Orange has announced that it will be the exclusive U.K. carrier for Toshiba's TG01 smartphone. The device runs Windows Mobile 6.1 on a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, offers a 4.1-inch touchscreen with 800 x 480 resolution, and includes a 3.2 megapixel camera, the company says.
Toshiba first unveiled its Toshiba TG01 in February, at which time it was said to be the first phone to use Qualcomm's Snapdragon QSD8250 chipset. Providing the device with an ARM CPU clocked at 1GHz, plus a 600MHz DSP (digital signal processor), Snapdragon also offers an integral GPS receiver, day-long battery life, HD video playback, and support for cameras up to 12 megapixels, according to Qualcomm. (For more information, see our previous coverage, here.)
Toshiba's TG01 (Click to enlarge)
While the TG01 showed up in May at Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo, rebranded as the T-01A, availability via other carriers has been a somewhat protracted affair, making today's announcement by Orange worthy of note. Apparently, Orange's version of the TG01 includes the same hardware as before, but the carrier says it has modified the home screen to offer links to various Orange services, and is shipping the device with an "exclusive" trailer for the film G.I. Joe preloaded
While the TG01 "only" has a 3.2-megapixel camera, the phone apparently supports all of Snapdragon's other high-end capabilities, including HSDPA (high speed downlink packet access) connectivity, WiFi, and Bluetooth. Orange says the device has 256MB of RAM, 512MB of flash storage, and a microSD slot that accepts an 8GB card bundled with the device.
Touted as leveraging Toshiba's HDTV technologies, including color matching, dynamic gamma correction, and LCD backlight control, the TG01's 4.1-inch touchscreen display packs 800 x 480 pixels. The device has a screen larger than Apple's iPhone and, with a thickness of just 0.38 inches, is more svelte.
The TG01's case reportedly features soft-touch plastic and touch-sensitive controls. Meantime, the device offers a custom user interface atop the underlying Windows Mobile 6.1 operating system. The phone will also be updateable to Windows Mobile 6.5 when that operating system is released, says Orange.
Thanks to a built-in accelerometer, the phone can respond to gestures -- calls may be answered or ended by shaking the phone, for example. According to third-party reports, the TG01 also offers a virtual trackpad that can appear onscreen, and allows users to switch applications by tilting the phone from right to left.
Features and specifications released by Orange for the Toshiba TG01 include:
Processor -- Qualcomm QSD8250 clocked at 1GHz
Memory -- 256MB of RAM and 512MB of flash storage
Display -- 4.1-inch touchscreen display with 800 x 480 resolution
Camera -- 3.2 megapixel, with autofocus
Wireless:
WAN -- GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850/900/1800/1900MHz) and UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA (2100MHz)
LAN -- WiFi
PAN -- Bluetooth
GPS
Other I/O:
USB 2.0
Headphone jack
Expansion -- microSD slot
Battery type/life:
1000mAh
Talk time -- Up to four hours
Standby time -- Up to 220 hours
Dimensions -- 5.11 x 2.75 x 0.38 inches (130 x 70 x 9.9mm)
Weight -- 4.5 ounces (129g)
The Toshiba TG01 Source: Orange (click to play)
Further information
According to Orange, the Toshiba TG01 is available now, and will be free to customers who sign up for a two-year contract. The required package costs approximately 40 U.K. pounds (about $65) per month, including 1200 any-network call minutes, unlimited texts, Orange Maps, as well as unlimited web browsing.
Meanwhile, a review of Orange's TG01 is available on the TechRadar.com website, here.
