HP goes mobile

The manufacturer has previously designed a range of PDA style devices, but the closest it had come before the launch of the iPAQ 514 to a mobile device was the voice enabled Pocket PC.The HP iPAQ 514 comes equipped with VoIP and push email technology, and boasts as impressive battery life of up to 7.8 days standby time. It also features 'Voice Reply', a programme that enables users to reply to their emails by dictating and sending a voice response.The handset also has 64MB of internal memory, a MicroSD card slot, and a 1.3 megapixel camera. It will run on Windows Mobile version 6.0, and will be available from the second quarter at a Sim-free price of 235.In addition, HP has struck a deal with BT Fusion, its converged fixed line, mobile and broadband service for business customers, to add the phone to its portfolio of handsets.

HP dumbs down smartphone

APPARENTLY there's a niche for smartphones aimed at the "I only want to make calls," brigade. And HP with its Windows Mobile 6 based iPAQ 514 thinks it's got it covered.

The 514 offers full support for 'push email', for example. So busy executives can receive urgent emails OK. But it ain't got a keyboard.

Yet execs still need to reply. No problem. They can simply push a button and speak into the phone. The iPAQ will then send the reply as a .wav attachment.

Another voice centric capability is support for voice control. This is HP's own “ not part of Windows Mobile because that doesn't support enough different languages.

There's another crafty angle to this handset. All the settings can be managed remotely thanks to technology HP acquired when it recently purchased Bitfone.

Mass of handsets launched at 3GSM

Businesses have a wider choice of mobile handsets following a wave of new devices announced at the 3GSM World Congress 2007 in Barcelona. The first handsets running Microsoft's new Windows Mobile 6 were unveiled, along with an addition to Nokia's Communicator line-up and a new BlackBerry model with built-in GPS capability.

Microsoft officially launched Windows Mobile 6 at this year's 3GSM, and vendors including HP, Toshiba and i-Mate demonstrated new handsets based on the platform at the exhibition. The software adds support for HTML email messages, better security when managed from an Exchange 2007 server, and now includes Microsoft's .Net Compact Framework and SQL Server.

Available later in the spring, HP's iPaq 514 Voice Messenger is a compact smartphone offering Wi-Fi and voice-over-IP (VoIP) capabilities plus over-the-air device management capabilities through Bitfone, which HP acquired last year.

3GSM - HP enters the cell phone fray

Hewlett Packard Monday unveiled its first smart phone, a slimmed-down iPaq that will be among the first Windows Mobile 6 handsets when it appears, probably in late spring, officials say.

HP announced the pewter-coloured candy-bar-format GSM/EDGE iPaq 500 series Voice Messenger on the first day of the huge 3GSM cell phone industry show here, and only a few days after Microsoft released details about Windows Mobile 6, the latest iteration of its operating system for smart phones and connected handhelds. The 500 series will be the first iPaqs that look like cell phones, with phone keypads instead of QWERTY keyboards or touch screens and styli. Phone details Consciously targeting enterprise customers who already turn to HP for everything from servers to desktop and notebook PCs, the iPaq handsets will include some corporate-oriented extras as well as Windows Mobile 6's enhancements to mail and Mobile Office applications.