Offering Users Greater Options and Selections with Three
of Capacities and with New Color Variation

Tokyo -- Toshiba Corporation today announced new additions to its popular line-up of "gigabeat^®" digital audio players that offer music lovers a greater choice of storage capacities and bring more color to their lives. The new models, all based on an integrated 1.8-inch hard disk drive (HDD), will be launched in 5GB, 20GB and 40GB capacities, each with multiple color choices, including special limited editions that are ready to become collectors' items.

Toshiba's gigabeat^® digital audio players are small enough to slip into a shirt pocket but large enough to carry a library of songs and to provide music for all moods and occasions. The new 5GB model has the capacity to store some 1,250 four-minute pieces of music recorded at 128kbps in the WMA or MP3 formats, while the 20GB model and flagship 40GB model have a approximate capacities of 5,000 and 10,000 pieces of music, respectively.

Each new model will offer striking color variations. "gigabeat^® G5" will be available in whitish silver, along with special limited editions in crystal blue and sunset orange; "gigabeat^® G22" will also offer a whitish silver version and a limited edition in burning red; the "gigabeat^® G40" will be launched in two colors, sparkling gray and a limited edition in deep turquoise. The 5GB and 20GB models will go on sale in the Japanese market in July, and the 40GB versions will follow in September, all at open prices.

"The Japanese market for digital audio players with HDD is expected to reach 600,000 units in this fiscal year," said Takeshi Hagio, Vice President of Digital Camera & Imaging System Division of Toshiba's Digital Media Network Company. "With these new gigabeat^® players we want to stimulate further growth and demand with versatile players offering excellent functions and features and that bring more listening pleasure to people's lives."

Toshiba has assured that the stylish looks of the gigabeat^® players are matched by the quality of the music they play, and by hardware and software features that add to the listening experience.

High quality sound delivery is complemented by a selection of 28 equalizers designed to enhance listening pleasure across the spectrum of music, from classical to jazz and from acoustic to rock and hip-hop. And listeners will find it easy to keep track of the music they are playing thanks to a bright LCD that includes a blue backlight as well as offering negative/positive reverse mode for clear images, even when used in dark places or at night.

Music downloads from a PC are fast and simple via a USB 2.0 connection that delivers a CD's worth of music files in only 30 seconds. And that is not all. Connection to the USB port can be used to charge gigabeat^®'s battery, and the recharging stand (optional for the 5GB model) has a USB port and can function as a host server. Equipped with an optional Toshiba-approved USB-type wireless or wired LAN adapter, the stand can connect a gigabeat^® player to a network as a virtual HDD, allowing music and data downloads from multiple PCs.

In addition to fast download times, gigabeat^® also offers extensive music management functions. All the players are fully compatible with "Windows Media^® Player 9 Series," which is preinstalled on new Windows PCs, and also bundle Toshiba's proprietary "TOSHIBA Audio Application Ver. 4.1." Both applications enable transfer of encoded audio data to gigabeat^®, automated creation of music libraries, and full freedom in compiling and editing of playlists. TOSHIBA Audio Application also supports one-touch downloads of audio data to the gigabeat^® from a designated folder that synchronizes with gigabeat^®. It also exports and automatically edits tags to carry titles and artist names. The Toshiba software also supports Unicode in Windows^® XP and Windows^® 2000, expanding the range of characters that can be displayed on the gigabeat®'s LCD to include umlauts and other diacriticals.

All the new gigabeat^® models are bundled with software for "Windows Media^® DRM", the digital rights management system developed for secure downloads of content with no breach of copyright protection. This support allows on-line purchases and downloads of music from on-line stores supporting Windows Media DRM sites.

The performance of the new gigabeat^® models is rounded out by a built-in lithium-ion battery that provides up to 11 hours of continuous play, and by a neck-strap-type remote controller that allows users to control basic functions, including volume adjustment or skipping songs, by pressing the control button embedded in the strap.

Outline of New gigabeat^® Series

Main Specifications

• Windows^® and WindowsMedia^® are registered trademark or trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and in other countries.
• Pentium^® is trademark or registered trademark of Intel Corporation in the U.S.
• gigabeat is registered trademark of Toshiba Corporation.
• Companies and products mentioned in this press release may be registered trademark or trademark of specific corporations.
• Operation not guaranteed for all PCs. Compatibility not guaranteed with hand-built PCs.
• Operation not guaranteed with computers installed with Windows 2000 Professional/XP Professional with a dual CPU.
• Use of this product when aircraft is taking off or landing is prohibited under the aviation act. In hospitals, please follow the hospital's instructions on use.
• Specifications subject to change without notice.