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Toshiba Canada marked its 20th anniversary -- and Toshiba's 20th year of producing portable computers -- with new and improved features, including EasyGuard technology, designed to enhance the durability, security, connectivity and convenience of its notebooks.
Launched in February 2005, Toshiba EasyGuard centres around three key elements - 'Protect and Fix', 'Secure', and 'Connect'.
Protect and Fix consists of diagnostic tools, system durability and protective design features intended to help maximize uptime. Worried about accidentally dropping a notebook? Rubber shock protection enclosed around key components and placed around the screen and hard drive help reduce risk of damage. Notebooks have an air cushion between the motherboard and casing, and rounded bumper-like corners protrude at the base so that, if the device is dropped, the corner itself absorbs the brunt of the impact.
EasyGuard-equipped notebooks "are ideal for a mobile workforce because they are more resistant to hardware and data damage," explains Toshiba Canada product manager Mini Saluja. She says hard-disk protection, with three-axis motion monitoring, is intended to prevent damage from shock and vibrations. When it detects motion, it parks the drive, unless, of course, the user sets the sensitivity level so the device can be used while inside a train or bus.
Spill-resistant keyboards delay damage from small, accidental spills. The current technology -- a layer of insulation beneath the keyboard -- has been tested for 30 millilitres of liquid. That's about a beaker-full, and users have a couple of minutes to shut the system down, wipe the surface as dry as possible, and remove the hard drive, in order to avoid a short-circuit.
The second EasyGuard component, Secure, addresses system and data protection and integrity. Security features such as password utilities are tied into the system BIOS (basic input output systems), and users can temporarily disable USB ports to prevent data from being copied onto removable devices by unauthorized persons. Trusted Platform Module, a secure hardware chip, resides on the motherboard and lets users encrypt sensitive data and store keys. EasyGuard also includes a fingerprint sensor on selected models protection.
"What can be safer than your own fingerprint?" Saluja says. "Unlike a password, yet you can't forget. If you don't remember which finger you used, you only have so many to try."
For users with the new Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Intel Sonoma platform, an XD-Bit feature detects and prevents worm attacks.
EasyGuard's third component, Connect, is designed to provide easy, reliable wired and wireless connectivity. Saluja says this is useful for people who travel or commute because they often have multiple network settings and these can be cumbersome to change. Toshiba ConfigFree software lets users connect to wired and wireless networks in different environments without having to reconfigure settings. As well, antennas are placed on top of notebook screens to boost wireless signals, and a wireless radar feature scans the surrounding area for potential access points.
Users can set and save multiple profiles and move back and forth automatically as needed. A tool to create virtual meeting rooms for sharing files and chatting with colleagues respects the system's security features. When a network can't be found a trouble-shooting mechanism offers assistance.
Toshiba has installed selected features of EasyGuard on many of its latest commercial notebooks, including the Tecra A3, A4, A5, M3, M4, and S2; the Portégé S100, R200, and M300; and a full-featured Libretto mini-notebook.
A separate set of features, Toshiba Utilities, is designed to help users control their notebook. These utilities, activated through the keyboard function keys and space bar, are a long-standing component of the company's notebooks and have been upgraded and improved continually over the years, Saluja says. Utilities include programs to turn the fan on and off, view the power mode, adjust the volume, set the supervisor password, determine screen brightness, zoom in and out, and even lock the computer.
Toshiba Utilities is intended for people on the go because many of the functions, once applied, help reduce battery consumption, Saluja says. "It's a utility to customize your notebook to make it do what you need to do."
Saluja says features such as Toshiba Utilities and EasyGuard are designed to allow users to spend their mobile computing time productively, with added reliability and security, and fewer hassles. "It takes more than just specs to offer a quality notebook," she adds.
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