BenQ, the Taiwanese electronics producer, announced these days the release of T60, one of the slimmest mobile phones to ever see the light of planet Earth. Although the handset is only 8.9 millimeters thick (that's 0.35 inches), it manages to pack several advanced features, hence being a perfect choice for what BenQ calls "sophisticated, style-conscious consumers".

The new T60 offers a 2.2 inch TFT display with a 240 x 320 pixels resolution, a 3.2 Megapixel camera with video recording, Music player (MP3, MIDI, SP-MIDI and AMR), Video player (MPEG-4, 3GP and H.263), FM radio, Java MIDP 2.0, email, Web browser, handsfree, caller blacklist, 24MB of built-in memory and microSD card support for up to 2GB. BenQ T60's full dimensions are 109 x 46 x 8.9 millimeters and its weight is 80 grams.

The handset's downsides would be: no 3G and not even EDGE, only dual-band GSM connectivity (900 / 1800 MHz), pretty poor battery life (up to 2.5 hours of talk-time and up to 180 hours of stand-by time) and old Bluetooth and USB versions (1.1 and respectively 1.2).

All in all, we talk about a fashion phone that has the main role to attract consumers with its design, and I believe it manages to do so in quite a convincing manner.

BenQ announced that the new T60 will be commercially available starting this month, in Taiwan, Turkey and Bangladesh, for an undisclosed (yet) retail price. While I understand the reasoning behind the Taiwan availability (BenQ's home country), I'm a bit surprised about Turkey and Bangladesh. Not that I have anything against the two countries (I don't have anything against any other country actually), but what about the style-conscious users from markets like the US or Europe? I believe they'd love the new BenQ, or at least they'd try to, if they get the chance to see the phone in real flesh. Well, real metal and other materials, but you get the idea.