Vestel reveals new, long-awaited smartphone

Turkish technology giant Vestel has revealed its long-awaited domestically- produced new smartphone, called "Venus." "With its stylish design and advanced technology that hold their own against global brands, our smartphone, Venus, demonstrates Vestel's commitment to developing and manufacturing hightech products," Vestel Group CEO Turan Erdoğan said at an unveiling Thursday in Berlin, on the sidelines of Europe's largest electronics trade show, IFA. Erdoğan said that Vestel, one of Europe's largest TV producers, has now positioned its smartphone as a leading product in its vision of the future. "Manufacturing 15 million display devices each year, Vestel has a great deal of experience in display technology," he said. "We are confident that our manufacturing power in display technology is going to push us one step ahead of our competitors on the smart phone market."

Vestel announced that its Androidbased Venus will be available for public purchase by Sept. 22 with two different models - Venus X, with sharp lines, and Venus V, with a more rounded design.

Both models will be available with 5.0" and 5.5" display options as well as a choice of black and white colors, Erdoğan told journalists and guests at the unveiling event. The most remarkable features of the Venus 5.5" are said to be its 13-megapixel camera, 16GB hard drive, the 4G LTE and NFC technologies. Venus 5.0" on the other hand was presented as desirable for its long battery life. The recommended retail price of Venus 5.5" in Turkey will be around $410 (TL 888.37) and Venus 5.0" will be around $295.

Erdoğan said Venus was a product developed by Turkish engineers at Vestel City in Manisa. "Vestel is Turkey's first and only smartphone manufacturer and one of the very few firms in Europe capable of manufacturing smart phones with proprietary technology and original design," he said. "We are going to exploit this capability of ours to the utmost on the domestic and international markets," he said. "Our aim is to manufacture 3 million units annually by the end of the next three years, with 1 million to be exported."