Not very well known in Europe but quite established brand in Asia - BenQ (formerly Acer) - are working on their first Symbian OS / UIQ based phone - the P30. It was publicly announced in February 2003 and is scheduled for release this year.
P30 is the smallest and lightest UIQ device ever made. It weighs only 120 g and its dimensions are 118 x 52 x 17 mm. Even with the built-in phone keypad, the device still offers a full resolution UIQ screen (208x320 pixels, TFT, 65,536 colors). The screen is touch sensitive and the stylus is hidden in the bottom part of the casing.
BenQ P30 uses Texas Instruments' OMAP 1510 processor based on ARM925 series core (32-bit RISC). OMAP 1510 CPU provides mobile users with enhanced applications performance, enabling the BenQ P30 to deliver a variety of high-performance applications, such as video, still camera, MP3 player and games to consumers without compromising battery life. Furthermore, the OMAP 1510 processor supplies BenQ's smartphone with the processing muscle needed to power the device's high-level OS and extensive multimedia features, including 65K color TFT display, integrated camera, MP3 audio and MPEG-4 video playback and recording and more.
BenQ's P30 handset also includes GSM/GPRS digital and analog basebands from TI's TCS2100 chipset. TI's high performance TBB2100 dual-core digital baseband leverages an innovative power split technique to provide manufacturers like BenQ with unmatched standby time and power-off consumption, while TI's highly integrated TWL3014 analog baseband integrates power management functions for reduced board-space requirements, chip count and development cost.
Unlike Motorola A920, BenQ P30 isn't going to use any certification mechanisms or other restrictions making it impossible to use existing UIQ software. This is a good news for all future P30 owners who will be able to take advantage of most of available games and programs made for the Sony Ericsson P800 phone.
BenQ P30 - PROs AND CONs
ADVANTAGES:
- Symbian OS 7.0 and the latest UIQ 2.1
- small and light
- 16-bit screen (65,536 colors)
- built-in hardware keypad
- support for MMC/SD memory cards
- built-in digital video camera (VGA - 640x480, 24-bit)
- full phone and PDA functionality
- Personal Java and Java MIDP 2.0
- Bluetooth, Infrared and USB connectivity
- support for multimedia
- GPRS class 10
- compatible with existing Symbian OS UIQ software - no certification or other restrictions (A920).
DISADVANTAGES:
BenQ P30 is the smallest and the lightest UIQ smartphone ever made. Compatible with hundreds of existing applications, not restricted to one operator or its certificates (vide A920), may become a strong competitor to Sony Ericsson's P800 and P900 smartphones.
