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Hewlett-Packard Co. next week will add two new devices to its iPaq family of Pocket PCs.
One, the iPaq Pocket PC h1910, is a lightweight device that ships for $299. The other, the iPaq Pocket PC h5450, is crammed with such features as biometric security and integrated WLAN technology and costs $699.
At half-an-inch thick and 4.23 ounces, the h1910 is thinner and lighter than the majority of its competitors, which helps distinguish it from the myriad other devices that run Microsoft Corp.s Pocket PC operating system.
“Weve learned that users care about design,” said Cindy Box, market manager for iPaqs in HPs Houston office. “Size matters. Weve got a compelling form factor here.”
The h1910 includes a 200MHz Intel Corp. processor, a 3.5-inch transflective (both transmissive and reflective) 16-bit color screen with an LED backlight, 64MB of SDRAM and 16MB of Flash memory, a removable lithium-ion battery, a secure digital expansion slot for additional memory, an Infrared port and a synchronization cable.
The h1910 likely will compete most directly with Dell Computer Corp.s Axim X5 Pocket PC device. The Axim will come in two configurations, which cost $199 and $299 depending on the processor.
The HP iPaq Pocket PC h5450, meanwhile, is geared toward corporate customers whose companies can afford to pay for additional features.
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: The HP iPaq Pocket PC h5450″>
The h5450 comes with a biometric fingerprint reader, which uses a thermal silicon sensor to identify the owners fingerprint and allow access accordingly. This process can be combined with a PIN and/or password, said HP officials.
The 5450 also includes integrated support for 802.11b, or “Wi-Fi” WLANs as well as for the Bluetooth short-range wireless protocol. It does not support any wide-area cellular networks, but officials said to stay tuned.
“You will see integrated wireless WAN in the 2003 timeframe,” Box said.
The 5450 runs a 400 MHz Xscale processor from Intel. It includes 64MB of SDRAM and 48MB of Flash ROM.
It measures 5.43 inches long, including the WLAN antenna, and weighs in at 7.26 ounces.
Applications included in Pocket PC 2002 include Pocket Word with spellchecker, Pocket Excel, Pocket Internet Explorer, Microsoft Reader for electronic books, MSN Messenger, a VPN client and basic calendar software.
Additional applications that HP is providing include Image Viewer software that lets users both view images and create slide shows, the ability to use the device as a universal remote control, and various memory features.
Both devices will ship next week.