14 DAY TRIAL // The Windows Mobile-powered smartphone Toshiba TG01, a handset that made it to the headlines due to the presence of Qualcomm's 1GHz Snapdragon chip in its hardware specifications, is now available for purchase in Japan, where it goes by the name of T-01A. Due to the fact that the handheld went live in the country on the airwaves of Docomo, its full name has been changed to Toshiba-Docomo T-01A, and can be spotted on Microsoft's Japanese Web site as well.
The Toshiba-Docomo T-01A is the first mobile phone in the world to come to the shelves with the Snapdragon chip, and Qualcomm has already confirmed this state of facts. The chip comes with an ARM design and is able to run at 1GHz, a great speed enhancement compared to typical ARM architecture chips that can be spotted in mobile phones (iPhone 3G S included), and which are clocked at around 600MHz.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon chip is reported to be able to offer support for high-definition (720p) video decode, as well as for 3D graphics (up to 22M triangles/sec) and XGA display support. At the same time, the silicon should also support mobile broadcast TV and 12-megapixel photo snappers. Moreover, it seems that the company does not plan to stop at only 1GHz with the Snapdragon, but it also demonstrated a notebook running a 1.3GHz Snapdragon processor and intends to push the silicon to 1.5GHz as well.
The new smartphone comes to the Japanese market with Microsoft's Windows Mobile 6.1 operating system, is only 9.9mm thick and sports a 4.1-inch WVGA resistive touch screen display able to boast a 800 x 480 pixel resolution and support for 384k colors. In addition, the device also includes support for 3G HSPA, Wi-Fi connectivity, GPS receiver and assisted-GPS.
The currently available Snapdragon is codenamed QSD8250, yet the company also plans a future Qualcomm QSD8672, which should come as a dual-core Snapdragon. The chip should include support for HSPA+, up to 28Mbps download speeds, 1080p high-definition video, Wi-Fi connectivity, mobile TV, and GPS receiver.
For the time being, mobile phone users will have to go with the already available Toshiba-Docomo T-01A and its 1GHz Snapdragon processor. Having been launched in Japan, the handset is also expected to hit the European market during the summer. No details on the price tag of the device have been unveiled for the moment.
