New iPAQs To Be Officially Announced Monday

[Janak Parekh]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.infoworld.com/article/04/07/23/HNipaq_1.html' target='_blank'>http://www.infoworld.com/article/04...3/HNipaq_1.html</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) plans to update its line of iPaq PDAs (personal digital assistants) on Monday with four new models, according to a member of HP's public relations staff. The new models will help HP continue to gain ground on PalmOne Inc. in the PDA market. HP's market share in this category has grown over the past several quarters as it has introduced new devices across a variety of categories, from low-end devices costing about $300 to powerful systems that offer Wi-Fi capability and Bluetooth personal area networking technology."</i><br /><br />About time! I'll be glad when I can stop saying "the rumored iPAQs". ;) My only nit is the fact that it's Monday -- it seems like they're <i>always</i> Monday, and you have to wait for the weekend to pass before hearing anything more.

[Barrett1Boehm]

Just out of curiosity, does HP have a general point during the fiscal year that is regarded as a time to introduce new models? In the past, when has HP introduced new models?

[iPAQ_ace]

I've noticed that most new iPAQ's have been announced after the current models have been around for about a year. Not sure if there is any logic to this theory...

PS - Janak you have the wrong link (http://www.ipaqabilities.com/iaforums/viewtopic.php?t=222) going to our site :oops:

[Palmguy]

My only nit is the fact that it's Monday -- it seems like they're always Monday, and you have to wait for the weekend to pass before hearing anything more.

They do always seem to be on Mondays...I hate that as well...

[OSUKid7]

Monday's a big day. DNC, NYLF/Tech 2004 (http://www.nylf.org/tech/) starts (am attending heh), and now this! Should be on sale around here when I get back on August 4th. :)

[Elric]

I just talked to my CDW rep and he's still saying Aug 15th. :roll:

[arnage2]

my CDW rep said late august. My ecost rep said 2-5 weeks

[Mark Johnson]

What's a drag is that this apparently has no direct bearing on actual availability of the units. I was at CompUSA yesterday and asked a couple of the sales guys and the sales manager to check their inventory system and they don't even have an entry for the hx4700 or hx4705 yet, much less any actual stock. Almost the same at BestBuy which this week only showed a "placeholder" record for it (with the almost-certainly bogus price of $499) in their system, but also with the details that there were zero units even in their warehouses.

I just remember how cool the early PPC (and Palm-Sized PC, etc.) releases were. Big lead-up to a specifc day when the "new year models" were all AVAILABLE in the local stores.

This cycle has rightly been called PPC2003SErvicePack if only for the total lack of marketing effort put out by Microsoft and the OEMs. I don't agree with the (bizzare) "the PDA is dead" commentaries from reporters we've seen in the recent months, but I sure would agree that if Microsoft and the OEMs are going to treat this release with a "we'll get around to it when we can" attitude then people are going to start thinking that way.

Makes you wonder what they are planning to do next. I mean does anyone expect HP to release any substantially different devices for Christmas? Seems awfully unlikely right? So at most there might be a situation where later this year you can buy a hx4700 with a "PPC2004" OS on it. Except that would be really embarrasing right? I mean if PPC2003SE was not "different" enough from PPC2003 to deserve to be PPC2004 then just how much better can this year's PDA be over last years right? So what Microsoft has really done is wrecked the OEM's cycle this year. HP won't be able to schlep the same hardware with some mythical PPC2004 updated OS on it this year (at least not in a way that the market will care about - "we already saw that unit during the summer" etc.)

So I predict there will be no PPC2004 at all. (Or at least no significant new hardware, some "offical" release of it, but no one will care.) We're all now waiting for PPC2005. When you think about it, no wonder Toshiba bailed. They get into the game, need to keep products fresh, only to be told MS won't be "bothering with" a PPC2004 (at least not in time to release it with a new hardware generation.)

I wish Toshiba would consider a linux PDA...

[iPAQ_ace]

I just talked to my CDW rep and he's still saying Aug 15th. :roll:

Yeah, there's the downpoint, while they will be officially announced on Monday, it doesn't appear as if they will be largely available for at least a few more weeks until production ramps up all speed ahead. This is typical with HP when they release a new product (not limited to iPAQ's) - announce it then have it shipping 2-4 weeks after the official release.

Makes you wonder what they are planning to do next. I mean does anyone expect HP to release any substantially different devices for Christmas? Seems awfully unlikely right?

Only one other iPAQ currently planned for release this year and that would be the "Morpheus" model that MGN talked about here (http://www.mobilegadgetnews.com/hp.html) slated for this fall.

[dh]

This cycle has rightly been called PPC2003SErvicePack if only for the total lack of marketing effort put out by Microsoft and the OEMs.
It's almost as though they have hired the Sharp marketing department to handle the launch.

I wish Toshiba would consider a linux PDA...
I'd like to see more Linux devices as well. With more OEMs and more developers, this would really be the way to go.

[arnage2]

when the wm2003se devices were announced, the ipaq 2215 was immediatly available. (though i had it weeks earlier)

[huangzhinong]

So I predict there will be no PPC2004 at all. (Or at least no significant new hardware, some "offical" release of it, but no one will care.) We're all now waiting for PPC2005. When you think about it, no wonder Toshiba bailed. They get into the game, need to keep products fresh, only to be told MS won't be "bothering with" a PPC2004 (at least not in time to release it with a new hardware generation.)

I wish Toshiba would consider a linux PDA...

Your prediction is right. The next OS is PPC2005, which will be available in about 7~10 month. The beta version is already in tester hands.

HP has one or two models for Christmas launching, which is also true for last year in which HP released h4155 and h4355 only during Christmas season.

[huangzhinong]

when the wm2003se devices were announced, the ipaq 2215 was immediatly available. (though i had it weeks earlier)

should be wm2003.

WM2003 is a major release. Jornada 565/8 was immediately reviewed and was available in 2001 too.

I guess hx4700 will be availble in Monday too, also maybe in a limited availability. My circuitcity has only one open box value h2210 in display(with one grip missing, I don't know which guy did this thing.), no other PPC at all.

[Janak Parekh]

PS - Janak you have the wrong link (http://www.ipaqabilities.com/iaforums/viewtopic.php?t=222) going to our site :oops:
Thanks, fixed.

--janak

[Duncan]

I guess hx4700 will be availble in Monday too, also maybe in a limited availability. My circuitcity has only one open box value h2210 in display(with one grip missing, I don't know which guy did this thing.), no other PPC at all.

Except - the hx4700 has not appeared on either the Bluetooth qualification website or the FCC site. Even if both sites are running behind I would be surprised if it is quite ready for release. The h6300 and the two low-end models (can't remember what they were called) have all been approved - so they could be released from Monday...

[Mark Johnson]

I'd like to see more Linux devices as well. With more OEMs and more developers, this would really be the way to go.

It's has been pretty suprising that there have not been more devices. Consider how Toshiba must have felt about the e805: all of us looked at it and drooled over the VGA screen, but few of us bought it just because we KNEW that PPC2003(rev1) didn't support VGA properly. So everyone waited for SE.

If you were Toshiba and had gone to the trouble of getting this unit to market, you'd realise it's failure to sell well was almost entirely out of your hands: you can't control when Microsoft finally get around to making the OS you need.

If, on the other hand, they had released the e805 in Spring with Linux, Toshiba would have had the abilty to fully support the VGA options that made the unit attractive in the first place.

[huangzhinong]

I guess hx4700 will be availble in Monday too, also maybe in a limited availability. My circuitcity has only one open box value h2210 in display(with one grip missing, I don't know which guy did this thing.), no other PPC at all.

Except - the hx4700 has not appeared on either the Bluetooth qualification website or the FCC site. Even if both sites are running behind I would be surprised if it is quite ready for release. The h6300 and the two low-end models (can't remember what they were called) have all been approved - so they could be released from Monday...

FCC and bluetooth bureau always leak unreleased information. HP may contact FCC and BB keep the information until they offically announce their product.

HP can't release the hx4705 at all if hx4705 didn't pass FCC or BB.

[Duncan]

FCC and bluetooth bureau always leak unreleased information. HP may contact FCC and BB keep the information until they offically announce their product.

HP can't release the hx4705 at all if hx4705 didn't pass FCC or BB.

Ah but -

1) The BT group never publish information of that nature

2) The FCC can withhold information - but that simply means releasing only the codename given to the product and not publishing documents. An entry for an HTC product would still exist in the database. All HTC entries are accounted for.

3) No such request was made for the other three iPAQ models - so why for the hx4705?

4) HP/HTC know their stuff - the hx4700 will meet the required standards so I don't doubt it will pass. I just don't think they are planning a quick release (and thus haven't rushed them through the official testing). My guess would be that it will be the last of the four to be released and it won't happen until mid/late August...

[Ryan Joseph]

Any official word on which carrier will pick up the 6300? I remember hearing T-Mobile, but I don't know if that was confirmed.

[arnage2]

Tmobile, then eventually AT&Tws

[Elric]

I just talked to my CDW rep and he's still saying Aug 15th. :roll:

Yeah, there's the downpoint, while they will be officially announced on Monday, it doesn't appear as if they will be largely available for at least a few more weeks until production ramps up all speed ahead. This is typical with HP when they release a new product (not limited to iPAQ's) - announce it then have it shipping 2-4 weeks after the official release.

Makes you wonder what they are planning to do next. I mean does anyone expect HP to release any substantially different devices for Christmas? Seems awfully unlikely right?

Only one other iPAQ currently planned for release this year and that would be the "Morpheus" model that MGN talked about here (http://www.mobilegadgetnews.com/hp.html) slated for this fall.

On the upside, he did say they were getting in 800 4705's on the 15th.

[arnage2]

they said they were getting 800 3415s on the 15th of july, then they changed it to mid aug :(

[Gavin Henriques]

For anyone interested in a preview of the rz1715 with pics compared to the Axim X30, look at:

http://www.bargainpda.com/default.asp?newsID=2160

Not a good sign. Looks like a step down from the 1900 series?? I guess we will see soon. I can't wait for the 4700 as well as the 6315!

[nosmohtac]

I was initially excited about the 47xx, but I find the specs on the loox 720, and the asus 730 to be much more appealing. When I first loaded myvga on my e800, I felt that VGA was going to be useless on anything less than a 4" screen, but now that the OS supports it, I can see that it is not necessarily so. I would welcome the increased resolution on my current PPC, just for the crisp text and icon graphics.

All 3 of the new VGA devices support USB host capabilities, and have dual slots. I haven't decided yet, but I'm nearly certain I won't be getting another HP

[iPAQ_ace]

No such request was made for the other three iPAQ models - so why for the hx4705?

Why not for the hx4700 series? :D The way I am seeing this is that...

either the hx4700 is being held confidential for some strange reason
it has already received fcc certification and we missed it (it's possible HP used an ODM that we're not searching for on the FCC site)
or it has passed some preliminary qualification and the certification will be published after it is released.

I know HP has a different relationship with the FCC than a lot of other companies - something along the lines where they can tweak the product up until it is announced and still get approval for it when needed.

Unless HP proves me wrong, I am 100% sure that the other model that appears like it hasn't received FCC certification - the rz1700 series - actually has already received it because as you can see in a pic posted here (http://www.bargainpda.com/default.asp?newsID=2160) - it has the FCC logo published on it. This leads me to believe that HP is either not using HTC/Compal/LG/Asus and co and that approval sneaked in or they did use a familiar face and for some reason it hasn't been posted.

:lol: man - talk about HP making things somewhat complicated...

[bleeman]

One of the reasons for the mid-august availability timeframes (at least in the US) may be a result of the line in the infoworld article that said "...HP plans to host an event in London on Monday. So this might be for the European market and not ours yet.

With regards to not much on the shelves I've been wondering if the retailers have been believing the reporters. Our local Best Buy's here in the Dallas/Fort Worth area (at least 2 I've been in) have drastically reduced their PDA inventories. I was in the local one last week and was just going to see what they had in accessories and their wasn't much of anything for PocketPC's and about the same for Palms. When I asked if they had been moved (They just did a remodel of the store and moved departments around) I was told, no that's all available online now we don't carry much inventory in the store. I also noticed the remodeling had doubled the space for the cell phones at the expense of the PDA section.

The really sad part is, I went to bestbuy.com and clicked on PDA/Handhelds followed by PDA Add-ons billed as "All the PDA accessories you could ever want - and more" and they had 4 items!!! One of which was sold out!

I've seen similar pathetic displays at Circuit City, Staples and OfficeMax so maybe there's something to the rumor that PDA's are dying 8O At least as far as the retailers are concerned.

[Janak Parekh]

One of the reasons for the mid-august availability timeframes (at least in the US) may be a result of the line in the infoworld article that said "...HP plans to host an event in London on Monday. So this might be for the European market and not ours yet.
I doubt it. HP typically releases new units in the US first. I'd be really surprised if it was backwards for this line of iPAQs.

--janak

[Mark Johnson]

I've seen similar pathetic displays at Circuit City, Staples and OfficeMax so maybe there's something to the rumor that PDA's are dying 8O At least as far as the retailers are concerned.

I know what you mean. Even the CompUSA store had a "PDA Specialist" who sheepishly admitted to me that he didn't even own a PDA himself. This is not one of the many regular sales guys, this is the guy that two regular sales guys identified as "the expert" for PDAs!

[Duncan]

No such request was made for the other three iPAQ models - so why for the hx4705?

Why not for the hx4700 series? :D The way I am seeing this is that...

either the hx4700 is being held confidential for some strange reason
it has already received fcc certification and we missed it (it's possible HP used an ODM that we're not searching for on the FCC site)
or it has passed some preliminary qualification and the certification will be published after it is released.

The first of those is possible - but confusing if true. I just find it odd that the new 3000 series and h63xx ould be released for all to see but not the hx4700 - which is why I'm inclined to believe it hasn't been *officially* passed yet (though it could appear on the FCC site on Monday for all we know! The second definitely isn't the case. During my search for Loox 720 info I checked by all the usual ODMs and also seached by PDA, Pocket PC, handheld and mobile in the description fields. Unless the hx4700 was submitted as a toaster it isn't there...! :)

I know HP has a different relationship with the FCC than a lot of other companies - something along the lines where they can tweak the product up until it is announced and still get approval for it when needed.

Yes - I suppose they could have submitted it very late on and 'greased the wheels' (so to speak).

Unless HP proves me wrong, I am 100% sure that the other model that appears like it hasn't received FCC certification - the rz1700 series - actually has already received it because as you can see in a pic posted here (http://www.bargainpda.com/default.asp?newsID=2160) - it has the FCC logo published on it. This leads me to believe that HP is either not using HTC/Compal/LG/Asus and co and that approval sneaked in or they did use a familiar face and for some reason it hasn't been posted.

Ah not quite... Call me sad (go on - you know you want to...! :wink: ) but I read up what the FCC site says about the filings. Items only appear in the database if they actually needed testing (i.e. they have a radio built-in). Otherwise they simply rubber stamp the release as not being a problem. So what we have are three releases being announced on Monday that have FCC clearance - and one that we don't know about....

[Steven Cedrone]

HP bashing can be found here:

http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=267225#267225

Steve

[dh]

I've seen similar pathetic displays at Circuit City, Staples and OfficeMax so maybe there's something to the rumor that PDA's are dying 8O At least as far as the retailers are concerned.

I know what you mean. Even the CompUSA store had a "PDA Specialist" who sheepishly admitted to me that he didn't even own a PDA himself. This is not one of the many regular sales guys, this is the guy that two regular sales guys identified as "the expert" for PDAs!
I just had to pop down to Staples to get some CD-Rs for my iMac project. The Windows Mobile display consisted of just one item, the 2215.

The Palm display wasn't much better.

[Kevin Daly]

While it's frustrating that there'll be a lag between the official announcement and when units actually start showing up for sale (and believe me, it'll be a much longer delay here, although Mauricio probably has a much better idea than I do of how long we'll be waiting), at least we'll have some final, official specs at last and hopefully lots of pretty pictures to look at.
And that's something.
I'm also curious as to whether any of the new models will be on display at the HP booth at Tech Ed New Zealand next week (seems logical). That would be handy.

(By the way for anyone who's wondering, I'd already got my day's quota of HP-bashing out of my system before I found this thread :wink: )

[Duncan]

Something has just occurred to me - why *are* people assuming the hx4700 will be one of the iPAQs announced on Monday?

I checked the original news item and it just says: 'four new models'.

Doing a count - we have the rz1715 (1), the h6300 (2) and the rx3400 (3) and rx4700 (4). I might be wrong - but I wouldn't put it past the PR people to promote the two rx3xxx iPAQs as two different models... perhaps announcing the hx4700 later by itself...? Just a thought!

[Jeff Rutledge]

Something has just occurred to me - why *are* people assuming the hx4700 will be one of the iPAQs announced on Monday?

I checked the original news item and it just says: 'four new models'.

Doing a count - we have the rz1715 (1), the h6300 (2) and the rx3400 (3) and rx4700 (4). I might be wrong - but I wouldn't put it past the PR people to promote the two rx3xxx iPAQs as two different models... perhaps announcing the hx4700 later by itself...? Just a thought!

Good point, but I think that if any is skipped, it will be the h6300. That one has been taking forever to get announced! Plus it's unique as a Phone Edition so it would make sense to split it off (if any).

[Jason Dunn]

Except - the hx4700 has not appeared on either the Bluetooth qualification website or the FCC site.

I was told by someone that would know that it's possible for companies to flag things as "private" and the FCC will NOT make them public. No clue as to why more companies don't do this, but that might explain why the 4700 series never showed up in the FCC public database.