CES 2005
The big news from BenQ was the P50, the company's first branded device running Windows Mobile. This impressive device has nearly every feature you could want, including a QWERTY keyboard, a megapixel camera, and an SD card slot. It's also super-connected, with triple radios: quad-band GSM, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi.
The P50 was first shown nearly nine months ago, but it was only an early prototype then. The version I tried was fully functional, including the camera and wi-fi:
The press release this week claimed the P50 would be out next month, but a BenQ rep I spoke with admitted that was probably optimistic, and the P50 would most likely hit shelves around March or April. A U.S. release is planned for May, but it will realistically be more like June or July.
In by brief time with the P50, I found it thin and light, and very responsive. The keyboard is a bit cramped, though, and the joystick absolutely terrible. Hopefully that will be tweaked before final release.