Toshiba has announced it will release the Qosmio G30 onto the Austrlian market in May this year.

The G30 is the world’s first announced notebook PC sporting the new high definition capable DVD format. Due locally in late May, the G30 is the latest in the Qosmio line of multimedia notebooks from Toshiba. The 17-inch screen makes this a large widescreen device designed for watching TV and DVD and taking advantage of all that digital media has to offer.

The Qosmio G30 features HDMI output allowing the PC to be hooked up to an HD TV and to act as the video source for large-sized TVs or home theatre projectors. A full array of interfaces include 5.1ch digital audio output (S/P DIF), RGB, S-Video output, i.LINK (IEEE1394), AV input (composite video input, L/R audio input), and USB2.0 x 4.

Both Digital Video Broadcasting TV tuner (DVB-T) and an analogue tuner are integrated and can be used simultaneously.

The widescreen is WUXGA and supports 1920 x 1200 pixel resolution and will playback HD DVD content at 1920 x 1080 pixels.

For audio Toshiba has included a 1-bit digital amplifier and large diameter harman/kardon bass-reflection stereo speakers for the Dolby Home Theatre sound.

The optical drive is a shade under 13mm thick and backward compatible to DVD and CD discs including writing to DVD+/-R DL (dual-layer) and DVD-RAM.

The whole lot is powered by an Intel Centrino Core Duo Processor teamed with an nVidia GeForce 7600 graphics adaptor for 3D graphics rendering.

Mark Whittard, General Manager: Australia and New Zealand, Toshiba Information Systems Division (ISD): “Opportunities to enjoy high-definition content will only increase as broadband networks expand and TV transitions to high definition digital broadcasts. As consumers become acquainted with HD content on their computers, they will also want it on their TVs. With Qosmio, we lead the PC industry in innovation to meet this growing demand.”

“The new Qosmio is the world’s first PC to support broadband, digital broadcasting media, and HD DVD-ROM. We have made this step to promote the early and fast penetration of the next generation DVD format,” he said.