Right, like a lot of other HP iPAQ hw6915 users at the time, I wasn’t too happy when HP announced that they would NOT offer a Windows Mobile 6.0 upgrade for hw6915 Pocket PCs a few years ago. But now, those days have passed – I’d say HP should now leave their current Pocket PCs as they are, and start out fresh with some new devices this fall (Just remember HP has had a history of announcing new Windows Mobile devices around September/October). Phones like the iPAQ 600 and Data Messenger were already outdated at their release compared to competitors.
With the flurry of Windows Mobile 6.5 devices/upgrade announcements just starting to pour in, HP should take the opportunity and announce some solid-sounding devices (of course, prompt delivery on proposed availability dates is crucial as well). HP has been lagging behind the competition in the mobile device arena for the past two to three years and they really need to take action – how about some iPAQs with Snapdragon and Tegra processors? Larger screens, multi-touch/gestures and perhaps a “Touchsmart Mobile” UI? Oh, I mind as well mention that my iPAQ Data Messenger’s keyboard is already starting to wear out and is very unresponsive to presses nowadays; so how about better button designs (ala Nokia N97)?
One of HP’s to-be-announced Windows Mobile phones is the iPAQ K3, which looks to be the successor of the iPAQ 900. They just need to get their phone positioning and prices right this time – no more ‘mid-range’ phones for $500 please!
I got my hands on a HP iPAQ Data Messenger with pre-production firmware last night and so far I’ve spent 16 hours, including an entire day out this morning with HP’s latest (business?) Pocket PC phone. I’ve stuck my SIM card from the HP iPAQ 612c and it worked straight away. Let me just make a short list of the main things that struck me right away (Do note that this is with a pre-production unit with pre-prod firmware, so things may change when I get my hands on a final, retail unit):
- This thing is glossy! Kinda like 612c-keypad type of glossy. It doesn’t show fingerprints visibly unless in very bright light
- There are two sensors to the left of the HP logo on the front, visible only under bright sunlight. One is a light sensor and the other is apparently a proximity sensor.
- The completely flush touchscreen is a welcome move by HP. Now I can finally reach the buttons on the edges of the screen easily with my finger
- The back design of the Data Messenger looks very classy, in my opinion. The camera and a single LED flash are placed at the very edge and are discrete. Compared to the HP iPAQ 612c, the 612c looks more “fancy camera phone” like while the Data Messenger’s back clearly says “I mean business”. There’s no “megapixel logo” or words anywhere, and I hope it STAYS this way in the final unit (I hate people telling me “only 3 megapixels?”).
- Because the camera lens is on the very side of the phone, you would want to keep your fingers away from the edge when holding the Data Messenger.
- The loudspeaker is VERY loud. I didn’t need any fancy meters or machinery to measure that – just using my ears, I could hear the speaker on the Data Messenger was noticeably louder than the iPAQ 612c. The speaker also didn’t crackle when I cranked the volume up to the max and has very good dynamic range (Again, noticeably better than the 612c)
- I’m not trying to say the iPAQ 612c is a lousy jukebox… it’s a good Pocket PC phone, except the Data Messenger raises the bar by a notch. I like the Data Messenger’s loudspeaker. In fact I like it a LOT
- The front “Start” and “OK” buttons at the bottom are NOT “clicky” hardware buttons. They seem to be capacitive touch (you know like those buttons on HP’s notebooks). I’m having mixed feelings about these two buttons – I like the ability to just “touch” them to close an application, but at the same time, your thumb will naturally rest on the “OK” button in camera mode (thus accidentally closing the camera app)
- The camera takes good photos. The Data Messenger and 612c both have 3 megapixel cameras. The Data Messenger seems to take better exposed photos and more accurate colors though. On the negative side, zoom and exposure are operated ONLY via the touchscreen (Eventhough there’s a navigation pad) and the camera seems to be continuously focusing all the time (and half-pressing the shutter button doesn’t do anything to autofocus)
Right, that’s about it for now. I’m off again; gonna spend the evening out and about, with the Data Messenger, and will post more about the phone once I’ve spent more time with it. Toodles!
HP iPAQ Data Messenger and iPAQ Voice Messenger
Right, as everyone knows, HP announced two nice iPAQ devices last month, the iPAQ Data Messenger – which is like the iPAQ 612c with a slide out QWERTY keyboard, flush touchscreen (so it’s easier to reach the “Start” and “X” buttons at the side of the screen using your finger, instead of a stylus) and 2.5 mm headphone jack – and the iPAQ Voice Messenger, the direct successor of the iPAQ 510 with a larger screen and “half QWERTY” keyboard (as in QW-ER-TY, RIM Blackberry style). Both offer welcome updates over their respective predecessors.
Both the HP iPAQ Data Messenger and Voice Messenger Pocket PC phones currently list 2.5 mm headphone jacks built in. For the Data Messenger, the 2.5 mm jack a nice change from the “mini USB headphone jack” (can you believe it?) on the iPAQ 610 and 910 phones whose adapters to 3.5 mm were hard to find (HTC’s adapters are shaped with a slight difference and don’t fit). I don’t really have a big issue with 2.5 mm headphone jacks since I’ve been using a 2.5 to 3.5 mm adapter (see the picture above) with my HP iPAQ hw6915 to plug in my own set of headphones, and such adapters are easy to find…. but here’s an idea.
The 3.5 mm headphone jack is probably the most widely used port in the world for headphones (that’s why they’re also known as “the standard jack”) and allow users to swap out the pair of “in the box” earphones for another pair they love. Not everyone likes the “hang from ears” headphones usually included in the retail packaging of their mobile phone (I don’t!) and usually would want to swap it out for a pair in-ear headphones or “over the head” headphones.
I’m not complaining about 2.5 mm jacks since plenty of 2.5-to-3.5 adapters are available out there, for only 2-3 bucks too! As long as there’s a way to plug in my own set of headphones, I’m happy… But won’t it be more convenient if someone actually built that 3.5 mm headphone port right into the device? The old iPAQ h6310 phone (you know the one with the huge 3.5 inch touchscreen launched back in 2004?) had a 3.5 mm headphone jack, so why can’t the latest iPAQs have them too?
In addition, including a 3.5 mm headphone jack built right into a phone opens up the ability to tout the device to the public as a “music phone”, as what other manufacturers have been doing lately. So yeah, not only does it benefit users in terms of convenience, it also makes marketing sense to the company! Equals more sales.
Seeing that the iPAQ 910 announced last year had tweaks from the initial press picture, to the pre-production unit, to the final design when it was finally available in June this year; I hope HP does some tweaks for the better… at least on the iPAQ Data Messenger which is their current flagship iPAQ phone (based on specifications). Fingers crossed =)
