News of the imminent death of the Pocket PC were slightly exaggerated it seems.
HP is making a wise decision to revive the stand-alone Pocket PC device without phone software or hardware with two new models:
The iPAQ 110 (identical iPAQ 111, in Europe it’s called the iPAQ 114) and 220 are the first full (3.5 inch) screen Pocket PCs without phone functionality to be released in about 2 years. The 110 is already out, PocketPCCentral has an extensive review which has this quote:
Today, there may be a bit of a reawakening of the iPAQ, or at least an attempt at one, as HP has announced two new Windows Mobile PDAs without built-in phones.
The device is similar to the rx1950 of yore, weighing in at just 3.5oz and with the added goodies of 802.11g support as well as Bluetooth and many other new features. The unit retails for about US$ 300 and approximately the same in Euros.
The iPAQ 210 announced for early next year will even features a full VGA (640×480) display, making it even better as a handheld PDF reader which, unlike the Amazon Kinlde, will have mature PDF support as well as a backlit display. From this review:
For a long while, it seemed the standalone Windows Mobile PDA, or Pocket PC, was a thing of the past. Now, HP is giving new hope for those who want a separate PDA and phone with an upcoming iPAQ 210 Enterprise Handheld which is just such a dedicated PDA device, offering a powerful Windows Mobile device without phone hardware or software.
It’s heartening to see the Pocket PC revived as it’s such a useful gadget not for the hardware (no phone, duh) but for the huge canon of software created over the past few years. Now if we’d just see a comeback of the Palm to get some new competition going in this space.
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