14 DAY TRIAL // BenQ announced the showcasing of T80, its latest next-generation NFC smartphone, at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain (11 - 14 February). The handset comes with all the capabilities of an advanced smartphone and is also NFC-enabled (Near Field Communication), allowing consumers to use it for paying transportation or access private security systems.
NFC technology's popularity is constantly growing and, by the year 2010, about 600 million NFC handsets will be produced, according to ABI Research. BenQ wants to be prepared for this, hence it collaborated with Taipei Smart Card Corporation to include NFC technology in its T80 smartphone.
BenQ T80 is the first NFC-enabled smartphone that runs on Windows Mobile 6 and the first to come with dual storage options for NFC data. The latter feature allows users to store transaction or security data on the SIM card or on the microSD card, for convenience when they want to change to another NFC handset. Moreover, T80 supports Chunghwa Telecom's Combi SIM card, the first SIM card able to provide highly secure e-wallet services and a huge memory to store transaction records and various other application service content.
The T80 smartphone uses BenQ's Flash UI and packs a 2.2 inch display and a 3.0 Megapixel camera. The handset is also DLNA-compliant (Digital Living Network Alliance), so it can be easily integrated into a DLNA-compliant home entertainment system and used as a remote control for any DLNA-compliant device.
Another phone presented by BenQ at the Mobile World Congress 2008 is BenQ T60, an affordable handset that measures only 8.9 millimeters in thickness and brings a 2.2 inch screen, a 2 Megapixel camera, high-quality music player and a long-lasting battery. BenQ will soon offer a NFC version of the T60 too.
"BenQ understands that consumers have increasingly sophisticated technology needs and we strive to fulfill them," said Dr. James Lee, Associate Vice President, Mobile Product Management Center, BenQ. "As the first local mobile phone manufacturer to participate in the Proximity Mobile Transaction Service Alliance (PMTSA), driven by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) Taiwan, we have continuously sought partners in other industries to co-develop NFC-compatible devices. We hope to extend the uses of NFC technology in more devices to bring convenience to our consumers."
