Cortana key confirmed in upcoming Toshiba Windows 10 laptops

Laptop manufacturer Toshiba has made good on its promise to be one of the first to release a new line of laptops with a built-in Cortana Key. The icon of the key is rather reminiscent of the search key on many Chromebook laptops, although it’s unclear whether the design is merely generic, or patented, as Samsung uses the same icon for it’s own search key, since the first inception of its own Chromebook line.

The new back-to-school laptops will initially ship with Windows 8.1, and will all be eligible to upgrade for free to Windows 10 on July 29th. The new key will allow users to activate Cortana, in the same way as the Windows key brings up the task bar menu, which makes the new Cortana key, the second of its kind, and most likely a key that will be adopted by other operating systems as well, as voice-activated virtual assistants gain popularity.

Four, out of the recently announced, five Toshiba series laptops, will be available at most retail locations, which include the following:

Satellite C Series

This entry-level laptop offers the option of either AMD or Intel processors, up to 8GB or RAM and up to one Terabyte of storage. Apparently there is no evidence of SSD options available directly from Toshiba for this model. The body is made of a type of plastic that Toshiba defines as “Textures Resin”. The screen sizes available for this laptop are 15 inches and 17 inches, with a touchscreen option. The price point for this model has been set by the manufacturer at a very attractive $395.

Satellite L Series

Mainstream users have traditionally flocked to the L series as it is always a great compromise between price and performance. Just like the C Series, this model comes with either AMD or Intel processors, and bumps RAM support up to 16GB. This model also features backlit keyboard and full HD display, once again in 15 inches and 17 inches sizes, with 4K HDMI output, as well as Skullcandy audio.

The MSRP for the 15 inch version is $530, and $570 for the 17 inch version.

Satellite S Series

While the CPU options for this model are restricted to dual and quad core i7 Intel processors, the very impressive specs for this model include optional nVidia graphics GPU, up to 16GB of RAM and the choice of 2TB HDD or a dual HDD+SSD setup.

The S series will also bring full HD and 4K to laptop users, at resolutions that start at 1600x900. Two screen sizes will be available for this model: 15 inches and 17 inches, and with the MSRP set between $720 and $875. The body of the S Series is in aluminum, and features 802.11ac Wi-Fi, along with a similar range of features to the L series.

Fusion Series

The specs for this laptop are slightly similar to the L series with a few differences that set this model aside from the rest, such as the 360 degrees hinge that converts the laptop into a touchscreen tablet. The latter feature, when upgrading to Windows 10, will trigger the new operating system’s “Tablet mode”, and will take full advantage of the touchscreen layout.

This laptop is powered by either an i5 or an i7 Intel Core processor, supports up to 12GB of RAM, and comes with the choice of an HDD or SSD. the Fusion Series will come in a single 15 inch screen size, 4K HDMI output, Skullcandy audio and backlit keyboard. The MSRP for this model starts at $650.

Availability

All models listed above will be available to consumers June 21st, except for the S Series, and the 17 inch Satellite L.