Toshiba’s TG01 Windows Mobile smartphone is almost ready to launch in Germany, and a few more details regarding the slimline handset are emerging. Not only have O2 and Toshiba partnered with Nimbuzz to put their cross-platform social networking app on the TG01, but USB Host support has been confirmed.
The surprise is perhaps diminished thanks to their joining the Open Handset Alliance (OHA) back in December 2008, but according to Taiwanese industry sources Toshiba are currently developing an Android-based cellphone. No details regarding the smartphone have been disclosed, and Toshiba themselves are yet to publicly announce any Android intentions.
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.
Snapdragon’s appearance in various netbooks over the past few days may have distracted you from the fact that its first proper showing will likely be in the Toshiba TG01. O2 Germany had already announced their intention to carry the Windows Mobile smartphone, but they’ve now confirmed that it’ll be arriving on the market within the next three weeks.
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.
The Toshiba TG01 isn’t set to reach the market until the summer, but that hasn’t stopped PocketPCItalia from getting their hands on the 9.9mm-thick Windows Mobile smartphone and putting it through its paces on video. The TG01 has a huge 4.1-inch 800 x 480 touchscreen and custom Toshiba GUI; it looks like the company has been doing some work on speeding up the smartphone since we caught it on video back at the London launch.
Video review after the cut
Images of some of the handsets included in Toshiba’s leaked product roadmap have emerged, illustrating the successor devices to the Toshiba TG01 smartphone. Pictured here is the Toshiba TG02, which is believed to add IPX4 water-resistance and Windows Mobile 6.5; after the cut is the Toshiba TG03.
Despite the warm reception to Toshiba’s TG01 smartphone, other devices pledging to use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chipset are still thin on the ground. That’s all set to change in the second half of 2009, though, according to the latest leaks from Taiwan, which suggest HTC is among manufacturers intending to use the Snapdragon platform.
Toshiba followed the Windows Mobile crowd with their TG01, giving the super-skinny smartphone a custom GUI that sits on top of the Microsoft OS. The Stripes GUI hasn’t met with quite the degree of welcome that Toshiba maybe expected, however; we’d much rather have this 3D UI that Qualcomm commissioned and was demonstrating back in February.
Video demo after the cut
A Snapdragon-based Toshiba smartphone has cleared the FCC, but it’s not the TG01 we’re already familiar with. In fact, while Toshiba and the FCC have seemingly used the TG01 for their photoset, the user manual for the device – which is called the Toshiba TM5-E01, though that’s presumed not to be the final product name – suggests it’s considerably thicker and most likely a clamshell handset.
O2 will be the exclusive carrier for the Toshiba TG01 smartphone in Germany, according to a press release today. The TG01 – the launch of which we covered back in February - is the thinnest smartphone to-date, running Windows Mobile on a huge 4.1-inch 800 x 480 touchscreen display.
Toshiba helped us kick off the week with the announcement of their new TG01 Windows Mobile smartphone: on paper it sounds perfect, with a high-res touchscreen, super-skinny body and all the wireless connectivity you could feasibly ask for, as well as being the first device to deliver NVIDIA’s 1GHz Snapdragon chipset. Check out our hands-on photos and video demos, as well as Toshiba’s own GUI demo, and then try and explain to me why I still can’t get as excited about the TG01 as I think I ought to be.
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