As well as the usual quadband GSM/EDGE there’s UMTS/HSDPA – though sadly not with US band support, it seems – along with WiFi b/g, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR and GPS.  There’s also a basic outline drawing to show where the TG02′s approval label will go, that suggests the curvy form-factor we saw in previous leaked photos may still be coming.

Of course, what we don’t know yet is what OS the smartphone will run, whether it will continue to use the 1GHz Snapdragon processor of its predecessor, what screen size and touchscreen technology might be in effect or when, indeed, it could arrive on shelves.  Our guess is that Toshiba will stick to Windows Mobile.

[via Engadget]

The new OS wasn’t available to download at time of writing, but we’re assuming it will be added soon.  Our guess is that the upgrade process would be a relatively straightforward matter of plugging the TG01 into a Windows-based PC with the included USB cable, though since we’ve actually got a Toshiba review unit on-hand (and still running 6.1) we’ll be trying it out ourselves to see just how easy it is and what sort of difference it makes.

As for new purchases of the TG01, the handset will be preloaded with Windows Mobile 6.5 from now on, so fresh owners won’t have to worry about upgrades.  The smartphone is available from free in the UK, on carrier Orange.

Press Release:

Toshiba TG01 Windows phone made available in co-ordination with release of Windows MobileR 6.5 operating system

London, UK, 6th October 2009 – To coincide with the release of Windows Mobile® 6.5, Toshiba Information Systems (UK) Ltd, Mobile Communications Division, today announces the retail availability of the TG01 Windows® phone, a variant of its innovative TG01 featuring the new Windows Mobile® 6.5 operating system.

The arrival of Windows Mobile® 6.5 and Toshiba’s immediate adoption of the platform for the TG01 sees the handset become a fully-certified Windows® phone; the updated TG01 Windows® phone is available in stores across Europe from today. Toshiba customers who have previously purchased the TG01 will also be entitled to an upgrade to the new Windows Mobile® 6.5, free of charge.

The launch of the TG01 Windows® phone means users will be able to enjoy all the benefits of Windows Mobile® 6.5, including a new Home screen and a finger-friendly start menu. Designed to offer fun and interactive navigation between applications, Windows Mobile® 6.5 provides users with faster access to the handset’s plethora of features.

An update to the new Windows Mobile® 6.5 operating system for existing owners of TG01 is available for download from Toshiba’s website: www.toshiba-europe.com/mobile

Meanwhile basic CPU performance is also much improved, with the HD2 showing three times the crunching power of the Touch HD’s chipset.  That goes some way to showing the power of Snapdragon, since the Touch HD’s clock-speed is actually only around half of that of the HD2.

Considering our first experience with a Snapdragon-based handset – the Toshiba TG01 – left us seriously disappointed at the seeming lack of speed, this is all welcome news.  One final tidbit – and a welcome one at that – is that while the HD2 may not support multitouch in Internet Explorer Mobile, it does in the Opera browser which apparently will be preinstalled when the handset ships.

[via CoolSmartphone]

That means you get Windows Mobile 6.5′s new Marketplace for Mobile download store, on a 4.1-inch WVGA resistive touchscreen, together with what’s still the fastest processor on a smartphone available now.  There’s also a 3.2-megapixel camera, HSPA, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS and a microSDHC card slot.

Even better, all TG01 owners will be able to upgrade their 6.1 devices to Windows Mobile 6.5 once the OS is launched, thanks to a free download from Toshiba’s site. The Toshiba TG01 Windows phone, meanwhile, will go on sale across Europe from October 6th.

Press Release:

TOSHIBA ANNOUNCES LAUNCH OF THE TG01 WINDOWS® PHONE

· Windows Mobile® 6.5 update propels the Toshiba TG01 to full Windows phone® status
· Intuitive Windows Mobile® 6.5 platform complements impressive hardware specification, with full support for Windows Marketplace for Mobile
· Superb 4.1” Wide-VGA high-resolution screen combines with Snapdragon™ processor to deliver a premium multimedia experience in a super slim 9.9mm package

Toshiba Information Systems (UK) Ltd, Mobile Communications Division, today announced the launch of the TG01 Windows® phone, a variant of its groundbreaking TG01 featuring the new Windows Mobile® 6.5 operating system.

The arrival of Windows Mobile® 6.5 and Toshiba’s immediate adoption of the platform for the TG01 sees the handset become a fully-certified Windows® phone; the updated TG01 Windows® phone will start to appear in stores across Europe from 6th October 2009. Toshiba customers who have previously purchased the TG01 will also be entitled to an upgrade to the new Windows Mobile® 6.5, free of charge.

The launch of the TG01 Windows® phone means users will be able to enjoy all the benefits of Windows Mobile® 6.5, including a new Home screen and a finger-friendly start menu. Designed to offer fun and interactive navigation between applications, Windows Mobile® 6.5 provides users with faster access to the handset’s plethora of features.

Windows Marketplace for Mobile enables users to download and install Windows Mobile® applications, including Games, Social Networking functions and office-tools, meaning each handset can be personalised to suit the tastes and needs of each individual user. Support for the latest version of Internet Explorer® makes it faster and easier to browse the Internet, and the free Microsoft My Phone enables users to protect their phone by backing up data and securely share photos with families and friends across PC, phone and the web-based platforms.

The TG01 Windows® phone also comes with the high-power Snapdragon™ 1GHz processor, as found on the Toshiba TG01, to deliver smooth video playback, super-fast gaming and detail-rich browsing. The same superb, high-resolution 4.1” Wide-VGA (800 x 480) touchscreen is also present, with on-board Coreplayer providing support for a wide variety of video formats.

Despite all this power, the TG01 Windows® phone comes in the same sleek 9.9mm body as the previously-launched Toshiba TG01. It also features the same rich multimedia features, but with the added benefit of the new Windows® phone experience provided by the Windows Mobile® 6.5 operating system.

Expandable SDHC memory up to 32GB provides the facility for users to keep a large multimedia library on the move if required, with an 8GB microSD card bundled as standard, enabling users to store multimedia content and take advantage of the the handset’s cinematic mobile performance out of the box. Integrated GPS and A-GPS technology allows the TG01 Windows® phone to double up as a satellite navigation system, providing rich graphics and detail.

“Windows® phones bring together the best of the Web, the PC and the phone so you can connect instantly to the people and information you care about, no matter where you are,” said from Stephanie Ferguson, general manager, product management, Microsoft Corp. “The new TG01 Windows® phone provides a great end-to-end experience that spans your entire life, at work and at home.”

“Our new TG01 Windows® phone is quite simply the next step in cutting edge mobile technology. We’ve been thrilled with the market’s response to the TG01 handset so far and worked closely with Microsoft to launch one of the first Windows® phones to the market. Toshiba is constantly striving to deliver the very best mobile experience and we are excited what this new Windows® phone update will bring our customers, with an improved user interface and access to a multitude of applications through Windows Marketplace.“ said Hidehito Koka, Deputy Managing Director, Toshiba Information Systems UK Ltd, Mobile Communications Division

An update to the new Windows Mobile® 6.5 operating system for existing owners of TG01 will be available for download from Toshiba’s website: www.toshiba-europe.com/mobile

Toshiba TG01 Windows® phone – specification overview
Size: 70mm x130mm x 9.9mm
Weight: 129g
Display: Wide-VGA (800 x 480), 4.1”
Camera: 3.2 mega-pixel, autofocus
Memory: 512MB ROM / 256MB RAM, micro SDHC slot up to 32GB
Interface: Bluetooth v2.0, USB v2.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
Battery: 1,000mAh, Standby: up to 220 hours (3G), Talktime: up to 4 hours (3G)*
Band: 850/900/1800/1900 for GSM/GPRS/EDGE
2100 for UMTS/HSDPA (7.2Mbps)/HSUPA (2Mbps)
Navigation: Built-in GPS & A-GPS
Video service: Core Codec CorePlayer
Browser: Internet Explorer®
Messaging: SMS, MMS, E-mail, Microsoft Direct Push e-mail, Windows Live™ Messenger
Sound: MP3, AAC, AAC+,eAAC+, AMR-NB, WMA
Video: H.263, H.264, MPEG4, WMV, ASF
Java: MIDP 2.0
Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon Chipset QSD8250 (1GHz Processor)
OS: Windows Mobile® 6.5

* Dependent on network conditions and usage

Specifications are correct at the time of this press release. Product design and specifications are subject to change without notice. Ó 2009 Toshiba Information Systems UK Ltd. Toshiba is a trademark of Toshiba Corporation in Japan

Microsoft, Windows, Microsoft Direct Push e-mail, Internet Explorer, Windows Mobile, Windows Mobile 6.5 and Windows Live Messenger are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies.

See, there’s some confusion regarding the WiFi Alliance’s website, and the fact that the TG02 they have listed, isn’t necessarily the TG02 we were expecting. It looks like the TG02 is a clamshell phone, though the pictures we saw of it back in April don’t reflect that at all. And what makes it even more confusing, is the fact that the WiFi Alliance’s recent certification shows that the TG02 has a model number of TM5-E01. It’s strange, considering that phone has already cleared the FCC months ago, and while the statistics showed a clamshell phone, the pictures clearly showed a TG01-inspired handset.

There’s obviously nothing official regarding the TG02, or whatever phone has cleared the WiFi Alliance, and the confusion is pretty bad. Diving further into the TM5-E01 ordeal, other sites like Tweakers.net, has it that the TG02 is based on the 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, featuring only a 3″ touchscreen internal display and a 0.8″ inch external screen. A full QWERTY keyboard comes for the ride, too. So, what should we expect? Or will it be like the TG01 and never see these shores?

[via UnWired View]

When it first launched, we described the TG01 as a phone of superlatives; that still stands true today.  Most obvious are its display – a full 4.1-inches of resistive WVGA touchscreen – and slender dimensions, measuring just 9.9mm thick.  Less obvious, but with no less appeal, is the Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset inside, which at 1GHz well outpaces any rival device.  Into the 129 x 70 x 9.9 mm, 129 gram frame Toshiba also pour an accelerometer, WiFi b/g, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, 2100MHz HSDPA and HSUPA, together with a microSD card slot and A-GPS.

Physical controls are minimal, with the power button (which also serves to lock the handset) halfway down the left-hand side, and the volume controls curiously all the way down underneath it.  we can only assume there wasn’t enough space at the top for their internal mechanics.  On the right-hand side there’s a camera shortcut key and a micro USB port hidden behind a fiddly tab; that tab must be open in order to remove the fragile-feeling plastic back cover.  Inside there’s the reset button, a 1,000mAh Li-Ion battery, SIM slot and microSD card slot.  The latter two require the battery be removed in order to access them, which is a frustration when it comes to the memory card.  Happily Orange provide an 8GB card rather than the usual measly 1GB or 2GB most carriers give out, so you may be able to escape changing it regularly.

In terms of software, Microsoft’s Windows Mobile 6.1 does duty here.  It’s almost a rarity these days to be testing a WinMo device without HTC branding, and so we’ve been eagerly awaiting Toshiba’s own UI efforts.  As with HTC and Samsung, Toshiba have whipped up a more aesthetically pleasing overlay that sits on top of the more mundane OS; in this case, it’s a series of colored vertical bars that can be panned across, three to a screen, each offering various shortcuts.

If you think that sounds like a launcher, you’d be right.  As standard each bar shows three icons, though you can swipe up to show several more spaces to fit in more shortcuts.  Happily, despite carrier Orange’s – who hold exclusivity for the TG01 in the UK – reputation for unavoidable customization of handsets, here even their iconography can be junked in favor of your own shortcuts, whether they be webpage links, specific media files or apps.

Overlaid above the bars is a status box, which can be switched between various information panes.  As standard it offers links to unseen SMS, emails and phone calls, but it can also show the time, a calendar or be blanked altogether.  Unfortunately there’s no way to customize it with your own information, and nor is there any way to squeeze more than the default level of detail into the pane.  Given the scale of the display Toshiba have to work with, that’s a shame.  Down at the bottom of the screen, soft keys work in tandem with touch-sensitive buttons, the call/end on-screen buttons being smaller than we’d like and flanking menu and context-sensitive keys.  Underneath, there’s a home button and a back key, both touch-sensitive but lacking any sort of vibration-style feedback to let you know you’ve tapped them, and a strip which acts as the launch point for the on-screen D-pad.

This D-pad is summoned by pressing on the strip and dragging up across the display, bringing with it not only directional controls but a Start menu shortcut and Ok button.  Translucent, it can be dragged about the screen and used for navigating larger webpages instead of tapping and dragging.

With no silo for the stylus (and the one Toshiba providing being cheap and perfunctory at best), the company’s UI is thankfully finger-friendly.  It’s tough to describe it as attractive, though; the shortcut buttons are unnecessarily small, and the zoom-effect when tapped causes them to pixelate unpleasantly.  Pane navigation, too, is jerky, though it’s also quick.  The biggest drawback, however, is the depth of the UI, or rather the lack of it.  Where you can use a modern HTC Windows Mobile smartphone for day to day tasks without encountering the Microsoft OS, the same simply cannot be said for the TG01.  Every commonly-used app – whether messaging, contacts, calendar or phone calling – are standard WinMo fare.

That obviously loses the TG01 points on the aesthetic scale, but it also conspires to waste the span of its display.  Dialogs, menus and layouts that Microsoft designed for touchscreens half the size are left swimming on the Toshiba’s 4.1-inch panel, but more criminally the times when you’d really like something to be larger – a menu option, say, or an OK button – they’re still slightly undersized for a fingertip.  Yes, you can navigate sans stylus, but there’s always a pause before you tap as you line-up.

Happily Toshiba have loaded their own QWERTY keyboard onto the TG01, and that makes better use of the space.  Separate screens for a phone-keypad style layout, traditional QWERTY and numbers/symbols (the latter with seven pages of different characters) are on offer, together with auto-completion.  Some of the niceties we’re used to from other touchscreen keyboards aren’t offered, however; there’s no pop-up to show which letter your finger is pressing, and nor is there a comprehensive auto-correction to smooth over common mis-types.  The auto-completion is relatively comprehensive in its offerings, but they’re presented in an undersized list, again at odds with the screen space to play with.  Most criminally, though, is the placing of the space bar in the horizontal QWERTY layout, pushed all the way to the left of the ‘Z’ key and the same size as the letters.  When HTC can make a workable on-screen keyboard on the comparatively compact 2.8-inch Touch Diamond2, we’d expect at least the same from Toshiba.

Still, horizontal support in every app is something we’ve been asking HTC for repeatedly, and the TG01 brings it first time around.  Even the homescreen UI caters for it, re-orienting so that the bars can be readily paged through with the right-hand thumb.  Despite the 1GHz processor, though, there’s a curious amount of lag involved in screen rotation, with almost three seconds before the display catches up to how you’re holding the smartphone.  Similarly, waking the TG01 from standby is also a bizarrely punctuated affair, with the side-button requiring a lengthy press and then several seconds of screen blackness before the phone comes to life.

If we’re honest, we’d say it’s difficult to tell that this is a Snapdragon handset at all.  Once underway, apps generally move swiftly – the File Explorer is particularly swift to navigate between folders, something previous WinMo handsets have proved more sluggish at – but it’s not the overwhelming rush of immediacy we perhaps hoped for.  Third party software might coax more obvious performance improvements out of the TG01, and we were impressed by the trial of Orange Maps preloaded (its panning swiftness, at least, though we prefer Google Maps’ interface).

One area where you’d expect the TG01 to shine is media playback, both for its horsepower and the size of its display.  As well as the standard Windows Media Player you’ll find on every WinMo device, there’s a second app called Video Player and a third called Coreplayer.  All three do pretty much the same thing, offering a variety of codec support, but we wish Toshiba had picked just one app and given it a TG01-considerate skin.  Video playback is either in a tiny box in the middle of the screen, surrounded by control buttons swimming in unused bezel, or you switch to full-screen and are a couple of taps away from controlling playback. Again, the common refrain is “build your apps to suit your screen”, especially when you’ve inches to spare as on the TG01.

Still, in full-screen mode there’s enough space to really get into a video, even if the TG01′s ambient light sensor seems determined to cut out as much backlighting as possible.  That only serves to emphasize how glossy the display is, and the struggles in best positioning the phone will make you long for a kick-stand on the back.  Media files can be loaded either via microSD card or by plugging the TG01 into your computer; it shows up as an external drive, and you can drag & drop content across.  Alternatively Coreplayer has a YouTube viewer, though this pales in comparison to the well-designed and usable HTC version.

We’d recommend a set of Bluetooth headphones for use with the TG01, unless you’re a very careful user indeed.  Since there’s no standard 3.5mm headphone socket, you’re forced to use the Toshiba adapter or the supplied headset which both plug into the micro USB port on the side.  The adapter does, at least, have a microphone and control button, together with a socket for your favorite headphones, but both it and the Toshiba headset seem precarious and destined to snap, protruding as they do from the side of the phone.  What’s a wide device to start with gets even wider: almost 10cm across with the adapter plugged in.  Happily audio quality is decent, though the supplied headset is as uninspiring as such included accessories usually are.

Just as anticipated as media playback is Snapdragon’s impact on mobile gaming, and Toshiba and Orange load a demo of Need For Speed Undercover and Monopoly onto the TG01 to whet your appetite.  Compared to the usual Windows Mobile stalwarts of Bubble Breaker and Solitaire, that’s got to be a bonus; however a few minutes of play left us distinctly unimpressed.  Need For Speed Undercover seems to have been ported over from a non-touchscreen device with a much smaller display, as dialogs are tiny and require scrolling through rather than tapping to select.  Actual car control is done via on-screen buttons, which seems odd considering the TG01 has an accelerometer.  We had visions of holding the smartphone horizontally, iPod touch style, and tilting to steer, but NFS:Undercover is locked into portrait orientation.  It’s an uninspiring inclusion, and leaves the floor open for a third-party to hopefully deliver more impressive TG01 mobile gaming.

As we’ve already said, the TG01′s camera is a 3.2-megapixel unit with autofocus but no flash.  It will shoot both JPEG still images or 3GP or MP4 format video in a choice of QVGA or VGA resolutions, and there’s a dedicated camera button on the right-hand side of the phone.  Flipping the TG01 either to the left or the right will rotate the camera display accordingly, and there are on-screen buttons to lock focus (center-spot only, no selective tap-to-focus here) and switch between resolutions.  Tapping to start recording or snap a frame triggers a surprisingly loud musical jangle or camera shutter noise, which we couldn’t readily turn off.

Image quality is fair, though you’ll need decent light to get the best results.  Without a flash or LED light, indoor shots can be dark and lacking in detail, and night images are bordering on unusable.  Video quality is good, particularly in VGA resolution, though there’s no digital zoom (only in QVGA mode); we’d prefer recording to start as soon as you tap the camera icon, though, rather than take a few seconds.  Once you’ve finished, the TG01 gives the option to play the clip or send it via email or MMS (though not Bluetooth, and there’s no YouTube upload option).

We had high hopes for the TG01′s performance as a web browsing device, and were disappointed to see that Toshiba failed to offer anything other than the basic Internet Explorer Mobile 6.  Having been spoilt with Opera Mobile on HTC devices, we didn’t hold our breath with for IEM6; however, with a few tweaks (primarily to ensure you see desktop webpages, rather than their mobile versions) it’s actually pretty usable.  Rendering is quick and, once you’ve trained yourself to tap firmly on the resistive touchscreen, dragging around pages is impressively smooth.  There’s also Flash support, so YouTube video loads in-page and plays with no issues, though some sites did warn us that the version of Flash offered was insufficient for their content.

Try to get more in depth with webpages, however, and the cracks begin to show.  Zooming is handled by the touch-strip at the bottom of the phone, and is jerky and counter-intuitive, while tapping a block of text will only zoom in to a certain, not-quite-enough point and fails to re-format it as you’d find on Mobile Safari on the iPhone.  The touchscreen is not as finger-forgiving as we’d like, either, which can make selecting links frustrating, and there’s no tabbed browsing as you’d get in rival apps.

As a phone, the TG01 puts in a decent performance, with reasonable sound quality for both parties and a clear, well-spaced dialer app.  WinMo6.1′s ready integration with Exchange  means the contacts app can be speedily filled; alternatively, Google Sync brings any contacts (and appointments) in from their service.  One minor frustration is trying to get to a number pad mid-call, such as when navigating automated menus; this requires a couple of taps, rather than being an upfront option.

As for battery life, runtimes were never going to be superlative when you consider the size constraints involved.  Standby times were reasonable, but the combined impact of the large display, processor and wireless connectivity meant we needed to recharge the TG01 nightly.  Turning off push email made a significant difference, as did throttling back the CPU, though we considered that to be contrary to the nature of the handset.

Just when you think, though, that Toshiba rushed the TG01 out with the barest possible tweaks, they surprise you with an unexpected feature.  Included in the box is a micro USB to USB port adapter, meaning the smartphone supports USB Host: plug in a thumb-drive and its contents show up in File Explorer; add a USB keyboard or mouse, and you’ve turned your TG01 into a MID of sorts.  In our experience the functionality works as long as the device you’re connecting doesn’t require specific drivers or software.

So equipped, the Toshiba TG01 gets something of a new lease of life.  We already know that Snapdragon is enough for basic netbook functionality – Qualcomm and their hardware partners have already been showing off reference designs – and with the right software the TG01 could make for an interesting mobile work or blogging platform.  It won’t replace a laptop, certainly, but for keeping up with email and even basic document editing in Office Mobile (which includes Word, OneNote, Excel and PowerPoint mobile clients) the addition of a keyboard and mouse bypass the frustrations of the on-screen ‘board.  Again, it’s Windows Mobile 6.1 that proves the biggest sticking point, and with no Windows Marketplace for Mobile yet (it will arrive on WM6.1 by the end of the year, we’re told, but by then Orange will have made Windows Mobile 6.5 available for TG01 owners) it requires users to go out and find the productivity apps that would make this a viable MID-style platform.

Ironically, then, it’s not some speedy third-party who have stolen Toshiba’s thunder, but the company themselves.  In their rush to get the TG01 to market, they’ve lumbered it with an aging platform and a UI with all the allure of a poorly fitting suit.  Snapdragon and the biggest display on a Windows Mobile phone on the market should be irresistible draws, but the take-away impression of the TG01 is of a device half-hearted in its delivery and frustrating in its execution.  You can’t really ask for a better head-start than a 4.1-inch touchscreen when it comes to finger-friendliness, but pokey, inconsistent iconography leave you scraping at the TG01 with a fingernail.

Windows Mobile 6.5 could solve many of the Toshiba TG01′s woes, and we’re pleased to hear that Orange will be delivering upgrades to the new OS once it’s available.  We’re just not sure we could live with the TG01 experience as it stands until then.

The Toshiba TG01 is available in the UK on Orange now, priced from free on new qualifying plans.

Unboxing and UI overview video:

Unboxing video after the cut

The big question is, though: do all of these things push the TG01 past what’s potentially its biggest hurdle, the Windows Mobile 6.1 OS?  Toshiba are clear that the TG01 will be readily compatible with WM6.5, but as things stand it’s lumbered with an OS that, visually at least, pales when faced with the smartphone competition.

It’s too early to say exactly whether they manage it or not, but there’s obviously been a lot of work put into making the TG01 distinctive.  In the hand it’s a slick, impressive piece of kit, surprisingly slim and lightweight, and the touchscreen – while resistive – certainly isn’t as bad as some we’ve played with.  For now, enjoy the unboxing video below; we’ll have the full review very soon. 

Toshiba TG01 unboxing video & UI overview:

Hands-on video demo after the cut

First, the positives, and there are two stand-out features which make the TG01 shine.  The most instantly noticeable is the display, a massive 4.1-inch 800 x 480 resistive touchscreen that, while the same WVGA resolution as the Touch HD, still dwarfs it.  The second feature, and one that takes a little longer with the TG01 to appreciate, is its processor; this is the first smartphone to launch with Qualcomm’s 1GHz Snapdragon chipset, making the Toshiba the fastest Windows Mobile phone around.

While we had a relatively short period with the TG01, our first impressions of the Toshiba UI are reasonable.  It lacks the depth and cross-OS consistency of TouchFLO 3D, being more of a launcher than a true reskinning of Windows Mobile, but it’s attractive and responsive to the touch.  We’re not quite sure how much flexibility in user-customization there is, but Orange themselves have made their mark, adding in shortcuts to various portals and the like. 

Toshiba or Orange’s decision to leave the standard browser as Mobile Internet Explorer (MIE), though, is one of the most frustrating.  Unlike Opera Mobile on recent HTC handsets, MIE falls well short of the browsing experience we’re used to on smartphones; page rendering defaults to mobile versions of sites, and fails to use all the screen real-estate the TG01 has to offer.  Thankfully panning around the page was quick and rendering almost instantaneous, likely a benefit of the speedy CPU.

Some of the more unusual gesture-features on the TG01 seemed a little temperamental; as you can see in our video below, the “shake” gesture failed to work on the unit we were looking at, and it took a few tries before the tilt-pan reacted.  Screen rotation also proved more sluggish than we expected, though we ought to point out that on a second device we played with it seemed quicker.

Obviously the demo models tonight had been well used, and so we’ll suspend judgment until our TG01 review unit comes in.  While a brief video demo made impressive use of the screen, we never felt any particular speed boost in the pre-loaded applications.  We still have high hopes for the combination of Snapdragon plus that expansive display, and we’re looking forward to loading up some of the more feature-intensive applications and seeing how the TG01 copes.  If you’re impatient and can’t wait for our review, though, and you’re in the UK, you can pick up the Toshiba TG01 exclusively on Orange, from free, starting July 10th.  More details here.

Video demo from Orange after the cut

The Toshiba TG01 is the first phone to launch using Qualcomm’s 1GHz Snapdragon processor, and it pairs it with a huge 4.1-inch QVGA touchscreen running an Orange-customized version of Toshiba’s own UI.  Underneath there’s Windows Mobile 6.1 together with WiFi b/g, Bluetooth 2.0 and GPS.

In the box will be an 8GB microSD card, and Orange are saying that the TG01 will be upgradeable to Windows Mobile 6.5 once it’s released; no word on whether that will be a free upgrade or something you’ll have to work out with Toshiba.  SlashGear will be attending Toshiba’s event later on today, so will have all the details together with hands-on feedback.

Press Release:

Orange brings the portable cinematic experience to mobile users in the UK with the exclusive launch of the Toshiba TG01

• Orange to range the Toshiba TG01 exclusively across its own retail channels in the UK
• The TG01 will be available for free on selected pay monthly price plans from 10th July
• The TG01 is the first handset in the UK to feature Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 1GHz processor

Orange today announced it will be exclusively ranging the Toshiba TG01 in the UK across all its own retail channels in time for the weekend. Offering the widest high-definition touch-screen available on a mobile, the TG01 provides users with a cinematic viewing experience on a handheld device and is testament to Orange UK’s focus on ranging innovative multimedia handsets so consumers can make the most from the latest shifts in modern technology. It follows the announcement earlier in the week that Orange will also be launching the world’s first Touchscreen Watch phone in the UK.

A powerful and feature-rich mobile entertainment device, the TG01 offers uses the largest widescreen handset yet and comes with an exclusive pre-loaded film trailer for the forthcoming summer blockbuster “GI Joe”. What’s more, the 4.1” W-VGA screen is the perfect size for watching TV, videos and looking at pictures in high quality.

The TG01 also bridges the gap between notebook and mobile by featuring the latest in chipset technology and is the first handset to be sold in the UK which has a 1GHz processing power, offering fast mobile internet connectivity for a richer multimedia experience. This also enables users to make the most out of their phone, whether it be for watching video, updating social network pages or just browsing the web – just like they do on their PC.

The handset is the first from Toshiba to be part of Orange’s successful Signature Series and comes with quick links so users can easily get to grips with the handset’s great functionality. Shortcuts to the best of Orange TV & Video (which recommends great video content such as Sky 24/7 Football), Orange Maps (Orange’s own sat nav service which utilises the TG01’s inbuilt AGPS), and Orange World (Orange’s own mobile internet portal), come integrated on the device’s user interface.

Francois Mathieu, Director of Devices, Orange UK “We’re really pleased to have teamed up with Toshiba to bring the TG01 exclusively to the UK. We believe the TG01 is a prime example of manufacturer innovation, and is a device that is at the very top of its game which will allow users to make the most from their mobile experience.”

“The TG01 is quite simply the next step in cutting edge mobile technology that will enable us to deliver mobile content for Orange customers at unprecedented levels of speed and quality. We are delighted to be partnering with Orange to launch the exciting new TG01 handset into the UK Market,” said Bernard Labaume, VP Business Development & Trade Marketing, Toshiba Information Systems (UK) Ltd, Mobile Communications Division.

The TG01 will be free to customers who take out a £39.15 per month, 24 month price plan. The package includes 1200 any network call minutes, unlimited texts, Orange Maps as well as inclusive anytime internet browsing, and is exclusive to Orange in the UK.

The device is already available from Orange in France, and will also be shortly available from Orange in Switzerland, Romania and Poland.
For further information on the TG01’s UK availability, please visit Orange Shops or www.orange.co.uk/shop

[via CoolSmartPhone]

Unclear at the moment is whether Orange are the exclusive carrier for the TG01, or whether it will be offered on multiple networks.  O2 have clinched exclusivity in Germany, where the handset is also about to launch.

As we already know, the TG01 has a 4.1-inch WVGA touchscreen, Qualcomm Snapdragon 1GHz chipset, 3.15-megapixel camera and GPS.  Connectivity includes HSPA, WiFi b/g and Bluetooth, and there’s Toshiba’s own UI over the top of Windows Mobile 6.1.

[via CoolSmartPhone]

Despite all that, it measures just 9.9mm thick, something of a record for Windows Mobile devices.  Toshiba have created their own UI to sit on top of WM6.1, but the TG01 will also be compatible with Windows Mobile 6.5 when that’s released.

You can find our hands-on gallery here, together with our video demo of the TG01 here.  Toshiba promised availability over the Summer, which certainly fits in with both this event, so we’re also hoping to hear just how expensive the TG01 will end up being.  Join us on Thursday July 9th for all the news; the show kicks off at 6.15pm London time (1.15pm New York; 10.15am San Francisco).

Toshiba TG01 video demo:

The latter means that, with an accessory cable, users will be able to plug peripherals like a keyboard and/or mouse into their TG01, converting it into a netbook-style laptop.  Since the TG01 has a vast (for a smartphone) 4.1-inch 800 x 480 display and 1GHz NVIDIA Snapdragon chipset, that’s not such a laughable prospect for mobile workers.

As for Nimbuzz, that brings both IM and social networking sites together onto the smartphone, with a homescreen icon for easy access.  It’s probably not as slick – or integrated – as HTC have managed with their latest UI developments (TouchFLO 3D Manila 2.5 and HTC Sense), but Windows Mobile needs all the help it can get.

One possibility, however, is that Toshiba are considering a Qualcomm Snapdragon based Android device.  The company’s TG01 Windows Mobile smartphone already uses the Snapdragon chipset, and Qualcomm themselves demonstrated Android running on a reference prototype back at CES in January.  Such a handset could have significantly improved AV capabilities, with various Snapdragon processors supporting anything from integrated WWAN and GPS to high-definition support, mobile digital TV, HSPA+ and WiFi.

Back when Toshiba joined the OHA - at the same time as Garmin, ASUS and Sony Ericsson – no specific intent for any one member was given.  Instead, they were tipped to either “deploy compatible Android devices, contribute significant code to the Android Open Source Project, or support the ecosystem through products and services that will accelerate the availability of Android-based devices.”

The TG01 is interesting inside and out, with the Qualcomm Snapdragon QSD2850 1GHz processor inside and a 4.1-inch WVGA resistive touchscreen on the outside.  The whole thing is just 9.9mm thick, despite packing WiFi, HSPA, GPS, Bluetooth and a microSD slot content with up to 32GB cards.  Check out our live photos and video of the smartphone for more details.

Even better, it’ll be relatively cheap to pick up.  O2 Germany plan to offer the TG01 as a free handset, as long as you’re content to sign up to a 24-month contract at just €20 ($28) per month. 

[via wmpoweruser]

Video review after the cut

We already know that the TG01 is only the vanguard of Toshiba’s upcoming smartphone invasion; details and images of the TG02 and TG03 have already leaked.  Like the TG01, they use Qualcomm’s 1GHz Snapdragon chipset which is tailored to mobile gaming and media playback.

The device in the video is still a prototype, but still passes muster.  The display doesn’t fail to impress, and the touchscreen looks reasonably responsive despite not being capacitive. 

Toshiba TG01 video review:

Toshiba TG01 typing demo:

[via SmartphoneDaily]

The TG03 has the same 4.1-inch WVGA display, HSDPA and Windows Mobile 6.5 OS, but boosts the camera from 3.2-megapixels to 5-megapixels.  It also has a 3-channel speaker for improved audio quality.  As with the other smartphones, it uses the 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset.

The Toshiba TG02 is expected to launch in Q4 2009, with the same dimensions as the TG01, while the Toshiba TG03 will arrive shortly after.  The Toshiba TG01 is expected to launch mid-way through this quarter.

[via Engadget]

According to the reports, the first Taiwanese-sourced Snapdragon devices will land in late Q3 or early Q4 of this year.  HTC are expected to deliver two smartphones, both based around touchscreens, one with a 3.6-inch display and the other with a larger 4.8-inch display.  It’s unclear which other Taiwan-based manufacturers the sources are referring to.

Meanwhile, Toshiba is said to be planning further Snapdragon devices that will reach the market following the TG01′s launch.  The Toshiba TG01 was announced in February, and looks set to be the thinnest Windows Mobile handset to-date.  Thanks to the Snapdragon chipset, it’s capable of high-quality media performance, including gaming; however the chipset is not only intended for smartphones, but ultramobile devices too.  A netbook – the Wistron Firstbook – was demonstrated recently, using the Qualcomm platform.

Video demo after the cut

Just as with the Toshiba Stripes GUI, Qualcomm’s sits on top of regular old Windows Mobile 6.1.  Instead of spinning panes, however, it uses a “planetoid” with contextual icons: for instance, the media player is – perhaps we’re missing the connection, but we can’t figure out why – represented by a tree, taking you into animated thumbnails.

This is really just an excuse for Qualcomm to show off the Snapdragon processor on which the TG01 is based, but it does demonstrate how the Toshiba smartphone can handle high-resolution H.264 content.  For more demo videos, check out our Toshiba TG01 launch coverage.

[via WMPowerUser]

Where the Toshiba TG01 measures 129 x 70 x 9.9 mm, the Toshiba TM5-E01 is listed as measuring 117 x 64 x 19.8 mm; it also has a smaller LCD, at 3-inches compared to the TG01′s 4.1-inch display, and a secondary 0.8-inch 96 x 39 resolution monochrome OLED.  That sub-display would certainly seem to fit the profile of an outer-screen for status and network updates.

The full specifications of the Toshiba TM5-E01 are listed as follows:

• Tri-band GSM (900/1800/1900), UMTS2100 connectivity
• QSD8250 CPU, 256 MB of RAM, 512MB ROM
• Windows Mobile 6 Professional OS
• 3-inch 800×480 WVGA 65K color touchscreen display
• 0.8-inch 96×39 B&W OLED LCD
• Camera (unknown resolution)
• Built-in Wi-Fi
• A-GPS
• Bluetooth 2.0 +EDRm miniUSB
• microSD memory card slot
• Dimensions: 117x64x19.8mm
• Weight: 183g

Toshiba have made no mention of the new device, and only showed the TG01 at Mobile World Congress last month.  It looks as though they’re planning on taking advantage of their Snapdragon lead with a range of smartphones, however; it’s likely that by the time the clamshell handset launches it will use Windows Mobile 6.5.

[via UnwiredView]

It’s also got the grunt to back up that high-resolution screen, thanks to Qualcomm’s 1GB Snapdragon chipset.  Connectivity includes HSDPA/HSUPA, A-GPS and WiFi b/g, together with Bluetooth, and there’s a 3.2-megapixel camera.

According to O2 Germany, the Toshiba TG01 will go on sale there during Summer 2009.  No word on pricing as yet.  For video demos of the TG01, check out our hands-on coverage.

[via msmobiles]

In netbooks, it’s been a clash of the titans with ASUS beating Acer to the punch with the announcement of the first Intel Atom N280 based device, the Eee PC 1000HE.  According to the first review, though, there’s no vast improvement from the chipset, so we’ll have to make do with far greater usability from the 1000HE’s design.  Meanwhile, no sign of the N280 10-inch Aspire One, but the N270-based D150 version cleared the FCC, appeared for pre-order and then mildly disappointed in the first video hands-on.  If the whole netbook world confuses you, make sure to check out our guide to what’s coming up in budget ultraportables, together with our exclusive interview with the developer behind the Linux desktop you’ll find on many netbooks.

Of course, with Mobile World Congress just around the corner, you’d expect a few cellphone leaks.  What you perhaps wouldn’t predict is a wholesale gush of news, predominantly coming out of Samsung and LG.  The former has seen its Acme i8910 and M7600 both leaked, while the latter has given in and prematurely announced the Arena KM900 after it was spotted during the week.  Meanwhile there’s no shortage of official announcements, with Garmin and ASUS signing a deal to co-develop the Nuvifone series of GPS handsets, HTC sending the Android-powered Dream smartphone to Australia and Singapore, and Virgin Mobile planning to release the Ocean 2 on February 12th.

Elsewhere, we’re curious about the LG LBA-C300 Bluetooth Keyboard, anticipating various HTC Snapdragon devices to be unveiled in Q2, while at the same time Nokia are tipped to be planning a number of multitouch handsets.  Oh, and then that gives just enough time to prepare for April 2010 and the predicted launch of Windows Mobile 7.

This week, we’re expecting the new Amazon Kindle 2 to be announced on Monday morning in New York – check out the leaked high-res photos – together with Dell’s Latitude XT2 multitouch Tablet PC on Wednesday.  Don’t forget, Wednesday is also the closing date for the Cinedigm 3D NBA giveaway – which should be a real 3D joy compared to the disappointing Super Bowl - so get your entry in ASAP!

Finally, you may have noticed that there’s now an option to subscribe to comment updates via email.  If you leave a comment or a question anywhere on SlashGear, you can now choose to be notified when someone else responds.

As can often be the case with Digitimes reports, there’s a little confusion with the dates.  At the Toshiba TG01 launch earlier this week, we were told that the smartphone would launch sometime during the Summer; the way we’re interpreting the Digitimes article, although HTC will announce their own Snapdragon devices in Q2 they won’t actually go on sale until after the TG01 does, in either Q3 or Q4 2009.

There’s no word on exact specifications for the upcoming HTC devices, but comparing what we know about Snapdragon and looking back at the January leak of HTC’s 2009 line-up, the two most obvious candidates are the Whitestone and the Thoth.  Each is a slate-style tablet, with the Thoth (that’s believed to be the Athena 2) having a clip-on QWERTY keyboard. 

Official video demo after the cut

Personally, while the gestures and shaking are good, I still don’t think Toshiba have done enough to convince people.  It’s little things, like the pop-up “new text message” box and the threaded message conversation – both standard Windows Mobile fare – that spoil it for me.

I’m genuinely curious about your opinion on this one: have Toshiba gone far enough to mask Windows Mobile’s flaws with their GUI?  I’m kicking off a conversation in the SlashGear forum about it, so hop over and let me know what you think.

[via Pocket-Lint]

There’s plenty of time between now and Toshiba’s “Summer launch” for the handset to be tweaked and polished, at which point I’d wager the hardware is going to be even more tempting.  Trust me, the photos and even the video don’t do the TG01 justice; even the dummy models had me wanting to slip one into my bag and run.

On paper the Toshiba is special: the display quality, the connectivity, the size.  In fact they may have created the first MID that mainstream users are actively drawn to.  And yet I really feel the TG01′s Achilles heel will be its OS.  Although Toshiba announced the TG01 with Windows Mobile 6.1, it’ll inevitably launch with version 6.5 – after Microsoft announce the update at MWC later this month. 

I’m excited about the Palm Pre: webOS promises new, intelligent levels of information management and the ability to learn from usage patterns, plus there’s a basic kinetic appeal about a handset that physically slides open.  For a similar reason – together with how it hints at multitouch devices to come – I’m excited about the Nokia N97.  I’m still excited about the iPhone 3G, because of the promise its GUI still holds, and the way Apple manage to finesse the user-experience.  Thanks to a growing array of augmented reality software on Android, I’m even managing some excitement about the T-Mobile G1, though most of it is saved for future devices running the platform.

When it comes to Windows Mobile 6.5, though, right now we’re being asked to get excited about a new, honeycomb launcher, a new version of Internet Explorer Mobile and a larger ‘close’ button.  Given that Toshiba’s own GUI will cover up the former, and that even I struggle to summon glee over a big ‘X’, that makes the most significant change – by which I mean the change you and I will see the most of – the browser.

Now a browser with full Flash compatibility, running on a 4.1-inch 800 x 480 display with 384k pixels is nothing to be sniffed at.  However it’s also not something you can create too much enthusiasm for a whole platform over.  Windows Mobile does some things very well – its Exchange integration is great, and setting up a new phone with an existing account is a joy compared to doing the same thing on S60 or the BlackBerry OS – but creating an addictive, intuitive user experience isn’t one of them.

Here’s an example: you might remember our review of the HTC Touch HD, probably the best Windows Mobile 6.1 handset I’ve experienced.  HSDPA, WiFi, a gloriously large and high-res touchscreen (indeed the finest resistive display on a smartphone I’ve used) and 5-megapixels of camera goodness; I certainly missed it when HTC called for it back.  Yet despite the fact I could have probably scored a free Touch HD from my current carrier – I’m years overdue an upgrade – in return for 12-24 months new contract, I didn’t even try.

Of course, I fell in love with the iPhone 3G while living in the US last year, but when I came back to the UK I didn’t buy one of those either.  It’s just that Windows Mobile’s strengths – which the TG01 will emphasise, certainly – are tied up in an overall package that doesn’t feel special, that feels old.  Too many taps, too many settings pages to go through; I want a device that, like the iPhone 3G does, like I think the Palm Pre will, makes you pick it up and play with it even when you don’t really need to.  No Windows Mobile device has, in my experience, managed that so far.

I could be wrong about the Toshiba TG01 – in fact, given the industrial design and the spec sheet, I hope I am – and the company could do wonders with their GUI.  If they can manage to hide Windows Mobile then they might be onto something.  At the moment I can see a Start button, and a standard WM6.1 status bar, and it’s turning me off; the OS does a lot, but it does it in an ugly way and, right now, that’s not what consumers want.  I’m a consumer, and half of me loves the TG01.  I just wish they’d put Android on it.

Now obviously that doesn’t confirm that there’s a CDMA version of the Toshiba TG01 planned for the US – for carriers Sprint or Verizon Wireless, who both use the CDMA standard – but the QSD8250 inside this European TG01 does have a CDMA-capable sibling.  The Snapdragon QSD8260, announced at the same time, has both HSPA, as well as CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Rev. B support, with full backward compatibility.

Nonetheless, it would be a relatively small matter to switch the two chipsets and create a CDMA US-friendly version of the TG01, possibly presenting the Palm Pre with some big-screen competition.  You can bet we’ll be asking Toshiba all about the possibility when we meet them at Mobile World Congress in under two weeks time.

The GUI – which Toshiba don’t appear to have named – sits on top of Windows Mobile 6.1 and aims to make it more finger-friendly. It’s not as obviously linear as HTC’s TouchFLO 3D, with various different types of rotating vertical panes that can be swept through with a sideways gesture. Alternatively, Toshiba have given the TG01 the ability to flip through open applications by tilting the handset left or right, using the accelerometer. There are also new settings menus, including one which lets you manually throttle the 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset.

For gaming and media playback, meanwhile, it’s that 1GHz CPU that is making everything possible. The video, sadly, doesn’t do the TG01 justice – in person the 384k pixel 800 x 480 display is amazingly crisp and bright, with well-saturated colors and little motion blur that we could see. We’re still not convinced about the controls in the driving game Toshiba demonstrated, and since the resistive screen lacks multitouch it’ll be interesting to see how developers get around the lack of physical buttons, but perhaps use could be made of the on-screen trackpad that otherwise only really shows up in Internet Explorer Mobile 6.

For more live photos of the Toshiba TG01 click here, while for the full announcement you’ll be wanting to click here.  To watch the YouTube video in HD, click here and choose “view in HD”.

Toshiba TG01 demo:

More photos and hands-on feedback on the Toshiba TG01 smartphone after the cut

Toshiba will come in for the usual criticism of Windows Mobile devices for using a resistive rather than capacitive touchscreen.  Although there doesn’t appear to be a stylus silo in the handset itself, the company confirmed that a stylus would be present in the retail box.  Happily, even though the TG01 doesn’t have Windows Mobile 6.5′s larger controls, the sheer scale of the 4.1-inch 800 x 480 display means that there’s plenty of room for fingers to jab.  It remains to be seen how much the multi-pane rotating GUI covers up the Microsoft platform; on both demo devices we saw Toshiba reps accessing the standard Today screen and Start menu, though this could well be down to the pre-production status of the particular devices on show.

Minimal hardware controls are fine for most functions – the on-screen keyboard looks quite a bit like that of the iPhone, we noticed – but we’re not so sure about gaming.  The 1GHz Snapdragon chipset should handle mobile games with aplomb, but the method of control demonstrated in the driving game Toshiba showed us seemed less than streamlined, requiring multiple taps on different parts of the screen.  The photo in the gallery below, showing a rather contorted set of fingers all trying to touch the screen at once, is a good example of this.

On the positive side, while title developers – and Toshiba claim to be working with several to produce downloadable, internet-enabled games – will have to work to finesse the control interface, one thing they won’t need to worry about is performance.  The video and gaming running on the demo TG01 handsets were both smooth, slick and high-resolution, even in the less than ideal lighting environment; we’d love to know if Toshiba plan a TV-out cable, as we’ve a feeling the TG01 would do a decent job hooked up to a full-size screen as a portable media player.  Out of the box it supports DivX files, and of course thanks to full Flash support you can play online video too.

In the hand, the TG01 is surprisingly lightweight and alluringly thin.  At just 9.9mm it’s significantly slimmer than the iPhone 3G (at 12.3mm) and the Touch HD (at 12mm), despite having a larger display than both rivals.  The casing is finished in soft-touch plastic, with a chromed strip running around the edges, and aside from a few hardware buttons – camera (controlling the 3.2-megapixel shooter that seems to lack a flash of any sort), volume and power being two obvious ones – and the touch-sensitive “home”, “back” and scroll-strip along the base of the display, and the microUSB port lurking under a hatch, it’s generally a clean design.  Make no mistake, this is a very pocket-friendly handset.

Toshiba wouldn’t say exactly when the TG01 would launch – only over the Summer in Europe - nor would they reveal which carriers they’re in discussion with, only that an exclusivity deal was likely.  We’re hoping to have more information about the TG01 after Mobile World Congress, but before then we’ve got live video of the handset itself.

The TG01 has an 8-percent larger display than the Touch HD and 21-percent slimmer.  Toshiba’s new GUI is intended for one-handed use, with finger-friendly vertical panels that can be swiped through and rotated like vertical blinds.  The smartphone also responds to gestures and shaking, with the shake feature used to answer and end calls, as well as to return to the homescreen; the accelerometer is also used to rotate the display.  There’s also a virtual trackpad that can be used to navigate complex webpages in Internet Explorer Mobile 6, which comes with full Flash support.  The handset also has direct access to Facebook, Google and YouTube.

We’re expecting big things from the Snapdragon CPU, which has dynamic speed control allowing it to throttle back during low use and, Toshiba claim, run for a whole day without requiring the user to hold back on their multimedia activities.  The screen also has many of Toshiba’s HDTV technologies, including color matching, dynamic gamma correction and LCD backlight control.  A microSDHC slot supports cards up to 32GB; it’s unclear what internal memory the TG01 has.

Toshiba expect the TG01 to be available in Europe sometime this Summer, and while they confirm that they’re in talks with carriers with regards exclusivity deals, they won’t say which networks.  Price is also unknown, but expect something along the lines of the Touch HD and the iPhone 3G.

Details on the handset were relatively sparse today, with only two working pre-production prototypes in white and black.  We’ve got live photos here, plus video of the Toshiba TG01, and we’ll be spending more time with the smartphone at Mobile World Congress where Toshiba promise more availability details.