Orange nabs Toshiba TG01 exclusive in UK
The first 'smartbook' available for free to all
Orange has announced it will be the exclusive provider of the Toshiba TG01, which is set to be one of the first phones to bridge the gap between the netbook and mobile phone.
That honour is due to it having a 4.1-inch QVGA screen and the industry's fastest processor, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 1GHz processor.
The TG01 will be free from 10 July, but unfortunately only to those who want to pay £39.15 per month and lock themselves into 24 month price plan.
However, for the money users get 1200 any network call minutes, unlimited texts, Orange Maps as well as inclusive anytime internet browsing, so apart from the length of contract Orange has managed to bring a pretty competitive package.
Rivalry
It's no surprise Orange has been revealed as the exclusive provider of the phone, as it created a 'coming soon' screen last week.
It's unlikely we'll see huge sales of the phone, simply down to the fact it has such a large screen, though it still can be seen as a rival to the likes of the iPhone.
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It also have an innovative 'strip' skin to hide the monster of Windows Mobile 6.1 (which will be upgradeable to 6.5 when it launches in a few months).
Check out a video of the phone in action (especially if you like bearded Orange employees).
Gareth has been part of the consumer technology world in a career spanning three decades. He started life as a staff writer on the fledgling TechRadar, and has grown with the site (primarily as phones, tablets and wearables editor) until becoming Global Editor in Chief in 2018. Gareth has written over 4,000 articles for TechRadar, has contributed expert insight to a number of other publications, chaired panels on zeitgeist technologies, presented at the Gadget Show Live as well as representing the brand on TV and radio for multiple channels including Sky, BBC, ITV and Al-Jazeera. Passionate about fitness, he can bore anyone rigid about stress management, sleep tracking, heart rate variance as well as bemoaning something about the latest iPhone, Galaxy or OLED TV.