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BenQ: We're not going back to cellphones and laptops, but check out our luxury lamps!
There was a time when the BenQ brand could be seen on laptops and mobile phones, but nowadays you'd have to turn your eyes to projectors, LCD monitors and cameras (in select markets) in order to spot it. If you're in China, you might have even come across the gigantic BenQ Medical Center in Nanjing. That's right, a hospital; and later this year BenQ will be opening another one in Suzhou, which is where the company's Chinese operation is based. Interesting times, right? But as to whether BenQ has any intention to re-enter the two mobile markets in the near future, the answer is a firm "no."
Lenovo LePad S2005 vs. Dell Streak 5... cuddle!
It's inevitable that these two 5-inch tabletphones -- the Dell Streak 5 on the left and the Lenovo LePad S2005 on the right -- are to meet in the Chinese capital. With the exception of the slightly taller body on the S2005 everything else are suspiciously similar, especially the button and camera layout. Well, there's a good explanation for this: we've been informed that this new tabletphone hails from the same ODM, Qisda, as Dell's counterpart. Too bad Lenovo decided to keep the same screen resolution though. According to Stone Ip from Engadget Chinese, he found that the S2005 has a nicer grip than the Streak, and he also digs its more masculine appearance -- obviously this is open to debate. Performance-wise this slate responded well to our input, but the lack of promise on an Ice Cream Sandwich update will probably make potential geeky buyers think twice. Well, good thing we have some awesome modders around the interwebs these days. %Gallery-140564%
Qisda QD060B00 e-reader hits the FCC
We've already seen MIDs, high-res phones, and a few other odd devices from Qisda since it spun off from / encompassed BenQ, and it looks like it's now trying its hand at another e-reader as well. Still no official word about this one, but the device does look like it'll hold its own with a 6-inch capacitive touchscreen (16 levels of gray), along with built-in WiFi, a microSD card slot for expansion, and support for all the basic formats you'd expect (including ePub and PDF) -- the e-reader itself is also Linux-based. Coming from Qisda, it's also possible that this one will be picked up by someone else and rebadged before its released, although there's no indication of that just yet. There are plenty more pics (both internal and external) to be found at the link below, however, along with the device's user manual.
Qisda's ultra high-res QCM-330 smartphone and more surface ahead of iF awards
The iF Design Awards won't officially be handed out until the big ceremony at CeBIT next month, but some of the winners have now already been announced, and they include a few surprises. One of those is this new Qisda QCM-330 smartphone, which is said to be Android-based, and packs a 4-inch, 1,280 x 1,024 screen (supposedly, although the actual resolution will likely differ given the aspect ratio), WiFi and HSDPA connectivity, a 3 megapixel camera, and an accelerometer, among other, as yet unnamed specs. It's joined by the LG GD880 we previously spotted in the wild, along with a slew of phones headed for Vodafone, including the Compass slider, and the Krystal (pictured after the break), which apparently packs displays on both sides and some augmented reality-type features (like on the fly translation of newspapers). Rounding out the lot are the decidedly more ordinary Vodafone Sting, Shilpa, Quincy and, our personal favorite, the Larry. Hit up the link below for a closer look at those.
Dell Mini 5 earns FCC approval, AT&T 3G coverage assured
Remember those rumors back in the day that Dell's Android-powered Streak MID -- the device that would later be revealed as the Mini 5 -- would be manufactured by Qisda? Well, we've got some pretty solid proof of that now that it's hit the FCC under Qisda's name. What you see on the left is the label submitted in today's filing for a device called the Qisda M01M; on the right, you have a shot from that pictorial of a device in Shenzhen of the same name. Look pretty much identical? Yeah, we've definitely got the Mini 5 here, and it's described in the RF test reports as a "mobile internet device" with support for WiFi plus full HSPA on WCDMA bands II and V (that's the coverage needed by AT&T, Rogers, Bell, and Telus, by the way) plus EDGE on the same frequencies. We're sure that this version's got a few more bands for user outside North America, too, but seeing how the FCC generally doesn't care about them, Qisda's gone light on the details. Anyhow, this works out nicely for a release later this year, doesn't it?
Qisda-sourced 'multimedia router' hits the FCC
Ever wish your wireless router was more than just a router? So have the folks at Qisda, apparently, who have come up with this wild concoction of a device that certainly does many things and may or may not actually do any of them well. Sort of like a less huggable, less rollable mash-up of a Chumby and a Rolly, this touchscreen-equipped, speaker-packing "router" will let you view YouTube vidoes, tune into internet radio stations (or FM radio, for that matter), access media stored on its internal memory (but not your local network, it seems), and even double as a clock radio, to name a few features. Oh, and as a router it'll do 802.11n, but packs just one spare Ethernet port. Of course, all of this news comes to us courtesy of the FCC, which means there's no details on things like price or availability, but there are plenty of less than flattering pics, dissection photos, and test reports. Hit up the link below to dive in.
Dell's 5-inch Android Streak MID on AT&T in 2010?
It's not much to go on but after months of rumors and then the sudden appearance of Dell's 5-inch MID on video, well, even unsubstantiated reports from the Commercial Times can be taken with a degree of truthiness. The latest tattle has QISDA manufacturing Dell's Android 2.0-based MID (spotted with a 5 megapixel camera, 800 x 480 capacitive touchscreen, 3G data, and WiFi) with the intent of ramping up for an AT&T launch sometime in 2010. Given the uptick in leaks recently, we'd expect a Q1 launch to be just about right.
BenQ's Qisda QPD-111 Creative Design Center MID wins design awards, doesn't exist yet
Not that we have anything against products that don't exist, but it would seem to us convenient to have something to show on the other end of a couple design awards. BenQ's Qisda QPD-111 just won a red dot and iF award, but BenQ doesn't seem quite ready to show it off to the world. The MID sports a 5-inch screen, and is "designed for highly mobile people pursuing the best Internet experience while on the go." That fancy little red "Hot Key" sends you to the world wide internet with a single press, and the device can handle multitouch pinch-to-zoom and other gestures for browsing. There's also a built-in accelerometer, which lets you switch between communication and Internet functions with a little shake of your precious, imaginary MID. There's obviously no information on price or availability at this point -- we're not even sure what OS it's running -- but it's certainly a sexy and almost potentially usable entrant into the confounding and primarily useless MID market.[Via SlashGear]
Qisda showcases dual-mode GSM / WiMAX-compatible mobile
Far from being the first dual-mode handset we've seen (heck, it's not even the first WiMAX-friendly dualie), Qsida's recently showcased slider is still quite intriguing. The currently unnamed cellphone supports both 802.16e WiMAX as well as GSM / GPRS / EDGE networks, and just in case you're hankering for another way to get connected, there's a built-in WiFi module too. Reportedly, the smartphone is a test device used in the M-Taiwan initiative to promote WiMAX, and aside from handling voice calls via (almost) any flavor of wireless protocol, you'll also find Windows Mobile 6.1 running the show. Granted, this particular unit wasn't down with 3G, but a spokesperson was adamant that such a handset would be added to its portfolio eventually.
BenQ demotes CEO after refusing his resignation in March
As if you needed any more proof that BenQ is in heap big trouble, the latest mini-episode in this tragic soap opera has landed K.Y. Lee out of his spot as CEO over BenQ Corp, AU Optronics and the newly formed Qisda. He's sticking around as chairman -- and to catch the heat for the ongoing financial troubles and insider trading scandal -- but he's being "reshuffled" out of the top job at the company, which he tried to ditch in March when things were really looking rough. The insider stock trading case is set to hit the courts in the next few weeks, and while BenQ is still denying any wrongdoing on the part of its executives, things aren't really looking up for K.Y. Lee and his executive buddies... no matter how much restructuring they do.
BenQ renamed QISDA, but still BenQ... huh?
In what appears to be a doomed repeat of Palm, Inc's name changing and restructuring fiasco, BenQ had donned a new, newer moniker: Qisda. Damn if that doesn't just drip off the tongue... like a pneumonic cough. The new name, an acronym actually, stands for Quality, Innovation, Speed, Driving, and Achievements, not Quality Inn San Diego Airport regardless of what the all knowing Google thinks. The company's Chinese name has also changed from "Jia Da" to "Jias Da." So to break it down for you: BenQ is a wholly owned subsidiary of Qisda (AKA, Jias Da) whose familiar purple logo will continue to appear on Qisda's self-branded products. Qisda, however, will focus on LCD monitors, projectors, multi-function peripherals, and handset OEM/ODM businesses. The name change gets all official on September, 1st. Hey Qisda, feel free to use the illustration above for your new corporate logo.