BenQ Siemens debuts phone triplets

BenQ Siemens proudly cradled these mobile triplets today – the first handsets from the newly merged electronics giant. They’re no innocent newborns, though. Judging by the functionality, the new company is going straight for Motorola’s merry band of lean mobiles.

The most obvious Moto-baiter is the RAZR-esque EF81 on the left, which is a 15.9mm thick 3G affair. Like the oft-copied slim icon, it packs some strong multimedia tools – in this case including a 2MP camera and an MP3 player – into a brushed metal clamshell design. It even sports an almost identical keypad.

Other similarities? The onboard media player (MP3, AAC+, MP4), a Micro SD expansion slot and a reasonable 3.5 hours 3G talk time. There’s no price yet, but it’s expected to ship in March.

Then there’s the slightly less handsome and interesting S68 and S88. They may have similar names and faces, but their genetic talents are actually quite different.

The S68 fancies itself as a more basic Moto SLVR. It shuns frivolous features like a camera or video recording in favour of a 13mm thick body – compared to the SLVR’s 11.5mm chassis – and business-friendly features such as Bluetooth synching with Outlook e-mails. You should be able to snap one up in February.

The third musketeer, the S88, is not unlike Sony Ericsson’s K750i in its fondness for multimedia fun. It’s particularly proud of its 2MP camera which has 16x digital zoom (pah) and an LED light, which it backs up with a media player, 2in screen and MicroSD expansion. He’ll be available in March, for an as yet unconfirmed price.

Overall, they’re a diverse, Moto-worrying trio – watch this space and www.benqsiemens.com for more goodies from the new mobile big gun. All we need now for this cockle-warming East-meets-West tale is a spot of  eye-catching innovation.