BenQ announced the T33, a new music-oriented slider phone designed for ease of use above all else. A side music key automatically cues up the music player regardless of where the user might be in the interface, helping manage AAC and MP3 tracks. The number pad also implements a unique, wave-like design which is said to be easy to use for dialing while also being fashionable. MicroSD cards up to 2GB hold the phone’s pre-recorded media as well as photos or AVI and MPEG-4 videos captured using the 2-megapixel camera. An FM radio tuner is also available as an alternative source of entertainment.

The phone operates on a tri-band GSM radio and so is most likely to be sold in BenQ’s Asian home as well as in Europe. Although focused on media, the handset relies primarily on the legacy GPRS format for connecting to the Internet rather than EDGE or a 3G technology like HSDPA. BenQ did not mention an exact release date or a price, though the T33 may be ready immediately and is expected to sell for relatively little without the added mobile broadband chipset.

BenQ announces the launch of BenQ E72 - a Windows Mobile 6 based smartphone that features a thin body at a little over 1cm. The E72 (GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz) sports a 2-inch 65,000 color TFT screen for viewing photos, video clips and web content and a 2.0 megapixels camera.

The E72 offers users to chat on AOL, Yahoo, MSN, ICQ and Google Talk simultaneous, and even offers multi-party chats with friends, family members, or colleagues using the same or different networks. Moreover, all these communications options, plus free VoIP calls, are available over high-speed connections via E72’s WiFi connectivity.

With the E72, users can access a full range of online information right on the phone including subscription to RSS feeds or download favorite tunes or podcasts straight to the E72. Users can take advantage of handy e-mail  features, like the ability to record and send music or audio messages, and push mail, which automatically downloads and alerts new e-mail messages for real-time e-mail receiving and sending.

With the E72’s WiFi connectivity, users can enjoy streamed video and other online entertainment anytime, anywhere. Furthermore, the E72 serves as an easy-to-use MP3 player, with support for WAV and WMA audio and supports microSD cards up to 2GB for storing all the music, video, and photos.

Weighing 90 grams and measuring 108 x 46.3 x 13.8 mm, the BenQ E72 will be available in select countries in the Asia Pacific and European regions in Q4, 2007.

The BenQ T80 phone is the world’s first handset to store NFC applications in the Secure Digital Memory card. The microSD card will host a range of NFC applications for mobile wallet, transport ticketing and security to be stored on the embedded, highly secure NXP SmartMX chip. For service providers, storing NFC applications on the SD memory card makes it possible to host a wide variety of applications on a single integrated device.

The BenQ NFC phone will be used for applications such as electronic ticketing and payment for passengers of the Taipei transportation system, who will be able to take advantage of the contactless functionality embedded in the microSD card. Other applications will include electronic wallet services and access control for private security systems. The BenQ T80 phone will be demonstrated by NXP at IFA 2007 in Berlin this week, and is scheduled for release before the end of the year

E72 released at Computex So,latest phone comes from BenQ called E72 smartphone at Taiwan’s premier technology showcase event, Computex 2007. This quad-band GSM handset is powered by a TI OMAP 1030 260Mhz processor with 128MB ROM and 64MB RAM aiding it. Running on Windows Mobile 6.0 Standard, the E72 features a 2″ QVGA TFT LCD display, Bluetooth 2.0 and WiFi connectivity, a 2 megapixel camera, a microSD memory card slot, and voice recording capabilities. Pricing and availability details are unknown.