BenQ Android Phone & Netbook Planned for 2010
BenQ, the company's whose mobile division filed for
bankruptcy two years ago, is attempting a comeback by unveiling its intentions
to launch an Android
based smartphone and netbook sometime next year. The announcement means BenQ is
now part of a growing list of companies that are either making or planning to
make smartphones and mini-laptops based on the Android OS.
BenQ is not new to the smartphone world. The company already
has Symbian and Windows Mobile handsets such as the E72 shown here. Assuming
the new phone is designed and built properly, an Android phone could help BenQ
gain some market share. A few years ago, BenQ was a contender in the worldwide
mobile phone industry, but its acquisition of Siemens’ mobile phone division
went sour due to mounting losses and the company lost market share.
The company won’t be without competition: Google has said it knows of up to 20 Android devices being developed by up to nine manufacturers that will hit the market this year. Several companies have even shown mini-laptops running on Android at Computex.
An Android netbook could help diversify the company’s portfolio. BenQ currently sells netbooks under the Joybook Lite name. These netbooks run Windows XP. BenQ also currently offers a mobile Internet device with a Linux OS.
No hard facts are known about the new netbook from BenQ, but most Android-based mini-laptops that have been shown at Computex Taipei are using microprocessors from Arm Holdings, usually in chipsets from companies such as Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, or Freescale Semiconductor.
BenQ Joybook S57
BenQ is not new to the smartphone world. The company already
has Symbian and Windows Mobile handsets such as the E72 shown here. Assuming
the new phone is designed and built properly, an Android phone could help BenQ
gain some market share. A few years ago, BenQ was a contender in the worldwide
mobile phone industry, but its acquisition of Siemens’ mobile phone division
went sour due to mounting losses and the company lost market share. The company won’t be without competition: Google has said it knows of up to 20 Android devices being developed by up to nine manufacturers that will hit the market this year. Several companies have even shown mini-laptops running on Android at Computex.
An Android netbook could help diversify the company’s portfolio. BenQ currently sells netbooks under the Joybook Lite name. These netbooks run Windows XP. BenQ also currently offers a mobile Internet device with a Linux OS.
No hard facts are known about the new netbook from BenQ, but most Android-based mini-laptops that have been shown at Computex Taipei are using microprocessors from Arm Holdings, usually in chipsets from companies such as Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, or Freescale Semiconductor.
BenQ Joybook S57
