Toshiba TG01 touch-screen Windows Mobile handset

No, that is not some upcoming version of the Apple iPhone. This is in fact the upcoming Toshiba TG01 smartphone based on the Windows Mobile OS. This sleek handset is thinner than the iPhone (0.39 inches vs the iPhone’s 0.48 inches), and comes with a 4.1 inch 800 x 480 resolution touch-screen display. Powering the unit will be the Qualcomm’s 1GHz T-Snapdragon QSD8250 chipset – making the TG01 the first handset to use the processor platform. Other interesting specs include:

microSD card slot
GPS
Wi-Fi
HSDPA 3G networking
G-Sensor – some sort of replacement to the accelerometer typically found in these types of handsets nowadays
Windows Mobile with full flash support

One of the more interesting features of the TG01 is the “shake to answer” capability. Yes.. as the name implies, you would shake the phone to answer or disconnect a call. I’m not sure if I’m a fan of that (somehow I picture folks shaking a phone and then accidentally dropping the phone!!) feature but I guess I’d have to try it out first hand to see is usefulness.

Many folks will be wondering whether this is an iPhone killer. Our gut reaction is probably not. It’s merely a response from another company to the Apple iPhone.

Let’s face it. The introduction of the Apple iPhone was an inflection point in the mobile phone industry. From that point onward, every mobile phone vendor would have to respond in some form or fashion to the iPhone. For Toshiba, the TG01 is that very response.

Thus it’s really no great surprise that Toshiba would eventually come out with something to address this market.

So will it beat the iPhone in ease of use and just the “fun” factor? Probably not considering it’s based on the Windows Mobile OS. However because it is a Windows Mobile device, you’ll have access to thousands of third party applications. It’s also not entirely clear how much customization Toshiba did with the TG01. Does it have a customized UI a la HTC? Or is the home screen the only modification? Unknowns all around

Expect more info in the coming weeks as it’s expected that Toshiba will unveil the TG01 at the MWC.