Toshiba's TG01 outed on Orange UK

Well, well, there it is. The world's first and only Snapdragon phone available for retail, Toshiba's TG01, is up and dancing on Orange's UK site with a "coming soon" badge. Soon meaning the July 9th London press event, presumably, where this 9.9-mm slate running WinMo on a 4.1-inch 800x480 pixel display should get a shove out the retail door. Yes, Windows Mobile 6.1, why do you ask?

[Via CoolSmartPhone]

[niloc @ Jul 2nd 2009 6:47AM]

Could so easily snap it into 2...

[johnsushant1 @ Jul 2nd 2009 7:33AM]

Paul (a-Z) Chapel and quix
Please do not comment. We all hate you.
I am sure you were thinking of commenting.

[OneLove @ Jul 2nd 2009 10:09AM]

Wow, facebook and youtube as a selling point. jeez.

[Linhares @ Jul 2nd 2009 11:31AM]

"Yes, Windows Mobile 6.1, why do you ask?"

Because everyone detests WinMo and Android would be much more cool?

[Janet @ Jul 14th 2009 6:41PM]

Toshiba Tg01 FREE on Orange..

Grab it now ; )……..

http://greatmobileshop.co.uk/show.asp?hs=tg01

[Mark Anderson II @ Jul 2nd 2009 6:53AM]

6.1 you say? Unless it's skinned I'll pass.

[Mikeo @ Jul 2nd 2009 7:04AM]

There's been videos of WM6.5 on it.
The 4.1 inch screen won't help 6.1 much, but should make 6.5 more than mighty usable for the interface (while Snapdragon makes it fast)

6.5 will be ported to it again by homebrew hackers because most of the core components are similar. 7? Likely, if Toshiba releases a future TG0_ with it.

But since 7 will be out soon (at least the software/interface leaks), you might as well wait for newer phones.

[Sam @ Jul 2nd 2009 6:54AM]

What's the processor speed on this thing?

[Thomas Ricker @ Jul 2nd 2009 7:00AM]

1GHz, but why do you care? Unless you're comparing similar architectures the speed doesn't make much difference.

Thomas

[Kelmon @ Jul 2nd 2009 7:35AM]

Ludicrous Speed

Sorry, I couldn't help myself but I am in full agreement with Thomas - discussions about processor speeds is pretty pointless as a means for comparison. All that you really need to know is that the processor is fast enough to support the software running on it. Whether it is or not remains to be seen.

[Mikeo @ Jul 2nd 2009 7:37AM]

Well Thom, in this case it DOES matter.


The Scorpion CPU core inside the Snapdragon has a lot of similarities to the current oh-so-popular ARM7 Cortex A-8 CPU core (popularized by foul mouthed Tegra hating Apple fantards) in terms of instruction execution and vector units, so yes, it would *not* be a stretch to compare them by the Mhz.


Finding relevant software to leverage the power however is a completely different issue though.

[DarKlar @ Jul 2nd 2009 8:09AM]

Comment from amb9800 @ Jul 1st 2009 1:40PM

Well, Snapdragon's CPU is similar to the ARM Cortex A8 chips (apparently a bit faster than A8 clock-for-clock). The Cortex A8 cores are around 2x the speed of ARM11 CPUs clock-for-clock.

Tegra's CPU is an ARM11 core (typically at 600 MHz for mobile), so Snapdragon (especially at 1 GHz) will completely destroy it for general processing (3-4x faster).

Tegra's strength is in its GPU. Snapdragon's GPU is some iteration of ATI's Imageon line (which Qualcomm purchased from ATI), so it should be an interesting comparison on the GPU side...

[loosely_coupled @ Jul 2nd 2009 10:15AM]

Just wanted to re-inforce the comments above mine..

Snapdragon is a custom core that runs the ARMv7 instruction set like the standard Cortex-A8 core. It has a bunch of power efficiency and performance tweaks, including a SIMD processing engine that is twice as wide as the "NEON" in the Cortex-A8. It also can run at higher clockspeeds.
The initial snapdragon which runs the TG01 is a 1000mhz single-core unit, with advanced GPU, DSP, and dedicated video encode/decode.


I'm not a Microsoft hater, but facts are facts. this thing has screaming raw speed, but Windows mobile 6.1 can hardly take advantage of any modern ARM CPU features since it compiles to ARMv4/v5, where Snapdragon and Cortex are ARMv7. It can't natively use their powerful SIMD units, the interface doesn't take advantage of graphics processors, and it has very poor support for floating point units, DSPs, and co-processors.

To see my point, just wait to see a Snapdragon implementation on Android, WebOS, etc.

[DarKlar @ Jul 2nd 2009 10:59AM]

@loosley_coupled

So will WM6.5 or 7 comply to ARMv7?

[DarKlar @ Jul 2nd 2009 7:00AM]

Please Please Please let this come out on Voda.... (>.

[jakem @ Jul 2nd 2009 7:51AM]

Anything but Orange really. I could never go back to Orange.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to TG01 reviews and confirmation of a WinMo 6.5 upgrade in the not-too-distant future. Assuming that everything looks good I might consider buying this retail rather than on contract.

[LondonConsultant @ Jul 2nd 2009 7:58AM]

I don't really care whether Orange or Vodafone, as long as 9.9mm coolness joins forces with Android goodness one day...

[Zane @ Jul 2nd 2009 7:12AM]

6.1? Oh snap!

[TimmyRaa @ Jul 2nd 2009 7:37AM]

11.0 days of standby time? That's not accurate enough for me - I want it down to 0.01 day accuracy.

[Kelmon @ Jul 2nd 2009 7:37AM]

Personally speaking, I'm not much fond of anyone who thinks they are in a position to dictate who can or cannot comment, particularly when they go on to duplicate their comment 3-times. You can simply not read the comments that other people post, or even read a different article. Go on, give it a try...

[semplice @ Jul 2nd 2009 8:12AM]

O2 Germany...

https://service.o2online.de/portal/?$part=Productcatalog.content.detailView&hardwareId=4510%20250000%2000&commercializationId=NewCustomerWebshopPostpaid&tariffId=O-ACT-H

[mohsen @ Jul 2nd 2009 7:49AM]

too bad the interface is extremely ugly...

and the device isn't as fast as a snapdragon shoud have been compared to current HTC's with previous generation processors

[jakem @ Jul 2nd 2009 7:52AM]

Have you got a link to back up your last statement?

[Alan Strangis @ Jul 2nd 2009 9:12AM]

I think he's referring to the early videos available on YouTube. For gaming and video playback, it looked very fast, but the UI looked kind of sluggish (these were obviously pre-release builds though).

[loosely_coupled @ Jul 2nd 2009 10:19AM]

There is no doubt that even the 65nm, single-core 1000Mhz Snapdragon has an immense amount of power, being far faster than the Cortex-A8 in the iPhone 3GS or Palm Pre.

Any performance problems are clearly software related, and in this case it is pretty obvious that Windows Mobile is the problem. I'm sure HTC has just spent more time with optimization and performance improvements. WinMo's core is stull compiling to ARMv4/v5, whereas SnapDragon and Cortex are ARMv7, so it can't take advantage of many modern performance features like the NEON SIMD engine, nor does WinMo natively support a floating point unit, DSPs, and other coprocessors.

[mohsen @ Jul 2nd 2009 1:56PM]

see my comment down the page

[A1e @ Jul 2nd 2009 7:53AM]

What is wrong with you?

[steel36 @ Jul 2nd 2009 7:58AM]

I switched back from my i760 WM device to a standard cellphone last night, and I'm happier already. WM devices, with their resistive screens, are just bricks in the hand. I'm waiting for Verizon to get an Android device.

[darkmax @ Jul 2nd 2009 8:01AM]

why so impressive a unit only comes with a 3.2 mpx camera?

[Kelmon @ Jul 2nd 2009 8:39AM]

Personally speaking, I'd much rather have a a lower pixel density that provides low noise at higher ISO values so that I don't need a crappy flash than a higher pixels density that makes indoor pictures look poor. However, if both low noise and high image quality can be achieved with a higher pixel count then I'd be happy with that. I just don't fall for the more pixels = better pictures theory that the camera manufacturers seem to want you to believe.

[DarKlar @ Jul 2nd 2009 8:02AM]

Shut up, fuck off.

[essensial @ Jul 2nd 2009 8:13AM]

God, it's the size of the brick!!! Are we back to the 20th century??? 7cm??? Who's gonna want the phone that big???

[Mark Anderson II @ Jul 2nd 2009 9:33AM]

People who know when to use punctuation?

[Galactor963 @ Jul 2nd 2009 8:35AM]

800x480? Dang. They should partner up with Mimo and mold the USB display concept into this. It'd be a nifty extra feature.

Also, the combo Mimoshiba makes me giggle.

[pedro @ Jul 2nd 2009 8:47AM]

Well those clowns do not appear to be here, but another joker appears to making up for this fact with his spam.

Nice handset btw, but why Orange :(

[NiGeRiA_StAnD_Up! @ Jul 2nd 2009 8:55AM]

Nice specs and all but i don't see this selling in volumes. I held a touch HD today, think I'm going to ditch my xperia for it.

[Mike @ Jul 2nd 2009 8:59AM]

I might want one.

[NiGeRiA_StAnD_Up! @ Jul 2nd 2009 8:57AM]

Nice specs and all but i don't see this selling in volumes. I held a touch HD today, think I'm going to ditch my xperia for it.

[Mike @ Jul 2nd 2009 9:33AM]

I might want one.

[NiGeRiA_StAnD_Up! @ Jul 2nd 2009 9:01AM]

Sorry for the double post. My connections messed up.

[skyper @ Jul 2nd 2009 9:30AM]

I'll buy this if it' on Android or WinMo 7 or even TouchFlo 3D-2 ( I know it's not an OS). Anything but 6.1 with that ugly interface. What a waste of such a beautiful hardware!.

[T-Bone @ Jul 2nd 2009 9:41AM]

The specs they chose to feature aren't impressive at all. The iPhone has generally lagged in the hardware department and made up for it with the interface but the specs presented are highly comparable.

[John Doe @ Jul 2nd 2009 10:07AM]

Ain't that HUGE for a phone? It's even bigger than the iPhone, which is big enough already.

[A1e @ Jul 2nd 2009 10:13AM]

Yup!
Love the screen though but there is lots of dead space around it.

[loosely_coupled @ Jul 2nd 2009 10:19AM]

I wish the iPhone was bigger!

[mohsen @ Jul 2nd 2009 1:52PM]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sCYyVmMPVw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvxIKsKHXck

Both videos have been uploaded just a few days ago.

The first one is German. See the overall speed. Also the screen rotation is considerably slower than touchpro2. In my first comment
I was referring to this video.

The second one is French. Note that there are two interfaces available one of which is Toshiba's
Stripes and the other one is from the carrier(this resembles samsung's touchwz). Maybe the carrier
felt the same way about stripes! Interestingly, it seems to be Orange. (listen carefully to the
French guy)
Therefore it's most probably the final software. Here the speed has improved a bit over the first video.

Now if someone could port touchFlo3D to this thing, It'd be much more appealing.

[samindalnac @ Jul 2nd 2009 2:01PM]

The TG01 is also out on NTT Docomo's site as the T-01A for the Summer Pro Series Lineup, Complete with FOMAey goodness!

http://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/product/foma/pro/t01a/index.html

[info @ Jul 3rd 2009 8:43AM]

The TG01 is already for sale in Germany. http://o2online.de/nw/handys/myhandy/o2-my-handy.html?et_cid=9&et_lid=325737&et_sub=slider_my-handy_white