Well people, it’s official. The HP iPAQ K3 Obsidian has now been officially announced by AT&T, and also renamed to become the HP iPAQ Glisten. Not as if it’s design is particularly flashy (looks much like a modernized Blackberry, in fact) or it’s features are mind-blowing… they’re not. But the iPAQ Glisten looks like a decent offering to anyone wanting an average smartphone (or Blackberry) with a touchscreen – that is, if it becomes sold unlocked in addition to the AT&T contract binding.
- Windows Mobile 6.5
- 2.5 inch touchscreen AMOLED display
- 256 MB RAM + MicroSD/microSDHC slot
- 3 megapixel camera with autofocus
- 3.5 mm standard headphone jack
- WiFi, Bluetooth, A-GPS and QWERTY keyboard
Word about the new HP iPAQ K3 “Obsidian” came out today (courtesy of AT&T) and it looks like another step towards the better, I think. On paper and pictures, the new iPAQ K3 looks like the middle child of the iPAQ 912 Business Messenger and the recent iPAQ Data Messenger. There’s the iPAQ 912′s form factor here (if you’ve never seen one, think Nokia E71) along with a QWERTY keyboard… and from the Data Messenger’s genes come a 2.8 inch (supposedly touchscreen) LCD, microSD/microSDHC support and proximity + ambient light sensor. There are the usual culprits you’d expect to find on a smartphone – WiFi, Bluetooth, A-GPS, data syncing, etc.
The two key changes here are: Windows Mobile 6.5 and a 3.5 mm headphone jack (whew, thought I’d never see it again since the days of the iPAQ h6310). Congratulations HP, that’s a step in the right direction – bring back the standard 3.5 mm headphone jack!! It seems just about every phone nowadays has one, and I’m glad HP actually listens and is not ignorant to change (the reason why Sony Ericsson/Motorola = Fail). The only not-so-good item on paper I see here is a 2 megapixel fixed focus camera (Why oh why?!).
No, I won’t be surrendering my Data Messenger for the iPAQ K3 – I’ll be holding out until HP releases a full WVGA touchscreen, Windows Mobile 6.5 phone, when someone loans it to me, whenever that may be…
In other news… with the Sony Vaio P already shipping, Sony has been putting that “fits in your pants pocket” concept everywhere, including propping up a mannequin wearing a pair of Levi’s shorts with a Vaio P front plate (means it’s just the lid of the netbook and not as thin as it looks in the picture above) in the back pocket. Sure it’s nice to have a little netbook that you can bring along everywhere and quickly whip out at the coffeeshop to blog a bit, tweet a little and type out some short articles… but that got me thinking as well – is it even PRACTICAL to have a netbook which fits (though not entirely) in terms of width, but sticks half-way out of your pocket?
What do you do when sitting down? How about when you’re walking around? The netbook isn’t exactly so slim that it blends in… and it sticks out half-way too (see the picture above). Well, it gives a whole new definition to the word “Square Pants”, doesn’t it? How about pickpockets? Common sense tells me bringing your expensive netbook out for a walk, in this manner, will make you one of the primary targets of a pickpocket (imagine; shiny overpriced netbook sticking out of the back of someone’s pocket); next to the guy holding two smartphones in his hand strolling without a care in the world to the nearest diner. Intriguing questions and true situations, no?
