First look at the HP Mini 1000 netbook

James Kendrick is in the enviable position to be in Houston where HP has a significant presence and always seem to get his hands on the latest and greatest HP products. He just posted a very detailed first look at the newly announced HP Mini 1000 netbook that is the second model, the first was the HP 2133 Mini-Note, coming from HP. I considered the 2133 at one time, but the heat issues and rather high price tag for one with the specs I wanted turned me off. The new Mini 1000 has much better pricing options and that large 10.2 inch screen. Even though the display is larger, it has lower resolution (1024×600) than the Mini-Note (1280×768). I am using my MSI Wind on the road right now and 1024×600 is passable, but a bit higher would be much better for me personally.

The HP Mini 1000 currently only has a 3-cell battery, but a 6-cell option is coming. Some key differences that James noted are the loss of the ExpressCard slot, limit of 60GB hard drive, and no VGA port (there is a new port that requires an adapter). He does note that the Intel Atom processor and Windows XP are in use instead of the Via processor and Vista though. There is a new Mobile Internet Experience (MIE) function in the Linux model that looks quite functional for consumers. This is actually one of three models available or coming soon. The top of the line Windows XP model with 1GB RAM, 3-cell battery, 60GB hard drive, 10.2 inch display, WiFi, Bluetooth and web cam will cost US$499. The cheapest Linux model will be US$379 and the cheapest XP model is available now for US$399.99 so they are competitive on pricing and features.

New HP iPaqs invade Europe; no word on U.S. availability

On Tuesday, HP added two new iPaq smartphones to its portfolio. But before you go getting too attached, you should know that for the time being, they'll only be available in Europe. Partnering with Vodafone, the HP iPaq Data Messenger and the HP iPaq Voice Messenger will first be offered in the United Kingdom and then eventually make their way to the rest of Europe.

Will they ever reach the United States and join the HP iPaq 910c Business Messenger? Well, we asked our HP contact, who said she hasn't heard anything about a stateside release but would let us know as soon as she did. (Oh, if I had a nickel for every time I heard that phrase.)

For the curious, both the iPaq Data Messenger and the iPaq Voice Messenger offer a new five-away optical navigation button that provides a "gliding" sensation when scrolling through menus. The devices also have predictive text capabilities so they will learn a user's vocabulary and style when composing messages. Both smartphones run Windows Mobile 6.1 (Professional Edition on the Data Messenger and Standard on the Voice Messenger) and offer integrated Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and a 3-megapixel camera.

While the two models share a lot of shared features, they have different focuses--if you couldn't tell by their names. The HP iPaq Voice Messenger is more of a phone-centric device and has a 2.4-inch QVGA non-touch display and 20-button keypad. Meanwhile, power business users might be more attracted to the HP iPaq Data Messenger and its slide-out QWERTY keyboard and touch screen. The Data Messenger will go for around 499 euros ($652), while the Voice Messenger is priced at 399 euros ($521).

HP Says No To US HP iPAQ 610 Business Navigator

HP officially said no to a US HP iPAQ 610 Business Navigator phone today. The HP iPAQ 610 has been around the rumor block for a while now, and with a lot of delays, apparently HP decided to call it quits on this handset - at least for the United States. So far there’s no indication of which countries will receive the handset.

In an announcement today, HP said: “due to recent legal issues between suppliers of mobile phone technologies, HP has decided not to offer the iPAQ 610 Business Navigator to US customers as previously planned.”

HP Oak hitting Europe

Here’s a rather swish looking HP. Having let us down a bit with HP iPaq 914, HP is fighting back with a take on the Touch Pro/Experia and it looks to be a smart looking phone. Check out the preview picture after the break.

The HP Oak, which has been leaked since early this year, is now ready for a release to European markets. The phone runs Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional and features a sliding QWERTY keyboard in landscape format, not unlike the Touch Pro or Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1. However, HP’s implementation will also feature a numberical dialpad on the front as well as an embedded directional pad on top of the number pad. The concept of the embedded directional pad is similar to that found on the HP iPAQ 600 series. According to IntoMobile, the phone is ready for a year-end launch.

O2 XDA Guide announced in Germany with TomTom GPS maps

Operator O2 Germany announced a new representative of series Xda - Communicator O2 Xda Guide. Manufacturer is HTC. This model is seen as the successor of communicator O2 Xda Orbit 2, which is based on HTC Touch Cruise P3650. Judging from technical specifications O2 Xda Guide is a very functional model, but without any outstanding features.

O2 XDA Guide

Specifications of O2 Xda Guide:

* Operating system Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional
* Mobile networks GSM/GPRS/EDGE and UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA
* 2.8-inch TFT-touch display with a QVGA resolution of 320×240 pixels
* GPS-module
* 3,2-Mp camera
* Qualcomm MSM 7225 processor with a clock speed of 528 MHz
* 256 MB RAM and 512 MB ROM
* Memory card slot format microSD (1 GB in kit)
* Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g), Bluetooth 2.0
* Lithium-ion battery capacity of 1100 mAh

The model will come with navigation software TomTom Navigator 7 with maps of Austria, Germany and Switzerland. Communicator O2 Xda Guide will be available for sale in February 2009.

The price has not yet been announced.

Touchscreen Sony Walkman player in CES 2009

There are rumors that Sony is preparing a new Walkman player for
announcement in CES 2009 with a touch screen that could compete with
iPod touch. According to preliminary data, the new Walkman is equipped
with 3 inch OLED display, supports Wi-Fi and has a pre-installed
Internet browser.

The main menu structure is the same as in usual Walkman models, but
will be expanded by several new features. For example, when listening
to music of a certain artist you can click on his name and watch his
videos, placed on YouTube. Also there is a shortcut on main menu for
direct access to YouTube, pause, fast, quite similar to the access to
Youtube from the iPhone and iPod touch. In addition, the new Walkman
will allow to subscribe to audio podcasts and video streams Crackle.

It is reported that the touch Walkman device will be available in
variations with 16 GB and 32 GB internal memory, FM-radio, screen
resolution of 400×240 pixels, support of codecs - MP3, WMA, AAC, PCM,
AVC (h.264), MPEG-4 and WMV .

source sonyinsider.com

HP OAK Communicator Smart Phone

HP OAK
Communicator based on Windows Mobile Professional 6.1, according to The
Wall Street Journal. Czech funds mysterious iDNES said that this
innovation can be HP OAK leaked, the first rumors that appeard at the
beginning of the year.

According to preliminary data, OAK HP is equipped with two keyboards
- digital and side-sliding QWERTY. Form factor is similar to the HTC
S710 (Vox), here there are only a touch screen display. Communicator
supports high-speed HSDPA mobile standard, will have a GPS module,
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

There are no accurate data on the date of release or an estimated price yet.