Toshiba TG01 with 4.1-inch WVGA touchscreen: a world's first Snapdragon
By Thomas Ricker 
posted February 3rd 2009 7:06AM
posted February 3rd 2009 7:06AM
Update: Oh man, the hands-on photo galleries from the London launch are coming up over at Pocket-Lint and Electricpig, the latter with head-to-head pics of the TG01 against the 12.3-mm iPhone 3G chubster and BlackBerry Bold. She's definitely a slim-lined beauty but we have our doubts about that stripey UI. Hey Tosh, where's the Android OS we saw running on Snapdragon at CES?
[Via Pocket-Lint and Stuff.TV]
This mobile is mad
pffff still no fuel cell, 10 years of lip service
This is no longer a mobile. Its MID-sized device. Doesn't fit in a pocket.
I don't see any use of device that isn't small enough to fit in a pocket, isn't powerful enough to play back 1080p content via HDMI.
mobile means PORTABLE, did they say POCKETABLE?
you put portable devices in your pockets, bags and briefcases. a LAPTOP is mobile for fuck sake.
Who says this can't fit in a pocket? unless you have TINY pockets, it'll fit just fine.
Could somebody please
remove these
cutleries
from my knees
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePEPO751b1M
It looks good.
But does it fit in a pocket? In a more elegant way than Vaio P...
The mobile devices are called mobile because most of them are pocket-friendly. This... thing isn't. Its same size or bigger than HTC Touch HD, and this means its a GIANT piece of hardware.
Now I only wonder why nobody made Nvidia Tegra device yet... Should have even more power and a lot of juice...
First tegra device are due out in about two to three months. HTC have signed a deal with nvidia for tegra platform. So the first devices worth looking with tegra will be around the tail end of the summer.
@Shattered Ice
Thanks. Thats music to my ears. I've been waiting for them for a long time.
Finally a Touch Diamond with a non-lagging UI :)
I also think it is more of a MID type device. Some of the photos show it running IE6, which would suggest this is WM6.5 we're seeing. With the WVGA screen, Opera 9.5, and Fennec about to be released, this would make it perfect for browsing the web on the go.
I already love the Touch HD, but the Snapdragon processor should bring a huge step up in graphical capabilities. Still, I'm expecting more of Tegra, but the upcoming HTC devices look nowhere as thin, or as sexy, as this Tosh.
@ Shinigami: Have you tried updating your ROM (either legit or cooked from XDA)? A world of difference from the eariler Diamond releases. MightyROM on PPCGeeks is really nice.
@ZSX: IE6 does also run under 6.1. I had it on my Vox, just to try it and it ran pretty bad^^
@Faruhottelman
I stand corrected. It does look like this is a 6.1 handset, which is a MAJOR downer, especially since we know 6.5 is going to be announced in a matter of days.
Trusted Reviews says it is 6.1:
http://www.trustedreviews.com/mobile-devices/news/2009/02/03/Toshiba-Launches-4-1in-LCD-Touchscreen-Handset/p1
Looks good, with a jazzy UI. Items on the stripes are placed perfectly and the clock at the top is a useful feature with impressive look. This can be a good pick after a lil more research.
Iphone is dead!!! I dont think so. sorry guys, another win mo device thats going to crash all the time. Why bring something out thats crippled into a market already being dominated. Unless you want a shot at the title dont bother.
This guys a moron and goes around comparing everything to apple.
I concede that using an iPhone is better in a lot of ways that any WinMo device, but I have to disagree with the comment about "crashing". I've never had problems with WinMo crashing, but my iPhone runs out of memory and freezes just about ever 3 days.
Also, it's not the occasional system crash that bothers me. What really bugs me is that Safari will crash every 15 minutes if you use it for that long. Pocket IE is a piece of crap, but it's certainly more stable than Safari on iPhone. Skyfire is also more stable, and it can do most of what Safari can, and also Flash and Silverlight.
My point is this: the iPhone is way more usable than Windows Mobile, but stabe is not a word I'd use to describe the iPhone. Also, it still drops calls constantly, which is pretty irritating if you rely on the phone part of the iPhone.
While companies like HTC will never make an *iphone killer* because they make money by targeting specific market segments...companies like Toshiba have a chance...because they wont be releasing waves of new mobiles.
Unfortunately they have loaded on WinMo...while a CAPABLE OS...its a confusing, unintuitive pile of crap, and its lack of an App store just adds to the problems. Theres no standard when it comes to graphical overlays which is just annoying. Toshibas attempt will most likely not be as good as HTC's Touch Flo
What better way to use that processor than with nice applications and games, too bad you have to wade through all the crap at sites like Handango. FOr every good app theres 100 bad ones.
This will be no worse and no better than the Touch HD and will never be a "hit".
Agreed, moronic to shelve it before anyone has even had a hands on. I have still yet to see a really nice GUI bolt-on that will let you add serious extra functionality without generally needing to resort to using a stylus at points though, if they can sort that thoguh, they possibly could be onto something.
the comparison to Apple was inevitable. Ive had many win mo devices, T-mobile, MDA, MDA Compact, Compaq Ipaq. All were crap.
The iPhone is a joke. Copy/paste much? MMS? Removable battery? Background processes? Iphone is a locked down, strangled piece of crap.
@ Mark
I wouldnt say crap....but usually the problems boil down to WinMo. I love turn by turn navigation on my PDA that the iPhone doesnt have...but everything on WinMo is just so *difficult* to use work out. Stylus is required for anything beyond touch flo...and using the keyboard is very difficult, and will sometimes freeze for a second..which is very frustrating.
Android is ALOT better...this phone could of benefited from it.
Microsoft got lazy, its as simple as that. They went over 5 years without any significant graphical update and Apple, Android and Blackberry swooped in and are stealing their marketshare. I cant say i feel sorry for them.
Android has promise, i had a G1 for a few days and wasn't blown away, but thats not to say it wont get better over time. For me a phone or mini computer has to be a nice experience, and thats what the iphone does well, its far from perfect but on the whole the experience is first class. Only problem with Android is its Geeky and people will reject it on that basis. Especially girls
@Adderz: Have you ever used Windows Mobile on a 4" screen because you really don't need to use the stylus that much. My old hx4700 Pocket PC (WinMo 5) has a 4" VGA screen and it's quite finger friendly. It could be improved but I can get by without a stylus if necessary.
Also, the AppStore has its pros and cons. Although it allows you to browse applications from a single place (who really needs that anyway) it also limits you to getting apps from Apple whereas WinMo doesn't care where your apps come from. It's very easy to write a simple app and load it on a WinMo device but the same can't be said for the iPhone. Either way, WinMo has never been limited by the number of good quality apps available for it.
The largest screen ive used has been a 3.5" on an old ipaq 1710.
My current device has a 2.8" screen and its just about right screen real estate wise. Can a 4" device really be called a mobile phone?
Ive given up finding good Apps for it...theres just so much crap available, even the stuff that has been highly ranked is not upto my standards.
Even when you find a good App...it doesnt blend into WinMo like iPhone Apps do. They stick out like sore thumbs. Theres no continuity throughout WinMo...its just ugly, Windows 95-esque.
obviously this guy is for monopolization and does not believe in competitive capitalism...
Hahahahaha what a moron!
The tragic fact is that it is quite possible that Mark really belive this B.S.
Hahahahahaha what a moron!
The tragic fact though is that this Mark guy maybe actually belive the B.S.he writes.
No bluetooth music streaming and/or file transfers (video is out of the question)
No drag and drop file juggling
No Flash support inside Safari (where the heck is Opera Mobile for this thing)
No Java
No copy and paste
No front camera
No video recording
No video calls
No user replaceable battery
No radio
No VGA resolution
No IR port (it's something I take for granted, using my phone as a remote for well...anything just about)
No physical keyboard
No external storage card support (Micro SDHC cards are up to 32 GB now, 8GB is NOT enough these days, especially for a media device)
No voice command (WM devices and even some "el-cheapo" phones have featured this for years now)
No MMS (it doesn't have phone-to-phone MMS, it has phone-to-air-to-phone picture sharing necessitating a data plan)
No Live TV (that doesnt require you to be connected to an app like Orb on your home PC, which defeats the purpose, why would I want to watch it on a dinky non VGA screen instead of just on my home PC when im at home anyways)
No camera flash
No camera zoom
Same old, subpar, 2 MP camera for that matter
No multitasking
Limited video format support
Limited picture format support
Limited file format support in general
Only 128 MB of RAM (cant run many apps simultaneously, new WM phones are getting 256+ MB of RAM, with 220+ MB free on bootup, and with the Appstore opening up and 3rd party apps making their way to the phone, Apple is behind on the times)
Add no turn-by-turn voice navigation system to the LONG list of shortcomings for the iPhone.
Seriously, it's an overhyped, underpowered, crippled device.
Looks like you can now show off your sexual orientation with your phone, which I do appreciate...! These are some funky screen colors.
I can show off my sexual orientation to you in more ways than one, big boy.
xoxox
Wow this looks ill! I hope they bust it out with a nice on screen keyboard with haptic! I'd love WinMo if it were a bit quicker on the uptake.. hopefully someone hears me ;)
Why on God's earth would anyone even want to SETTLE for an iPhone?
It's trash quite frankly.
No bluetooth music streaming and/or file transfers (video is out of the question)
No drag and drop file juggling
No Flash support inside Safari (where the heck is Opera Mobile for this thing)
No Java
No copy and paste
No front camera
No video recording
No video calls
No user replaceable battery
No radio
No VGA resolution
No IR port (it's something I take for granted, using my phone as a remote for well...anything just about)
No physical keyboard
No external storage card support (Micro SDHC cards are up to 32 GB now, 8GB is NOT enough these days, especially for a media device)
No voice command (WM devices and even some "el-cheapo" phones have featured this for years now)
No MMS (it doesn't have phone-to-phone MMS, it has phone-to-air-to-phone picture sharing necessitating a data plan)
No Live TV (that doesnt require you to be connected to an app like Orb on your home PC, which defeats the purpose, why would I want to watch it on a dinky non VGA screen instead of just on my home PC when im at home anyways)
No camera flash
No camera zoom
Same old, subpar, 2 MP camera for that matter
No multitasking
Limited video format support
Limited picture format support
Limited file format support in general
Only 128 MB of RAM (cant run many apps simultaneously, new WM phones are getting 256+ MB of RAM, with 220+ MB free on bootup, and with the Appstore opening up and 3rd party apps making their way to the phone, Apple is behind on the times)
damn thats 1 sexy device and a 1GHZ speed damn
Kinda reminds me of the Toshiba G900 - presented at 3GSM 2007. Also sounded completely revolutionary at the time it was presented, only to be delayed and delayed and end up as an incredibly buggy mess...
Let's wait and see how this one fares - the specs sure sound great.
That quite an appealing device, though I'm hoping it has a half decent camera and I'll be willing to pick it up (assuming it also has quad-band and is released in Hong Kong sometime within the next 4 months) Would definitely be willing to spend a couple thousand HKD on this.
9mm thin??? wow. just wow.
im gonna wait to see how long it will take them to make something 1mm :)
This looks very promising. Maybe THE device I have been waiting for... but will it be available in 2009?
Most important issue.... codec support.
Yes, without proper hardware video decoding this will just be another overrated WinMo phone. I'm still struggling to get my Touch HD to play videos smoothly.
4.1 inch screen is too big, that will not fit in my pocket. Also because they use Windows Mobile this one will use crappy 16-bit display.
man oh man i don't understand it with some people like you. you're given a 3.5 inch touch screen, you complain about how small it is. you're presented with a 4.1 inch, and you complain how big it is. i wonder, it's probably hard for you to decide whether you want to commit suicide or not.
plus, i know that winmo might not be the best platform out there but look at htc's step up on their new winmo devices. and don't even start blabbing until you actually see the actual device and how it works.
Well, the problem isn't the screen size but the bezel area above/below the screen. This thing is at the very least 130x65 mm big, which simply is TOO much for a nicely pocketable device.
Here's a comparison pic with an iPhone:
http://www.electricpig.co.uk/2009/02/03/toshiba-tg01-hands-on-photo-fest/img_6554/
Looks like Omnia + Nokia E-Series.
Put Android on it and I might be interested.a
wow! divx support AND it looks THAT good? I'll have some of that please
next, tosh'll say "don't call it a phone!"
Interesting that the phone only has two buttons on the front - the home and the back buttons - and they look capacitative at that. The dial and hang-up buttons are implemented within the soft key area which is new in a WM device.
Also, the hand model's fingernails are G-R-O-S-S.
http://www.electricpig.co.uk/2009/02/03/toshiba-tg01-hands-on-photo-fest/img_6540/