Applications

So after unpacking it and installing and plugging it in to charge I left it for a couple of hours so the Li-Ion battery fully charged whilst it was doing this I installed the Mobile Device Centre software on my Vista laptop. Once it was fully charged I turned on the TGO1 it took quite a while for the first boot and then went to an Auto install of some Cabs after which it re started itself as it was meant to. So the first thing I did after this was to set up the date and time and the adjust the brightness to full for both on battery or external power this is something I do on all my devcies as just don’t care about battery life over have the best screen possible. I also set my preferences for the screen time out now at this point I was blown away but just how bright and clear and crisp the screen was it’s truly stunning and as good as the Samsung AMOLED screen on the i8910HD from what I can remember.

I then set up my WiFi connection which really was very quick and easy it only required selecting my Router from ones available and entering my Wireless Key. I then explored the two options of Home Screen UI’s that are on the TGO1 the first is the Orange Home Screen with icons all down the left side of the device which is very similar to the Touchwiz interface that is found on the i8910HD. Well I didn’t like it on that devcie and I don’t like on this one either the second option is the Toshiba Stripes UI and whilst it is very responsive and has plenty of customisation options as to the order of the what the Stripes access along with the possibility to enhance and add things to the Stripes I didn’t like the size of the icons on the stripes. As I knew my TG01 was coming I had already searched and found the apps I thought I might want or need on it, the first and to me the most important one was SPB Mobile Shell so I installed the trial version to see if it is worth the $29.99 or not. It only took a couple of minutes for me to release it was indeed worth every cent IMO and it really transforms the device into to being finger user friendly. It also manages to keep you away from having to interact with the normal WM6.1 interface and it’s worth the money for that alone as it just makes the device so easy to navigate access and use.

Once this was installed I had a little explore of it’s options and at this point realised just how fast the TG01 is there is no lag or stutters anywhere and the screen really is incredibly responsive. As long as you remember it’s not a capacitive screen but resistive so requires a light press and then swipe as opposed to just swiping the surface it works incredibly well. Comparing it to the two touch screen devcies I’ve used recently the Samsung i8910HD with Capacitive screen and the Nokia N97 with resistive it’s just in a different class. As far as both the screen and the Os being responsive I then decided to check out the new MIE6 and have to say I really wasn’t very impressed so installed the trial version of Opera Mobile instead after trying this out for a short while I was very impressed at both the download speed and the ease of navigation and the way it displays yet another must have IMO. After this I continued to install the apps I had found below is the list of all the apps I have installed so far.

SPB Mobile Shell 3.0 trial version but am purchasing it as a must have.
Opera Mobile trial same as above.
Seven Push E-Mail Free Beta.
Screen Capture Freeware.
PocketTwit Freeware a Twitter app.
MyPlayer and BBC iPlayer and ITV Player Freeware
Alarm Master v2.0 Trial and again am going to buy it.

Now I know there are free alternatives or certain places I could get all of these for free but that’s just not my way even for some freeware if the developer has a donation option and I like and use the app I donate. As IMO that is how we encourage and keep these guys delivering great apps for what ever OS we are using, otherwise why should they bother?

The next thing I did was transfer some Albums to the memory card whilst still in the TG01 and then some of my US TV shows that are DivX encoded Avi’s. Having already checked out the CorePlayer site I then proceeded to set up CorePlayer as my default player and set it to search my memory card for Music, Video and Pictures. Listening to Music via CorePlayer using my Shure EC2g ear phones and the hands free adapter and 3.5mm point is very good indeed my music sound bright crisp and clear with great sound stage. Watching videos in full screen are just stunning the colours are bright and clear and there are no motion artefact’s at all. I know Toshiba have claimed that they have employed the same technology as used in thier Regaza flat panel TV’s but the results they have achieved truly are stunning. I know a normal TFT screen even if it is 800 x 480 shouldn’t be able to get near to a AMLOED screen but from what I can remember there really can’t be much in it. In fact I’m going to have to go to an Orange shop to compare them myself to be sure my memory’s not playing tricks on me.

Well that’s all for now and my initial impressions in a few days time I will have more to say about the Web browsing experience using Opera Mobile and how I am finding the device in day to day use and of course just how I’m finding battery life to be. But all I can say so far is that in the couple of days I’ve had it it’s definitely a keeper for me and is is one of if not the best devcie I’ve owned and used.

Marc