BenQ to launch smartphone and netbook
Company Bringing Enjoyment 'n' Quality to netbooks
BenQ looks set to enter the burgeoning smartphone market in 2010, with the announcement it is to release an Android phone.
And it's not just using the mobile OS for its phone range, but adding Android to a new netbook series too.
Do the Android
BenQ is no stranger to creating netbooks, but the company's Joybook range has so far stuck to Windows for the majority, with a few also running Linux.
Its foray into the phone market is being seen as a re-boot for the company which has dropped from the mobile phone market in recent years after the high-profile failure of its joint venture with former manufacturer Siemens.
After hiring the likes of Ronaldo (the fat one, not the good one, although the Brazilian was good in his day of course) to support its Motorola Razr competitor, things turned sour after it bet big on new technology.
However, given Android's early success it could be just the platform to help the handset division of the ailing manufacturer.
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2010 is set to be a busy year for Google and its Android platform. This year's Computex has seen a number of computer providers announce that they are dipping their toes into both the netbook and Android market, including Asus and Acer.
Via Engadget
Marc Chacksfield is the Editor In Chief, Shortlist.com at DC Thomson. He started out life as a movie writer for numerous (now defunct) magazines and soon found himself online - editing a gaggle of gadget sites, including TechRadar, Digital Camera World and Tom's Guide UK. At Shortlist you'll find him mostly writing about movies and tech, so no change there then.