released by Toshiba is a joint project with Microsoft

This week Toshiba announced plans of releasing a new laptop on January 31, which is a collaboration with software giant Microsoft. The Portege R400 notebook computer is being billed as the Windows Vista signature computer. It is scheduled to retail at around $3499 USD.

Microsoft and Toshiba are billing the R400 as the signature Vista PC because it has all the technologies necessary to run Vista in an efficient and fast manner-plenty of speed, hard drives space and a good video card to boot.

Features on the R400 include the ability to automatically synchronize email and calendar events using Microsoft’s Active Notifications and Toshiba’s ConFig free, which is able to detect and connect to the strongest network connection available.

Other features of the Toshiba R400 include a 12.1 inch widescreen display, the Toshiba Edge Display, which is a secondary display located on the front edge of the notebook, and Ultra Band technology, which allows the R400 to connect automatically to a Toshiba Wireless Port Replicator when close enough. The Edge Display serves as the user’s personal information assistant, and is viewable in both notebook and tablet modes.

Additionally, the Portege has the capability to be used as either a standard notebook or tablet PC, depending on the user’s needs.