September Update

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Hunting the big scoop

While at CES we attended many press briefings and private briefings. Several of these were under NDA and we can not disclose that information until it is officially released. In our quest to bring our readers the latest on PDA and technology news we ask many vendors about upcoming products and roadmaps. Some vendors bring us in on those new products after we agree to not disclose the information until it is ready for public consumption. This allows us time to get review outlines written and formulate upcoming articles. Other times the vendor plays possum and says there is no new news and that’s Ok too.

Meeting with HP

We met with HP and learned after asking may times and pressing various questions that there was nothing new to learn, basically they asked us if we were familiar with their products from the last 6 months and if so that was all they were allowed to tell us. Fair enough. But that got us to thinking there was more to be learned; we set out on three different directions and did a little digging.

Digging for the scoop

We met back up later that day and we gleaned the following from various sources. The new iPAQ will be a 6300 series device, it will contain GSM/GPRS, it will be based of the 2215 form factor. We were not able to determine if it will have WiFi but it should maintain its Bluetooth functionality with the Widcom Bluetooth Stack. So we had all the rumor pieces in place and set off looking for a confirmation. Sometimes you just luck into the right place at the right time; we met with an individual who was able to confirm our rumored facts. We were not able to gain any additional information other than were on the right page for the upcoming 6300 series product.


Image from www.mobilegadgetnews.com

Additional Rumors obtained after CES

Updated Link: Coming attractions - What will the next iPAQ be?
CONFIRMED: iPAQ h6300 with photo! (Updated)
iPAQ 63xx confirmed by Gartner at CES
Discussion on the 6300 series on PocketPCThoughts.com

The death of the 4100 series

While investigating the 6300 series product we learned that the 4100 series is not long for this world. We were not able to obtain any additional information as to the why or when but I would speculate lackluster sales in a burgeoning Pocket PC market place coupled with too many iPAQ product lines. I suspect they will continue sales until the second quarter when they announce the 6300 series. It’s shame because I really liked the 4100 series product.

I will update this article when and if I learn more information that I can share.

--Bill Landon


UPDATE 2.5.04 ipaqabilities may be onto something

TI (Texas Instruments) Wanda Enters The Mix

The 2004 WLAN market is expected to continue its rapid growth with more consumer and enterprise devices adding Wi-Fi for wire-free connectivity. From access points, PC cards and integrated broadband home gateways to smartphones, PDAs and VoIP phones, TI WLAN is working to fuel these markets in 2004 with innovative and cost effective solutions.

TI expects the next generation of PDAs and the first generation of smartphones using TI-based Wi-Fi solutions to appear in early to mid 2004. The TNETW1100B and TNETW1230 with TI's low power ELP(TM) technology play integral roles in this market space. TI paved the way for WLAN in the mobile embedded market, with the announcement of the TNETW1100B in September 2002. This early leadership extended with the TNETW1230, which provides low power 802.11a/b/g connectivity for mobile devices.

TI is also answering the market's desire to converge multiple wireless technologies into one device such as a smartphone or PDA. TI offers a robust Bluetooth(R)-802.11 coexistence package that manages the potential interference of voice and data traffic since both technologies occupy the same band. For complete wireless solutions, TI is strongly positioned since it offers OMAP(TM) application processors and GSM, CDMA, GPRS, GPS, UMTS and EDGE chipsets to provide complete designs to manufacturers such as the tri-wireless Wanda PDA concept design.

Update 5.19.04

What's Coming from HP - The Details On a New Line of iPaqs

Mobile Gadget News has the scoop on all of HP's upcoming iPAQ products which will feature Intel's new processors and Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition:

$229 - Release July '04 - Eastwood (Music and Photos) >> 203 MHz, 32MB/32MB, PPC2003SE, 3.5" QVGA, SDIO, cable, serial support
$349 - Release November '04 - Morpheus (Basic +) >> 316 MHz, 64MB/64MB, PPC2003SE, 3.5" QVGA, Bluetooth, SDIO, CFII, Cradle
$399 - Release July '04 - Gable (Entertainment) >> 300 MHz, 64MB/64MB, PPC2003SE, 3.5" transflective, Bluetooth, 1.3 MP Camera, SDIO, Cradle
$499 - Release July '04 - Monroe (Performance) >> 400 MHz, 64MB/64MB, PPC2003SE, 3.5 Transflective, Bluetooth, 802.11b, 1.3 MP Camera, SDIO, Cradel, Nevo Medial Manager, Universal Remote
$549 - Release November '04- Morpheus (Secure Mobile) >> 624 MHz, 128MB/128MB, 64MB file store, PPC 2003SE, 3.5 Transflective, Bluetooth, 802.11b, SDIO, CFII, Cradle
$649 - Release July '04 - Explorers (VGA Display) >> 624 MHz, 128MB/64MB, PPC2003SE, 4.0" VGA screen, Bluetooth, 802.11b, SDIO, CFII, 1800 mAh, Cradle
$649 - Release - h6300 (Secure Mobility) >> 64MB/64MB, PPC2003 Phone Edition, 3.5" Transflective, Bluetooth, 802.11b, GSM/GPRS, VGA CMOS Camera, SDIO, 1800 mAh, Cradle, Leather Case, Snap on Micro Keyboard

http://www.mobilegadgetnews.com/hp.html

Update: 6/9/04

Review of HP iPAQ h6310 @ pdaPhoneHome.com

Quote:

"First, as has been discussed elsewhere, the h6310 is built around the Texas Instruments OMAP1510 processor running at 200MHz. Performance was acceptable if not good. The h6310 has 64MB RAM and 64MB ROM with a ROM date in the tested unit of 2/13/2004. It was running Windows Mobile Phone Edition 2003 (OS Version 4.20.0 Build 13349.)

Second, connectivity is provided through quad-band GSM/GPRS using T-Mobile service, WLAN 802.11b, and Bluetooth. According to HP, the device will be upgradeable to EDGE when the network is delivered and that is part of the roadmap for their PDAphone products."

http://pdaphonehome.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=30713 More...

June 16th Update
iPAQs Pass FCC/Bluetooth Specs

"The world's worst-kept secret, the iPAQ 6300, just got a little worse-kept; the FCC has approved the device for use in the US, and as usual, we get plenty of documentation to back it up, including photos and a user manual."

https://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/oet/cf/eas/reports/

Source: www.PocketPCThoughts.com

September Update

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