BenQ have become the latest netbook manufacturer to throw their hat into the Android netbook ring, as well as confirming their plans to produce smartphones running the open-source OS. The new hardware should arrive on the market sometime in 2010, though BenQ are keeping specification details for both netbook and smartphone close to their chest.
BenQ revealed a new super-portable, super-light netbook called the JoyBook Lite U121 Eco today. This tiny PC measures in at just 11.6-inches and weighs only 2.9-pounds. However, don’t let its light frame fool you.
Our previous run-ins with pico-projectors have left us vaguely disappointed, with units that will certainly fit in your pocket but underwhelm in their performance. BenQ’s Joybee GP1 has sized itself out pocket-portability but promises improved quality to make up for it; SlashGear put those claims to the test.
The SlashGear team have been surprisingly mobile this week, with part one of our Lincoln MKS road-test, and toting Sprint’s version of the MiFi 2200 portable EVDO hotspot around. We still found enough time to get frantically excited about the Palm Pre, though, which we now know will launch on June 6th for $199.99.
That excitement is tempered with the ongoing rumors that stocks may be severely curtailed on launch day. Not only have Best Buy and RadioShack insiders been talking of minimal handset numbers come June 6th, Sprint’s own CEO is warning that the Pre will likely be in short supply for the first couple of months. The concern is that all of Palm’s momentum since CES back in January could fizzle out, as Apple are expected to announce a third-generation iPhone two days after the Pre’s launch.
For $499, you get the world’s first-ever LED-based projector with a USB reader. Specs wise, you’ll find a Texas Instruments DLP projection system outputting 858 x 600 resolution, 100 ANSI lumens, a 2,000:1 contrast ratio, a built-in 2-watt speaker and VGA / component / composite inputs. Did I mention that it’s only 1.4 pound projector?!
A concept MID from BenQ’s Qisda Creative Design Center has won a red dot design award. The BenQ Qisda QPD-111 MID has a 5-inch multitouch-capable touchscreen display and a large red “Hot Key” which, according to the design brief, would instantly trigger an internet connection.
BenQ officially launched their all-in-one nStation i91 desktop PC this week, and it brought along a larger sibling too. As well as the 18.5-inch i91, the company showed off the nStation i221, a 21.5-inch Full-HD version; they also brought along the HSDPA-enabled U101 netbook.
ASUS has been snubbed by the Chinese government, as the only member of the top five branded PC vendors to not be found eligible for subsidies under that country’s rural stimulus program. Dell, HP, Lenovo and Acer all qualified for the scheme, which attempts to promote market growth in rural areas of China where an estimated 800m of the country’s 1.3bn population live.
BenQ have announced their own all-in-one desktop PC, and while some manufacturers go for touchscreens and others superlative media playback, the nStation i91 is all about ease of use. In fact, BenQ are saying that, thanks to their intuitive control knob on the lower right-hand side of the display, the nStation i91 is as straightforward as a TV. Behind the glossy bezel there’s an AMD Semperon 210U processor, 1GB of RAM and a 160GB hard drive, while the non-touchscreen display itself is 18.5-inches 16:9.
SlashGear Japan
