The Evolution of the HP iPAQ



Posted: Friday, May 23, 2008

by
totalpda

The HPiPAQ is a combination pocket personal computer and personal digital assistant and was first offered by Compaq in April of 2000. The name came from Compaq's earlier iPAQ desktop personal computers. Hewlett-Packard acquired Compaq and since that time, the product has been marketed by that company. Its main competition is the Palm; however, it offers more multimedia capabilities. It uses a Microsoft Windows interface, but some Linux programs will operate on the iPAQ. Modular units in the form of sleeves added such things as a card reader, wireless networking, GPS, and batteries. Currently, those features are in the base unit. HP's first SmartPhone iPaq looked like a cell phone and had VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) capability.

Digital Equipment Corporation had developed the iPAQ and called it Itsy, which name was used by Compaq for their handhelds. When HP acquired Compaq, it discontinued its own line of Microsoft-Windows-powered handhelds and shifted to marketing the iPAQs. The h3xxx line of iPAQs was discontinued by HP and replaced by the h1xxx line, which was designed to appeal to buyers who didn't want to spend as much. It also added the h2xxx line for consumers and the h5xxx line for business customers. Windows Mobile was pre-installed in the Pocket PC 2003.

The h63xx series, which runs the phone edition of Windows Mobile 2003 and the hx47xx series and the rz17xx series, both of which run the second edition of Windows Mobile 2003, came out in 2004. The iPAQ Mobile Messenger hw6500 series was announced to media at the 3GSM conference in Cannes, France, in February of 2005.

The iPAQ rx4000 Mobile Media Companion, a PDA/media tool, and rx5000 Travel Companion intended to function as PDA/GPS units came out in February of 2007, both working on Windows Mobile 5 OS. A month later, HP came out with their first Windows Mobile 6 device, the iPAQ 500 Series Voice Messenger (Windows Mobile 6 Standard OS). It also had a numeric pad. The only iPAQs being sold today that run the Windows Mobile 5 OS are the hx2000 series, the rx5900 series and the hw6900 series.

Since the introduction of the new devices in February of 2007, the entire iPAQ line has been revamped. A dizzying five new series have emerged to go with the iPAQ 500 Series Voice Messenger. New models:

*    100 Series Classic Handheld
*    200 Series Enterprise Handheld
*    300 Series Travel Companion
*    600 Series Business Navigator
*    900 Series Business Messenger 

The 100 and 200 Series are touchscreen PDAs and do not have phone capability. They run on the Windows Mobile 6 Classic OS. The 300 Series Travel Companion is not a PDA. Called a Personal Navigation Device, it is a GPS unit and operates on the Windows CE 5.0 core OS and has an HP custom user-interface. The 600 and 900 are phones with GPS and 3G capabilities. They run the Windows Mobile 6 Professional OS. The 600 series has a numeric pad; the 900 has a QWERTY keyboard. 
The Evolution of the HP iPAQ
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