Sharp TM200

Discontinued
3rd December 2004

The Sharp TM200 has been rumoured for a while, but until recently it wasn't clear if this was going to be a US release (like the TM150) or a European release (like the TM100). Well, luckily for Europe, it seems to be destined for that side of the Atlantic.

The TM200 is quite a catch for T-Mobile, and it's the first two megapixel GSM camera phone to be generally available in Europe, probably just beating its stablemate the Sharp 902 3G phone to market.

Looking a little like a cross between the Vodafone-only GX30 and V602SH handsets, and with a feature set similar to both, this is actually the best specified GSM phone announced so far in terms of display and camera capabilities, and it has the advantage of not being burdened by the size and weight problems that 3G phones likes the Sharp 902 have.

Sharp fans will know what to expect from the TM200's specifications. There's the trademark high-density 320x240 pixel TFT main display in 262,000 colours, with a smaller external display in 65,000 colours and 64x96 pixels. The camera is a 2 megapixel unit with 8X digital zoom, autofocus and a camera light. Unlike the Japanese V602SH, the TM200 doesn't have an optical zoom, nor does it have the V602SH/802/902's swivelling display, instead opting for a conventional clamshell arrangement with an oversized camera mounting.

The Sharp TM200 is a tri-band GSM phone with class 10 GPRS, a WAP 2.0 browser, POP3/SMTP email client, stereo MP3 playback, video clip recording and playback, Bluetooth and the usual features such as PIM functionality, polyphonics and Java. Internal memory is 32Mb with only 9Mb free to the user, but this can be expanded using SD cards.

We'd describe the TM200 as a medium-large handset in size and weight terms. Coming in at 115 grams it's fairly substantial, and the overall dimensions are a little larger than many GSM clamshells. Talktime is about 3 hours with 9 days standby.

One big question we're asking ourselves is - "Is this the Sharp GX40"? We always knew that Sharp would come up with something better than the GX30, but we are expecting something with a Sharp 902 style rotating display and possibly optical zoom. As far as we can tell, the GX40 is still in the works, but it will be several months away. But as it is, the Sharp TM200 competes well with the (ironically) rival Sharp 902 being launched on Vodafone's 3G service. With the TM200, T-Mobile can show that they have a phone pretty much as good as the Sharp 902 in non-network terms, and this could put a dent in Vodafone's 3G sales and there are now TWO 2 megapixel cameras in the European marketplace. However, this might backfire for T-Mobile because as yet they don't have anything near to this specification in their suggested 3G lineup.

The Sharp TM200 should be available in December in Germany and then in other T-Mobile regions shortly after that.