HP announces new GSM/GPRS-enabled iPaq

IDG News Service - One of the first devices to combine mobile phone technology with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless networking is the centerpiece of Hewlett-Packard Co.'s new lineup of iPaq PDAs that the company is expected to announce today.
The iPaq h6315 was developed in partnership with T-Mobile USA Inc. and allows users to make phone calls over T-Mobile's GSM/GPRS (Global System for Mobile Communications/General Packet Radio Service) network. It can switch between those WAN technologies and the LAN connections provided by Wi-Fi chips, and can use wireless peripherals equipped with Bluetooth technology, said John Dayan, senior director of HP's handheld and wireless business.
Most analysts feel that the growth opportunities for PDA vendors lie in converged devices such as the h6315 that allow users to run applications and communicate with the outside world on a single device, instead of forcing users to carry a PDA for applications and information management in addition to a mobile phone. PalmOne Inc.'s Treo 600 was one of the first of these converged devices to catch on with a mass market, and the h6315 takes the capabilities of that device one step further with the ability to connect to 802.11b wireless networks.
The device is meant for business customers who are constantly moving between operating environments, Dayan said. Its suggested retail price of $599 is competitive with the Treo 600.
The h6315 comes with Texas Instruments Inc.'s OMAP1510 applications processor and features 64MB of synchronous dynamic RAM, 64MB of flash memory, a 3.5-in. transflective thin-film transistor display and a Secure Digital I/O expansion slot.
HP is expected to announce four other iPaqs today. The hx4700 will be one of its more powerful PDAs, with a 624-MHz XScale applications processor from Intel Corp. and a 4-in. VGA (640 by 480 pixels) display, said Eric Kilponen, director of product marketing for HP's handheld product business. The company envisions the $649 hx4700 as a mobile application development platform, he said.
The h6315 and hx4700 are two of HP's most impressive devices to date, said Todd Kort, principal analyst at Gartner Inc. in San Jose. "I expect they'll both do very well, given their price points," he said.
But HP missed a beat with its other three new PDAs, according to Kort. The new rz1700 and rx3000 series PDAs are a step backward for HP in terms of industrial design, an extremely important factor among PDA consumers, he said.
"The coolness factor is important. If they're going to spend $200 to $300 on a PDA, they want something they can impress their