Video: Toshiba TG01 officially exclusive to Orange UK

Orange has come out this morning, in advance of the official UK unveiling of the phone, to confirm it will be the exclusive UK carrier of the TG01. We can confirm availability from July 10 (i.e. tomorrow), and the phone can be had for free on a 2-year contract costing £39.15 per month. To figure out if that sort of investment is worth it, we'll have an intrepid reporter stationed at this afternoon's event, who'll be bringing you up-to-the-minute details and imagery of the first Snapdragon handset to hit British shores. You'll find the full PR at the read link, or continue reading for an unshaven Orange rep walking you through the phone's specs.

[Via CoolSmartPhone]

[Timmmmmm Posted Jul 9th 2009 8:47AM]

Interesting. So if it is free on an 18 month £45 contract or 24 month £40 contract, assuming they charge the same for use of the network we can work out how much the phone costs. If x is the monthly cost and y is the phone cost then:

18 month is: x*18 + y = 45*18 =810
23 month is: x*24 + y = 40*24 =960

Solve for x, y:

Monthly contract: £25
Phone: £360.

Sounds about right.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 9th 2009 8:05AM]

GO AWAY 2 YEAR CONTRACTS, WE DONT WANT YOU.

jesus, it wasnt that long ago when 12 was the norm and there were only a few 18 month ones around.

[Timmmmmm Posted Jul 9th 2009 8:48AM]

The reason is phones have become more expensive. They make the contracts longer so they don't have to put the monthly price up.

You can still get 12 month contracts on cheaper phones.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 9th 2009 2:06PM]

The cost to make phones is actually coming down, we are paying higher price for absolutely no technological advantage for the last 3 years.

[MegaJapan Posted Jul 9th 2009 8:07AM]

Review of this phone plz?

[Zodiac Posted Jul 9th 2009 8:14AM]

How many people would sign 2 year contract for the WinMo junk?

[pokes Posted Jul 9th 2009 9:04AM]

so...what would you sign a 2 year contract for??

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 9th 2009 8:25AM]

Who needs capacitive now?

[Charles Knight Posted Jul 9th 2009 8:28AM]

Great way to show off the phone - flicking through the same menus over and over again - I think it a bit odd he didn't show off the media playback capabilities? something to hide maybe?

(Yes Snapdragon is fast but WM6.1 is not complied for it so it cannot natively take advantage of the chipset).

[Dee Kay Posted Jul 9th 2009 8:31AM]

"Say.... Is that a TG01 or are you just ... VERY happy to see me?"

[tym Posted Jul 9th 2009 10:09AM]

so weird that a phone like this can be free on contract over there. will probably be 400-600 here on contract

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 9th 2009 11:17AM]

I don't get the excitement for this phone. UI seems ugly as hell, the phone is too big and because of WinMo 6.1 it won't even be significantly faster than another WinMo phone with less specs. Oh, and lol, resistive touchscreen.

I don't even understand why this phone is being released right now except for bragging rights of being first Snapdragon phone. They should take a couple of months to polish the UI and specs (like battery capacity) then release it once they can put at least WinMo 6.5 on it (that will be compiled to take advantage of hardware like this right?)

[billmiller Posted Jul 9th 2009 11:26AM]

When is this coming stateside? About a year or two, after the Europeans ditch it after their initial contracts are over?

[JONNNathannn Posted Jul 9th 2009 12:01PM]

This looks so nice, I love the huge screen. And the home screen looked so awesome. Then I realized it's Windows Mobile.

[Quikboy Posted Jul 9th 2009 12:27PM]

"Then I realized it's Windows Mobile."

Which is a good thing!

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 9th 2009 1:56PM]

In regards to this Android vs. Windows Mobile discussion, it's interesting to see all the anti-WinMo sentiment whenever a new phone with WinMo is announced, with potential users lamenting the absence of other OS choices like Android.

Strangely enough, whenever an Android phone is released, you don't have the same yearning for the device to support WinMo ... makes you think ...

[Wesley Posted Jul 9th 2009 7:37PM]

£40 on 24 month contract, that sux! So does cellphone networks getting exclusive deals to sell a phone in a country. Also anti-competitive. Got to get the European Union on their @ss like they were on Microsoft.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 14th 2009 6:41PM]

Toshiba Tg01 FREE on Orange..

Grab it now ; )........

http://greatmobileshop.co.uk/show.asp?hs=tg01