Toshiba launches 1GHz smartphone

If, in your eyes, computing is all about the megahertz race, you'll want to hit up Toshiba for one of its latest smartphones – the first to feature a 1GHz processor.

As reported over on CNet, the company has become the first to launch hardware based on the Snapdragon platform from communication chip specialist Qualcomm. Dubbed the TG01 and running Windows Mobile, the device features a 4.1" 800x480 resistive touch screen, support for 3G and WiFi connections, and in-built GPS with A-GPS support it's a fairly standard smartphone at first glance, albeit one with a particularly high resolution display.

It's once you start to look beyond the obvious that you realise the potential behind the Snapdragon platform. For starters, the device is a mere 9.9mm thick – which is no mean feat, when you compare it to Apple's iPhone at a rather chunkier 11.6mm. The real star of the show, however, is the silicon.

The Snapdragon platform on this particular handset is running a RISC-based processor at an impressive 1GHz – which makes it powerful enough to decode and play 720p HD video, render 3D graphics at a rate of up to 22M triangles per second, run displays at up to XGA resolutions, and easily chuck around graphics from a 12 megapixel camera. This isn't your average smartphone chip, that's for sure.

Qualcomm isn't content with the current performance, either: the current QSD8250 chipset, as used in the TG01, will eventually be replaced by the QSD8672 – a dual-core version running at 1.5GHz with full 1080p HD video support and in-built ATI graphics processing. To put it into perspective, that's several times the power of my original-model Eee PC. In a smartphone.

If you're not too keen on the styling of Toshiba's offering, but still want to get your hands on some Qualcomm Snapdragon goodness, fear not: both Acer and Asus are also currently working on handsets based on the platform, but have been pipped to the post in this instance. So far, neither company has issued a timescale for release – but Toshiba is hoping to have the TG01 out in Europe some time this summer, at an unknown pricing level.

Tempted to get a 1GHz smartphone, or are you waiting for the 1.5GHz dual-core version so you can fold on the go? Share your thoughts over in the forums.