US release of iPAQ Wireless GSM/GPRS jacket delayed

[marlof]

<a href="http://www.compaq.com/products/handhelds/pocketpc/options/wireless_packs.html">http://www.compaq.com/products/handhelds/pocketpc/options/wireless_packs.html</a><br /><br />Ever seen The Money Pit? Two weeks. Everybody does everything in two weeks. But if Tom Hanks returns after those two weeks, and it is not finished, and he asks how long it will take, they'll respond "two weeks" again. And again. And again. Two weeks is synonymous with "when it's done, it's done".<br /><br />Turn weeks into months, and you get the story of the iPAQ Wireless GSM/GPRS jacket. It has been released in Europe for quite some time now. Still, the US release is delayed. They postpone the Expected US Availability with Two Months all the time. It used to be August 2002, but now it *is* August 2002, so they turned that into October 2002. Check back on the linked site in two months, and we'll see if it's done. :) Source: dkuhn.

[orinoco]

I have had mine since march, and albeit some minor problems, the sleeve works fine with my Voicestream SIM card account.

Any clue as to why this is being delayed ?

Fernando

[Marc Zimmermann]

You never know if this probably is a good thing so that people have the choice of other telephone solutions as well and aren't forced to the sleeve just to get phone features in a decent Pocket PC. After all, from what I've read, it doesn't seem to be totally hassle-free.

[Kirk Stephens]

Ouch, bad news.
Earlier this year, I had convinced my uncle to get an iPAQ H3850. For years he was a palm user and has since been blown away. When I mentioned the wireless sleeve to him he got really excited. He has had money allotted for the sleeve for months and has been asking me weekly when this thing was going to be available 8O Stupid Compaq :2gunfire:

Hmm, the sleeve is gonna go for something like $400 right? Maybe I should just recommend the XDA to him. What do you guys think?

[kennyg]

I know two people who have them in the US, both are people in our user group (Minneapolis/Saint Paul).

One ordered one from expansys and is using it as voice with no data. He was happy with it at first, but the voice quality isn't very good. One thing though, while travelling in Europe he was able to drop in on the manufacturer and they gave him new guts for the device, they are still working on updates to the hardware, I think they are trying to avoid mass returns.

The other guy is a former Compaq/HP employee and didn't like the voice at all, but was using it for data. Unfortunately the data networks do not work well at all in the US and the best he usually gets is around 19.2 for a connection speed.

[davidbaldauff]

Ipaq Pocket PC's and their updates, accessories, and new releases are becoming synonymous with Late. To be honest I think it is quite tiring, and if there was an alternative company, that had devices releasing in the major Pocket PC languages (eng, ger, span, fren, jap, kor, chin, port, ital) then I would go with that device for business. :( :(

[Jeff Rutledge]

This is very frustrating. My company is trying to come up with some kind of wireless solution that we can apply as a standard. however, it seems like everything is "just around the corner". I wouldn't be surprised if we just decide to table the project for 9 months and see what's out then.

The GSM sleeve delay is just one more thing. What's worse is that I'm in Canada which is always a month or two behind the US is seems with releases.

Speaking of which: does anyone know if the XDA (or whatever name it's going by now) is available in Canada?

Thanks.

[possmann]

These guys are amazing - and not in a complimentary way either.
I looked at this thing when Dale had it out next to the xda at Comdex earlier this spring. I kept asking myself why they would make something proprietary like this - and then cost so much to boot! I mean outside of the "cool" factor - why waste all of the manhours in developing this when you could just grab the pocketpc phone edition? THEN - were was the effort to link that product up with wireless carriers?

Where was the marketing genious behind this? Did they get the same guy from Palm who "broke the news on the release of the new m500 and m505" while they still ahd tons of inventory left of the older devices? Talk about a bone head marketing idea.

This product was dead before it even hit production.

IMHO, this was a compelte oversight as to watching what MS was doing in regards to the integrated phone environment. Top that off with their now infamous quality and release date scheudles... well there you have it.

Still waiting to get a lOOX in hand to play with it before I shell cash out. There is someone who did it right - have the pocketpc phone edition software (not Fujitsu prop.) "activate" once you buy and install the GSM/GPRS add-on.

Seeing that my position will be eliminated around the end of this month, that LOOX purchase will wait a bit longer... anyone need a good Project Manager? :wink:

[marlof]

I don't know where it's written, but I've heard the story that according to the FCC one can only sell mobile phone hardware like the Wireless GSM/GPRS pack if one of the US based carriers carries it. None do, so HP may not sell it in the US. If that is true, and I have no reason whatsover to doubt about my source, HP or Compaq would not be to blame for this constant delay.