BenQ mobile unveiled today its new consumer brand "BenQ-Siemens" to a world-wide audience in Berlin, Germany. BenQ Mobile is now the industry's second dual-name mobile handset maker. At the press conference, BenQ announced the new high-end BenQ-Siemens EF81 mobile phone. "UMTS IN THE SMALLEST OF SPACES," is how BenQ describes this mobile phone.

The BenQ-Siemens EF81, the flagship for the new product line comes in a slim (just 16mm thick!) clamshell design. It turns out to be one cool phone. It's shell is made of high-class magnesium, stainless steel, and aluminium. You can actually feel these materials when you touch the phone because of their differences in heat absorption! In addition, especially hardened sapphire glass prevents scratches on the external display. The EF81 can survive anything thrown at it.

The BenQ-Siemens EF81 has got a 2 megapixel camera with 5x digital zoom, 64MB of internal memory + a Micro-SD card slot for up to 1 GB of memory, dual 262K color display, and tri-band GSM and UMTS capability. The external display is a 1.3-inch, QQVGA quality (120 x 160 pixels) that also functions as a viewfinder for the camera. The internal display is a 2.2-inch QVGA quality (240 x 320 pixels). The phone supports video telephony. Other connectivity options include Bluetooth and USB.

The BenQ-Siemens EF81 will be on retail sale from March 2006 in the color “Titanium Silver.” Prices will be available locally. A highly desirable item to own.

Manufacturer website: BenQ-Siemens

Product website: BenQ-Siemens EF81