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HP iPAQ 910 Business Messenger
Quad band phone, WiFi, GPS, and QWERTY
(by Conrad H. Blickenstorfer)
[see reviews of iPAQ 110 210 310 910]
September 5, 2007 -- Like the iPAQ 610, the new iPAQ 910 combines advanced communication capabilities with Windows Mobile 6 Professional to give business users everything they need to stay in touch. It is not entirely clear why the 610 with its numeric keypad is a "Business Navigator" whereas the QWERTY keyboard equipped iPAQ 910 is a "Business Messenger." It thus may boil down to personal preferences.
For those who like QWERTY
 As is, the iPAQ 910 measures 4.45 x 2.5 inches and is 0.63 inches thick. It weighs just over five ounces. Its 320 x 240 display, however, is mounted in landscape orientation and measures just 2.46 inches diagonally. While digital camera displays have been getting larger and larger, smartphone displays are getting smaller and smaller. 2.5 inches would be considered smallish even in
an ultra-compact digital camera, so we find it a bit small for a business communication device as sophisticated as this new iPAQ.
The keyboard/keypad combines QWERTY, phone, and standard Pocket PC elements. The numeric keypad for dialing is part of the QWERTY thumbtype keyboard, but stands out in silver against the rest of the keys which are black. There are standard green and red phone answer and hang-up buttons. In the center you find a 4-way navigation box with an enter button in its center. It is flanked by two function buttons on each side. The bottom buttons bring up the menu and "ok," whereas the top ones execute the onscreen functions visible on the left and right bottom of the display.
Underlying technology
The device is built around the 520MHz version of the Marvel XScale PXA270, a tried and true processor that has been used in milllions of handhelds. The 910 has 128MB of RAM for running applications and 256MB of Flash ROM. There is a USB 2.0 comms port for high speed wired communication. Memory expansion is via a single Micro SD card slot.
3-megapixel camera
The 910 has a 3-megapixel digital camera that can take images as large as 2048 x 1536 pixel (so you better get a large Micro SD card for storage!). It can also do video, but only at 176 x 144 resolution. There is a 4X digital zoom, and pictures are handled via HP Photosmart Mobile.
The Great Messenger
On the wireless side, the iPAQ 910 is a quad band GSM/GPRS/EDGE phone and has Tri Band UMTS capabilities. There is 802.11b/g WiFi as well as Bluetooth v2.0 with EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) that can transmit at up to 3mbps. The 910 also has integrated GPS navigation.
Windows Mobile 6 Professional
On the software side, this new iPAQ runs Windows Mobile 6 Professional. This includes Office Mobile (with mobile versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint), Outlook Mobile, and Internet Explorer Mobile. HP apps include HP iPAQ DataConnect, HP VoiceReply, Voice Commander, MMS Composer, Bluetooth Manager, Certificate Enroller, HP Photosmart Mobile, iPAQ Wireless Manager, Pocket Panel Lite, HP Help and Support, HP QuickStart Tour, and the HP Enterprise Mobility Agent. There is also quick upload to Snapfish, a leading online photo service. Users can upload photos taken with an iPAQ directly to their Snapfish account over-the-air.
The HP iPAQ 910 Series Business Messenger support HP's mobile device management solution, the HP Enterprise Mobility Suite (EMS), for easy setup and over-the-air manageability. EMS 4.0 is now shipping and will shortly be fully integrated with HP Enterprise Discovery Software to provide customers with unified asset management of their iPAQ handhelds, desktops, notebooks and server devices.
Bottomline
Those who like thumb-typing and a full QWERY layout will love the new HP iPAQ 910 Business Messenger. The screen may be a bit small, but HP offers full Windows Mobile 6 Professional software functionality in a full quad-band phone with 802.11b/g WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0 and GPS.
-- Conrad H. Blickenstorfer
We like:
- Nice combination of Quad-band phone and GPS Pocket PC
- Good combination of QWERTY keyboard and PPC/phone buttons
- Windows Mobile 6 Professional
- 3-megapixel digital camera
Not so much:
- Tiny 2.46-inch screen
- Only Micro SD slot
- Only 176 x 144 pixel movies
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