CES 2004
BenQ is a Taiwanese company that so far has been relatively unknown in the U.S. But they seem to be making an increasing push to go global, including a push into the U.S. cell phone market.
BenQ is still looking for carrier partners to offer its phones here, so there are no firm plans or major announcements. But they were displaying in their booth some of the phones they are shopping around to the carriers.
BenQ in general is a company that places an emphasis on design, and their phones are no exception. One of their better-known phones at the moment is the P30, an exceptionally slick-looking smartphone running the Symbian-based UIQ platform (like the Sony Ericsson P800 and P900). The P30 is a tri-band (900/1800/1900) GSM device.
While they did have a working model on display, it was an early software version that didn't want to boot up all the way, so I wasn't able to take it for a test drive. It does have an excellent, high-quality feel to it, however. It's thinner than many smartphones, a big plus in my book. Naturally, it has a camera on the back. The telescoping stylus stows in the bottom of the phone.
Next up was the S700 - a high-end megapixel camera phone. It's a tri-band GSM model like P30. They didn't have a working model on display, but the specs are extremely impressive. Features include: dual color displays, class 10 GPRS, video recording and flash, MP3 player, miniSD memory card slot, and 64-chord polyphonic ringtones.
Finally, they were also showing the S670C, a sleek, compact camera phone. The eye-catching design includes a dark mirrored front with a color OLED display underneath. The unique reflective finish hides the edge of the display, so the outer display text "floats" in the middle of the outer cover - a neat effect.
The S670C also includes a VGA camera, class 10 GPRS, Java, and 40-chord polyphonic ringtones. Like the others, the S670C is a tri-band GSM phone. A camera-less version is also available - the S660C.
According to the BenQ representative, all of these phones could be available as early as April, pending carrier interest.
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