Toshiba -- Engadget Mobile

Toshiba's TG01 outed on Orange UK

by Thomas Ricker, posted Jul 2nd 2009 at 6:41AM

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]

Toshiba's TG01 stepping out in London on July 9th

by Thomas Ricker, posted Jul 1st 2009 at 7:28AM

It's already out in Japan and a few select countries in Europe, now Toshiba's skinny TG01 is hitting London on Thursday, July 9th. Presumably the invite will be met with an official UK launch of Tosh's deftly skinned Snapdragon handset with a Windows Mobile 6.1 core. Then again, it could be a lot of tech reporters eating mini triangular sandwiches slathered with pickle spread discussing the HTC Hero for four hours. We'll let you know next week.

Toshiba TG01 now available on Movistar in Spain

by Chris Ziegler, posted Jun 23rd 2009 at 9:24AM

If you're in... say, Spain, we can understand how you might perceive Japan as being a bit far to go just to put your hands on Toshiba's T-01A Snapdragon powerhouse. Then again, it is the first Snapdragon handset to hit the market -- and it's an absolutely stunning-looking phone -- so we certainly wouldn't blame you for packing your belongings, children, and pets into wooden crates, shipping them via freighter, and hopping the next flight to Tokyo. The good news, though, is that you won't have to: Movistar has now launched the phone locally in its global TG01 flavor, offering 7.2Mbps down, 2Mbps up, a flippin' 4.1-inch wide VGA display, and very likely the snappiest Windows Mobile experience you've ever had. The best part is that you can get it for free depending on your contract and plan pricing, so seriously, what's holding you (other than the fact that you might not be in Spain)?

Toshiba's TG01 running Snapdragon launched as T-01A in Japan

by Thomas Ricker, posted Jun 22nd 2009 at 4:11AM

One of the hottest pieces of gear this year just made its way to retail in Japan. Less than a centimeter thick, the NTT DoCoMo T-01A is the same TG01 device revealed by Toshiba back in February running Qualcomm's ultra-fast 1GHz Snapdragon chipset. As such, our far east brethren can lay claim to that 4.1-inch WVGA (800 x 480 pixel) resistive touchscreen display; HSDPA, GPS, and WiFi radios; and Toshiba's custom-built UI meant to mask its Windows Mobile 6.1 core with a bit of Rothko misdirection. And now that Toshiba's home country of Japan is all set, we hope to see the TG01 make its launch debute in Europe and beyond.

Gallery: Toshiba's TG01 Snapdragon phone launched as NTT DoCoMo T-01A in Japan

Toshiba Biblio e-reader handled, deemed extremely small

by Laura June, posted May 25th 2009 at 11:58PM

We heard that Japanese carrier KDDI au had unveiled a Toshiba "e-reader," and now we're getting a first look at it. The e-inkless Biblio has a 3.5-inch, 960 x 480 LCD, with WiFi, 7GB of onboard storage, an electronic dictionary, and a 5.1 megapixel camera. The device features a slide-out keyboard which displays a numeric pad in the portrait orientation and doubles as full QWERTY in landscape. There's no word on pricing or availability for this bad boy as of yet, but we'll keep our eyes peeled and our ears to the ground. One more shot after the break.

Continue reading Toshiba Biblio e-reader handled, deemed extremely small

NTT DoCoMo and Telefonica teaming up on Toshiba TG01 / T-01A launch

by Chris Ziegler, posted May 25th 2009 at 5:26PM

It didn't take a keen eye to realize that NTT DoCoMo's recently-announced T-01A from Toshiba was little more than a TG01 rebrand, and it turns out the relationship between the two devices is even stronger than we'd already guessed. DoCoMo just issued a press release today touting the fact that it has hooked up with Spain's Telefonica to jointly launch the phone in both companies' markets -- and furthermore, they're exploring ways to expand their cooperation in the future, including (but not limited to) "a joint study of possible services and applications for open OS handsets." Japanese carriers have a rich history of partnering with their international counterparts -- DoCoMo's investment in AT&T's Hawaiian network, for example -- but unfortunately, very rarely does the partnership result in getting Japanese domestic market hardware launched elsewhere, which is a tragedy as far as we're concerned.

KDDI au unveils summer '09 lineup: e-books, solar power, and 720p recording

by Chris Ziegler, posted May 24th 2009 at 11:54PM

Japanese carrier KDDI au has now followed Softbank and NTT DoCoMo in pulling the red velvet cover off its summer 2009 devices, and as always, there are some neat tricks in here. From Toshiba, the Biblio is billed as an e-book reader; granted, it's using an LCD instead of an E-Ink display, but it's a doozy at 3.5 inches at 960 x 480. It features 7GB of user-accessible storage on board for books, and also has a slide-out dynamic keyboard that can display a numeric pad in the portrait orientation or full QWERTY in landscape. Moving on, the Sharp Sportio Water Beat -- as its name suggests -- is a waterproof sports-oriented set with advanced calorie and distance tracking (a la Nike+), but you're still never too far from your true destiny as a couch potato thanks to the phone's one-seg reception. Next, the Hitachi Mobile Hi-Vision Cam Wooo is the latest in the multimedia-centric Wooo series, becoming KDDI's first phone capable of 720p video recording at 30fps -- and there's HDMI-out on board for when the time comes to enjoy your footage. Finally, the SH002 is the realization of Sharp's solar phone concept from earlier this year, delivering one minute of talk time for every 10 minutes of charge time. There are other announcements in the mix here -- eight new phones in total -- but those were the killers of the bunch, and as always, this post is about as close as most North Americans will ever get to them.

[Via Engadget Japanese]

NTT DoCoMo counters SoftBank with 18 new handsets of its own

by Chris Ziegler, posted May 19th 2009 at 5:39AM

8 megapixel cameras and 3-plus-inch wide VGA displays are the order of the day in NTT DoCoMo's 18-strong summer 2009 range of phones from Panasonic, LG, Fujitsu, NEC, Sharp, HTC, and Toshiba, but a few are definitely standing out for us. First would be the unforgettable N-09A from NEC, integrating patent leather right into the phone's case; it's not often that you need to condition your handset with saddle soap, so that one definitely caught our eye. Next up, we have a couple smartphones (not to say that anything in this lineup can be labeled "dumb" by any stretch) from HTC and Toshiba -- the expected HT-03A and T-01A, respectively, which are localized rebrands of the Magic and TG01. Only a Japanese carrier lineup oozes enough machismo to make a TG01 look like a 16-ounce can of weak juice, so our hats go off to you, NTT DoCoMo -- thanks for ruining one of 2009's most promising devices for us. Hey, at least they're offering the Magic in both white and black.

Sharp's solar 936SH and 934SH with "memory LCD" headline latest SoftBank lineup

by Chris Ziegler, posted May 19th 2009 at 2:03AM

As you might expect, Japanese carrier SoftBank's summer 2009 lineup contains the usual science-fiction array of ridiculously well-equipped handsets -- plus 3G photo frames and a Lenovo IdeaPad S10 with embedded WWAN -- but the real news here might be a pair of lovelies from Sharp. The mirumo 934SH (pictured left) features a 3-inch external display that can display time, date, weather, news, and other information without consuming any power between changes; sounds like E-Ink, though Sharp describes it simply as a "memory LCD." You've also got an 8 megapixel camera, a waterproof shell, and a UV sensor that can help you determine just how quickly you need to slather on the SPF 30. Next up is the Solar Hybrid 936SH, a phone suspiciously similar in concept to the device Sharp is working on for SoftBank competitor KDDI au. Clearly the big draw here is the big solar array up front that'll give you one minute of call time or two hours of standby per 10 minutes of charging, but you've still got IPX7 water resistance, an 8 megapixel camera, and a full wide VGA display at your disposal. Look for the 934SH in June and the 936SH in August -- if you happen to be in Japan, anyhow.

Gallery: Sharp 934SH for SoftBank

Gallery: Sharp 936SH for SoftBank

Toshiba TG02 and TG03 shots surface

by Paul Miller, posted Apr 21st 2009 at 4:08PM

We like where this is headed. Toshiba seems poised to capitalize on its incredibly aggressive TG01 form factor, with the TG02 slated for Q4, and the TG03 for some time after that. We already got the skinny on the new handsets, along with the QWERTY-equipped K01 and K02 counter parts, and now we've got a few new shots of the TG series to keep things interesting. It's all a little low-fi at the moment, but while the TG03 looks like the most basic of renders, the TG02 shot (above) seems somewhat photographic in nature -- just think if Mr. Blurrycam had some sort of fixation for dotted lines.

Gallery: Toshiba TG02 and TG03 shots surface

Read - TG02 leaked shots
Read - TG03 leaked shots

Toshiba's WS206T notebook tablet gets handled ahead of Willcom release

by Chris Ziegler, posted Apr 15th 2009 at 9:02AM

Our own Engadget Japanese had an opportunity to play with Toshiba's odd little WS206T for Japanese carrier Willcom -- one of the concept devices demoed at CES, for particularly observant readers and rabid Toshiba fans -- and came away largely unimpressed. Shoving a thin, internet-enabled tablet into an old-school leather notebook sounds cool and all, but the problem is that the hardware's weak -- the screen's smaller than it could be, Willcom's PHS network tops out at just a few hundred kbps, there's no voice calling, and it runs some weird widget-based custom UI on top of Windows CE. What's more, it's a single-touch resistive display, and the UI's said to be annoyingly inconsistent. On the upside, it'll only run ¥2980 (about $30) a month for unlimited data, including the cost of the hardware itself, when it launches later this month -- just don't expect a product that's going to change your life and win you friends.

Toshiba's leaked product roadmap gets us hot, extra bothered by fuel-cell powered L01 MID

by Thomas Ricker, posted Apr 14th 2009 at 5:44AM

If the roadmap posted after the break is to be believed (and we think it is) then Toshiba is set to capture a lot of attention with its Snapdragon-based handhelds over the coming year. Techblog.gr has what it claims to be the Toshiba Device Roadmap through 2010. They've shown us a PowerPoint sample off-line that seems to support the claim. Of course, this isn't the first time Tosh has leaked an entire product cycle and the named devices align nicely with some of the prototypes Toshiba was showing-off at CES in January (see gallery below). Toshiba was already off to a good start in 2009 with its incredibly thin 4.1-inch TG01 running atop Qualcomm's snapdragon platform. It just gets better from there. First we've got the TG02 (launching in Q4) update to the TG01 that adds IPX4 water resistance without changing the specs or the dimensions. The TG03 ups the ante again with the inclusion of a 3-channel speaker for a better video experience.

Also in Q4, Tosh looks ready to launch a 15-mm QWERTY slider version of the 9.9-mm TG01 with new capacitive (!) touchscreen called the K01. All other specs look unchanged including WinMo 6.5. Next is the K02 clamshell with primary 3.5-inch WVGA display and QWERTY on the inside coupled with a secondary LCD and 10-key on-screen keypad on the outside. The K02 features a resistive touchscreen, HSPA data, and same QSD8x50 chipset found in the TG01 (and all the other devices on this roadmap). Last, but by no means least, is the 7-inch L01 looking every bit the love-child of a Nokia N800 and HTC Advantage. The very same device that was shown powered by a DMFC (fuel cell) at CES in January. Interesting since Toshiba has promised a consumer device powered by a fuel cell before March of 2010. Unfortunately, it's limited to WinMo 6.5 (with a hint of a Windows Mobile 7 in 2010) and the same WVGA resolution seen on the smaller screens when it launches. Assuming the leak is true, of course.

Gallery: Toshiba's DMFC "internet viewer" prototypes are truly next-gen

Continue reading Toshiba's leaked product roadmap gets us hot, extra bothered by fuel-cell powered L01 MID

Keepin' it real fake, part CXCII: the Toshiba G450, for some reason

by Nilay Patel, posted Mar 21st 2009 at 3:28AM

Well, now we know what Toshiba was up to when it released that wacky G450 HSDPA modem / cellphone hybrid -- it was an overt challenge to see if even the silliest products would be copied by the Shenzhen KIRF outfits. A challenge that's been met with vigor, it seems: check out the "M688" here, which has all of the G450's useless control layout with even less functionality -- it can't be used as a modem. $66 is all it takes to convince your friends you've totally lost it.

[Thanks, Drew]

Keepin' it real fake, part CLXXXVII: the Toshiba TG01 doesn't deserve this kind of love

by Nilay Patel, posted Mar 5th 2009 at 3:47PM

Toshiba definitely made some waves at MWC with the Snapdragon-powered TG01, but you'll have to wait a while to get the real thing -- or you can front like you're VIP with the Venus JXD318 here, which cops all the style with none of the substance. You'll have to keep your friends at a distance (and possibly a little drunk) to keep the illusion alive, however: Venus didn't see fit to clone Tosh's stripes UI, instead going with the sadly-ubiquitous "wannabe iPhone" look, and the whole thing is controlled by those five tiny side buttons, since it's not a touchscreen. That's a pretty weak effort, overall -- come on, KIRFers, you can do better.

[Via PMP Today]

Weird Toshiba FCC filing suggests -- of all things -- a WinMo flip?

by Chris Ziegler, posted Mar 4th 2009 at 11:17AM

If there's an organization phone manufacturers probably shouldn't be pulling shenanigans on, the FCC ranks at or near the top of the list -- but Toshiba's latest filing has an awful lot of holes in it that need some 'splaining. At first glance, you'd figure this thing is a TG01, no big deal, and the product code of TM5-E01 seems to match up with the "E01" sticker at the bottom of the pictured test unit. A quick glance through the user's manual, though, reveals mentions of a 96 x 39 OLED secondary display, a primary display that's a full 1.1 inches smaller than the TG01's, and a device outline that's narrower, shorter, and way thicker. What does that sound like, exactly? A flip phone -- a form factor rarer than unicorns in the WinMo community -- but the pictures in the user's manual are of a TG01, not a flip. If we had to guess, this is an ultra-early draft of the manual with contents partially and haphazardly ripped out of another model's, but wouldn't it be crazy if Tosh dropped a Snapdragon-powered clamshell this year?

[Via Unwired View]