COMMENT While Britain’s Psion and the original PalmPilot blazed the trail for handheld computing in the mid-1990s, Compaq’s iPaq machines running Microsoft software helped them break into the corporate market.
Since then, Psion has quit the battlefield, PalmOne has seen its dominant market share erode and Windows-based machines led by the iPaq, now badged by Hewlett-Packard, and more recently Dell’s Axim handhelds, have gradually made up ground.
With signs that the market for basic personal digital assistants may be stalling, attention has shifted to “converged” devices, including smartphones and handheld communicators - devices that combine the features of mobile phones, wireless e-mail terminals and PDAs. Among market leaders in this category are data-centric devices like RIM’s Blackberry family, PalmOne’s highly successful Treo 600, Samsung’s i500 and i600 smartphones and Symbian-powered machines from both Nokia and Sony Ericsson.
In the meantime HP (www.hp.com) has finally decided to enter the communicator market with the new iPaq h6300 series launched earlier this week along with a raft of other new iPaq machines.
I have been testing a pre-production iPaq h6300 for the last few days and must admit I am impressed with how much technology HP has managed to pack into this device.
The iPaq h6300 series claims to be the first Pocket PC to integrate an ordinary mobile phone with Wi-Fi 802.11b wireless networking and short range bluetooth connectivity.
HP developed the h6315 with T-Mobile USA (www.t-mobile.com), the US mobile carrier owned by Germany’s Deutsche Telekom. When it goes on sale in the US next month, it will cost $500 with mobile phone service ($600 without). HP says it is negotiating with carriers in other markets including Europe and expects to launch the h6315 in most markets by the end of the year.
The h6315, which weighs a mere 6 ounces and has a black and silver industrial style, is aimed at both the sophisticated individual user and corporate markets - though the built-in camera may put some security sensitive businesses off (HP says it will sell a version without a camera if required.)
The h6300 family of iPaqs run Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003 for Pocket PC Phone Edition and, like other Windows-based handhelds, come with pocket versions of Microsoft Office applications and other familiar packages like MSN Messenger. Other bundled software includes a backup program called iPaq Backup enabling users to save valuable data onto a SD-Card and a photo program called HP Image Zone.
In the case of the h6315, it includes T-Mobile’s excellent e-mail software that enables users to send a copy of e-mails received at their corporate Microsoft Exchange, web-enabled Lotus Notes or standard POP3 e-mail accounts to their iPaq e-mail inbox.
However, the most impressive feature for me was the integration of the three onboard radios.
I found that my h6300 connected to my home Wi-Fi network in seconds with no special configuration. If I switched on all three radios - the GSM/GPRS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections - and used a wireless Bluetooth headset, I could make a mobile phone call while going online.
The h6315 has another neat trick up its sleeve. It always connects to the fastest available data network.
If you are walking down the street looking at MapQuest’s web pages for directions over a GSM/GPRS cell network, then walk into a coffee bar Wi-Fi “hotspot”, the device automatically detects the faster connection. It switches over at the end of a session - when you launch a new browser window.
HP has not taken the next step and integrated VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) software that would enable users to make “free” VoIP calls over a Wi-Fi connection. No doubt someone will write the software if they have not already.
The ability to use an existing broadband Wi-Fi network to make voice calls would probably appeal both to home and corporate users.
Unlike some smartphones, the sound quality is good, even when using the built-in microphone and speaker, though like other data-centric PDA-shaped devices, including the RIM Blackberry, the h6300 is not particularly comfortable to hold up to your ear, and the large screen tends to stick to your face.
However, HP has worked hard to make the H6300 family of machines true “crossover” devices, marrying both voice and data. For example, for those who, like me, find a stylus and screen-based virtual keyboard clumsy, the h6315 comes with a small thumb-operated keyboard that snaps onto the bottom of the machine, making e-mail or SMS messages much easier to send.
Unfortunately, however, I found the letters on the keyboard difficult to read - HP could learn from RIM or PalmOne in this regard.
Other accessories include a desktop charging cradle with an extra slot for recharging an optional $50 standard or $100 extended life removable battery.
Depending on usage patterns, HP says the H6315 should run a day or two on a standard battery, and my limited experience with the h6300 suggests this is a reasonable estimate. If, however, you keep all three radios switched on all the time, the run time between battery charges falls quickly.
The H6315 - but not all H6300 models - also comes with a built-in camera with a digital zoom lens that can capture 640 by 480 dpi images.
HP’s other new iPaq models, which include the hx4700, rx4300 and rx3000 family of machines - over a dozen in total - are more evolutionary products with some interesting tweaks. For example, the hx4700 has integrated wireless capabilities and comes with the fastest Intel 624MHz processor available and dual DS and Compact Flash expansion slots. But its unique feature is a PC-style mini-touchpad navigation pad.
Similarly, the iPaq rx3000 series Mobile Media Companion clearly targets the consumer market. It includes software that enables users to stream content from a networked PC to play on the iPaq or on any other audio or video equipment, connected to the same network anywhere in a home.
