BenQ Mobile will next month ship its first set of mobile phone add-on speakers designed to be fed over a Bluetooth link. The stereo system is portable, running off batteries or an AC adaptor, and provides bass-boosting and stereo-widening, the company said.

Judging from some of the publicity shots, the Benq-Siemens Mobile Sound Set Bluetooth IMS-100 - to give the device its full title - won't be the most powerful speaker set out there, but the company promised an "excellent and resonant sound quality".

Apparently, there's a microphone on board, so the IMS-100 can be used as a speakerphone, and there's a line-in port to connect sound sources that are not equipped with Bluetooth - or at least lack the Advanced Audio Distribution Protocol (A2DP).

The IMS-100 ships in August. Prices will be set locally, BenQ said. ®

Related stories

• Germans begin probe into BenQ Mobile collapse (9 November 2006)
• Siemens creates hardship fund for BenQ workers (2 October 2006)
• JVC constructs 'pulsating sphere' near-ideal audio source (15 September 2006)
• BenQ unwraps 22in widescreen display (11 September 2006)
• BenQ launches compact camera duo (8 September 2006)
• BenQ fetes femmes with Hello Kitty handset (15 August 2006)
• Nuclear War launcher (and USB hub) heads West (28 July 2006)
• LG to ship 5Mp camera phone next month (28 July 2006)
• Plantronics brings on latest Bluetooth audio kit (27 July 2006)
• Samsung touts 13.5mm-thick digital TV slider phone (27 July 2006)
• BenQ Mobile shows shiny black handset trio (26 July 2006)
• BenQ readies 'world's first' HDMI monitor (25 July 2006)
• BenQ jogs out outdoor-folk phone (19 June 2006)