Toshiba is reportedly set to launch an “iPhone killer” at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona later this month.
The Toshiba TG01 is the mobile industry’s first Qualcomm Snapdragon device. The handset is only 9.9mm thick, but boasts a 4.1-inch WVGA touchscreen, GPS, Wi-Fi, HSDPA, a microSD slot, and an overlay on the Windows Mobile 6.1 operating system that gives it a unique-looking user interface.
“There are a lot of Windows Mobile touchscreen phones on the market. This is the first phone based on the Snapdragon [architecture]. There’s no doubt this is going to compete against the HTC Touch and the iPhone and anything else with a big touchscreen,” said Avi Greengart, an analyst at Current Analysis. “The Snapdragon platform is fast.”
The Power of Snapdragon
Qualcomm has received widespread industry support for Snapdragon, with more than 30 devices in development using Snapdragon chipsets. Snapdragon promises the best of the smartphone and laptop computing experiences for robust mobile Internet capabilities.
The Snapdragon architecture includes chipsets that feature a custom gigahertz microprocessor core paired with Qualcomm’s sixth-generation DSP core running at 600 MHz and dedicated to applications. The result is fast processing.
The Snapdragon architecture also features integrated cellular broadband as well as support for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and mobile TV, high-definition video recording and playback, sophisticated positioning with Assisted GPS, hardware-accelerated 3-D graphics, and industry-leading integration to enable smaller, sleeker devices.
“Qualcomm introduced Snapdragon to encourage the industry to think outside the box and design devices that fill the niche between the portable communications capabilities of mobile handsets and the computing capabilities of laptops,” said Luis Pineda, senior vice president of marketing and product management for Qualcomm CDMA Technologies. “Many of the customers we are now working with are new to Qualcomm and are looking to Snapdragon to help them succeed in the mobile space.”
Toshiba First to…