Rivals: Toshiba TG01 versus iPhone 3G

We're a couple of days behind the times here at iPhonic with regards to Toshiba's new TG01 mobile phone announcement. That's partly because no-one from Toshiba wanted to invite us to the launch party on Tuesday, or even send out a press release and images, and also because the lack of anything official on any of Toshiba's web sites implies that the company really isn't that bothered about the phone.

Well, OK, that's probably just sour grapes on my part, but it does seem odd that there's not more official noise about a handset that could be destined for great things.

(Apart from the fact that Toshiba made the terrible decision to stick Windows Mobile on it)

Let's take a look at what we do know so far, thanks to Daniel from Tech Digest who did get a look at the TG01.

(Note also that I'm gleaning specs from LetsGoMobile.org who seem to have got a spec sheet up already -- I'm hoping it's accurate.

Look & Feel

The big bit of news is that the handset is less than a centimetre thick - 9.9mm to be precise. That's obviously a good 2.4mm thinner than the iPhone. Other dimensions are around 129 x 71mm compared to the iPhone's 115.5 x 62.1mm.

Weight of the TG01 isn't known yet.

Screen

The Toshiba TG01 features a 4.1-inch (diagonal) colour TFT touchscreen sporting 480 x 800 resolution. That's a rather interesting 3:5 (or 5:3) aspect ratio compared to the iPhone's 320 x 480 (2:3 / 3:2) aspect ratio. Neither offers "true" widescreen TV format.

Apparently the Tosh uses the same LCD technology as found in its line of Regza TVs. That means stuff like dynamic gamma correction and intelligent backlighting.

Camera

The TG01 has a 3.15-megapixel camera but it's not clear what additional features it offers -- not much according to the specs so far (no zoom, and flash/auto focus and video capabilities aren't known). The iPhone 3G, by contrast, still has its paltry 2-megapixel bog-standard camera.

Multimedia

Given that this is a Windows Mobile device, you'd expect the TG01 to handle a wide variety of audio and video out of the box, though there's no specific information as to what just yet. The iPhone 3G handles MP3, AAC, MPEG4.

Navigation

Both phones have a built-in GPS unit. The iPhone 3G makes use of this via Google Maps and third-party applications. Presumably the TG01 will do similar.

Communications

Both phones operate on 3G networks and have built in Wi-Fi. The Toshiba TG01 has full Bluetooth 2.1 and A2DP support.

It also has integrated instant messaging, SMS and MMS, while the iPhone lacks MMS and requires third party applications for IM.

Web Browsing

The iPhone uses the Safari browser while it's likely that the TG01 will use a version of Internet Explorer for Mobile, but presumably with the option to install a third-party browser.

Operating System

The iPhone 3G runs on OS X. The Toshiba TG01 uses Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional.

Storage

The TG01 has an unspecified amount of internal memory plus the ability to add up to 32GB of removable storage. The iPhone 3G has a fixed 8GB or 16GB internal memory.

Sensors

Both phones feature ambient light sensor. It seems the TG01 has some kind of accelerometer built in, for such tasks a being able to shake the phone to answer the call (OK then). Others aren't clear. The iPhone also has proximity sensors.

Applications

The iPhone allows a range of Apple-approved third-party applications to run. Presumably the TG01 will offer as much expandability as any Windows Mobile phone.

Pricing & Networks

It seems that the TG01 will be tied to one carrier in each country, just as the iPhone is tied (in the UK) to O2. Pricing on the TG01 isn't known yet.

Conclusions

The Toshiba TG01, with its great display and super-fast 1GHz Snapdragon processor, looks to have a lot of potential. It's a shame that it runs Windows Mobile (albeit with Toshiba's own extensions on top) rather than Android or even Symbian, because that feels like a bit of a stumbling block.

It's certainly a challenger to the iPhone, though whether its improved specifications win over the usability factor remains to be seen. It won't be officially launched until at least the Mobile World Congress later this month.

For the moment, take a look at our preview video.

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