Pocket PC Thoughts - Daily News, Views, Rants and Raves

We first heard about these way back in April, and it's nice to see Toshiba hard at work in bringing them to market. The K01 is landscape slider phone, with a 4.1" capacitive screen, the K02 is the clamshell pictured above with one 3.5" resistive LCD and a sub-LCD display (whatever that is), and the L01 will be a 7" monster with an optional keyboard (according to the original roadmap) - all running WM6.5. If Toshiba keeps to its original deadlines, we're probably looking at late this year/early next year for the launch. We still haven't seen the other two models mentioned, which come under the TG line - TG02 which will be waterproof, and TG03 which will be more multimeida oriented. Stay tuned!

"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."

It's relatively rare in the Windows Mobile world for a manufacturer to make an OS update available - I think in this case a happy confluence of the TG01 being new and WM6.5 being released at almost the same time meant there would be an awful stink if Toshiba hadn't come up with one. No bets on the next OS upgrade though, which is due early next year.

"Toshiba is back with the TG01 - a phone that it hopes will propel it to the forefront of the smartphone market, jostling the iPhone 3GS and HTC Hero out the way in the process. It plans to do this by creating the largest, thinnest and fastest mobile in the industry, but will that be enough to create an instant hit for Tosh? Let's take a look through the phone's inner workings with the Toshiba TG01 review."

Techradar have done nice, if ambivalent, review of the just-released TG01. Why aren't over the moon over it? Because Toshiba's UI overlay doesn't do that good a job of hiding WM6.1. Toshiba appear inclined to provide the upgrade to WM6.5, but given their record, I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Interesting that the 1GHz Snapdragon processor doesn't appear to give that big a boost to the user experience, at least from perceptions of the device's speed (I'd love to see some benchmarks). The hardware continues to impress but less than stellar implementation can. as always. spoil the package - at this stage at least. Any of our readers try the TG01 out yet?

"As you've probably seen, Orange launched the Toshiba TG01 today, and SlashGear went along to the launch event 31 floors above the city of London. There's not much about this smartphone we didn't already know - after all, we were also there in February when it officially debuted - but today was an opportunity to play with the Orange branded version and the latest firmware."

With availability starting today in Europe, the TG01 is starting to garner some early reviews. SlashGear attended the London launch and got to play around with a couple of demo units. Hit the link for their impressions and a pretty extensive photo gallery.

In just a matter of three days, the 1GHz Snapdragon-equipped TG01 will have its European launch in London. So far confirmed availability will be through carriers O2 in Germany and Telefonica Movistar in Spain, and through retailer Euronics in Italy. Orange are the likely candidate for the UK, but their TG01 product page got pulled after briefly appearing online - we'll have to wait until after the launch to confirm. Prices vary depending on whether you're going with or without contract, and what other "value-added" services you pick up - full retail (for now) appears to be €549.00, which looks pretty competitive to me.

"One of the hottest pieces of gear this year just made its way to retail in Japan. Less than a centimeter thick, the NTT DoCoMo T-01A is the same TG01 device revealed by Toshiba back in February running Qualcomm's ultra-fast 1GHz Snapdragon chipset."

This is one humdinger of a phone. Along with the Snapdragon chipset, you get every radio under the sun (if not quite all the right freqs for global use), 256MB RAM, a massive 4.1" WVGA screen, a thin 9.9mm chasis, and available in white or black. Downsides are a low rez main camera at just 3.1MP and a piddling 1000mAH battery to power all that hardware. Chances are we'll see this in Asia and Europe in another month or two, but I wouldn't lay odds on if or when it'll appear in the US. Hit the link for the gallery, or the Microsoft product page for more details (warning: Japanese text).

PocketPCItalia somehow managed to get a prototype build of the TG01 and put it through its paces. I'm fairly impressed - the screen is big (4.1" WVGA) and colourful, Toshiba's custom UI doesn't look as bad live as it does in photos, and the device appears snappy courtesy of the 1GHz Snapdragon processor, handling video and photos with aplomb. The TG01 is pretty feature packed, with HSPA, GPS, 3.2MP AF camera, and comes equipped with an accelerometer. About the only bad thing I can say is the potentially annoying squishing sound everytime you touch the screen (and the irony of showing off an HTC review while demonstrating YouTube in PIE6). PocketPCItalia claims the TG01 will be available in June - but that's likely to be in Europe, and maybe Asia. Check out the video for more.

"Yet released Toshiba TG01 and proprietary information in accordance with the Techblog, the Toshiba is expected to present two models of the TG series in 2009. The reason for Toshiba TG02 and Toshiba TG03 with touch screen 4.1-inch WVGA and analysis processor 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon QSD8 × 50. The TG02 has a 3,2 Megapixel camera and is waterproof (!), While the TG03 has 5 Megapixel camera and 5.1-channel sound."

The only thing I can say is...wow. I'm speechless. Apart from the L01 (which incidentally may run on a fuel-cell battery), all the others are the type of large screen, full featured devices that I've always envisaged as the perfect one for me. I'm further intrigued by the launch windows, which possibly intersects with that of WM7 - that makes the K01 MID doubly interesting with its capacitive screen. Kudos to Techblog for the scoop (translation here)!

Toshiba's TG01 is coming... to Germany, at least. The folks at O2 Germany have just announced that the white TG01 will be available sometime this summer, but are keeping mum on the price. No word yet on whether the TG01 will surface elsewhere, but we're willing to bet that it will, and we'll let you know as soon as we hear more.

"This handset is thin and light and makes the iPhone we used for some scale pics look positively chubby -- it's like having a PSP-sized display in your pocket. The 4.1-inch Regza-inspired screen is clear, the resistive touchscreen is typical hit and miss with fingertips, video and gaming are fast on the 1GHz Snapdragon processor and look gorgeous. You know, if Toshiba sees fit to add some 3G bands other than the 2100MHz included in the first effort, we could easily see this living -- almost unnoticed -- in our pockets."

The Toshiba TG01 is an example of a device that just looks undeniably slimmer and sexier in the flesh than in renderings. Don't believe us? Take a gander at Engadget's hands-on and video walkthrough, and try not to drool on the way out.

"High Tech Computer (HTC) is expected to launch Qualcomm Snapdragon-based mobile devices in the second quarter of 2009, according to market sources in Taiwan... HTC and Toshiba are among more than a dozen device makers that have signed up with Qualcomm to develop mobile computing devices using Snapdragon solutions. Those device makers also include Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, Acer, Asustek Computer, Quanta Computer, Compal Electronics, Wistron, Inventec and Foxconn International Holdings (FIH)."

Can't get enough of the Snapdragon in the TG01? Well, it seems HTC and a few more are gearing up to release Snapdragon devices of their own. According to Digitimes, HTC's device will hit the market one quarter after the TG01. And the rest? We're guessing they'll trickle into the market as the year progresses.

Look out, HTC. Toshiba has something up its sleeve - that something is the TG01. Some standout features in this upcoming handset include a 4.1" WVGA (480 x 800) touch screen and Qualcomm's Snapdragon chipset with a 1GHz core. It also sports 512MB ROM, a microSDHC slot, HSDPA/HSUPA connectivity, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, aGPS, a G-sensor, a virtual trackpad, out-of-the-box DivX support, and a custom touch-friendly GUI, which sits on top of Windows Mobile Professional. And if you think the TG01 looks slim, that's because it is. With a depth of just 9.9 mm or 0.39", it's thinner than the HTC Touch HD (12 mm or 0.47") and iPhone 3G (12.3 mm or 0.48"). See for yourself at Electricpig and Pocket-lint, and expect more details at MWC, which takes place in just under two weeks.

"The Toshiba G810 is rife with features and high-end specs. It's got a very modern, elegant slate design in this year's hot finish: gloss black. What's not to like? Sure, it's not made by HTC, the largest ODM of Windows Mobile Pro devices, so you don't get that Toyota-like assurance (everyone's got one and they like it just fine, thank you). But if you hanker for something different from the crowd, something cooler looking than the HTC Touch Cruise, it's worth a look."

It's a shame that Toshiba no longer sells in the US, because this looks like a halfway decent device, with a 3MP camera, to boot. MTR gives it a thorough review, and despite some niggles, Lisa likes the unit overall. Hit the link for a typically in-depth article.

"Toshiba will officially release its latest Smartphone in 8 days (June 20th), the G810. Like the G710 and G910, this new Smartphone runs on Windows Mobile 6.1, and boasts HSDPA and HSUPA support. Otherwise, it features a large 2.83" QVGA (320 x 240) touch screen, 3Mpix camera, Bluetooth v2.0, USB v2.0, WiFi 802.11 b/g, FM radio with RDS, built-in GPS & A-GPS, and up to 4GB of memory"

Kids today don't know how good they have it. I used to have to walk 8 miles in the snow uphill both ways to and from the device websites looking for goodies to be released this early in the year! New device release time is traditionally in the fall, but with offerings ike this one from Toshiba, perhaps this year Labor Day is coming early. This model certainly packs a punch, with only VGA missing as a major feature in this form factor. Anyone hoping that "release" is also "shipping" date as far as this one goes?