News of the imminent death of the Pocket PC were slightly exaggerated it seems.
HP is making a wise decision to revive the stand-alone Pocket PC device without phone software or hardware with two new models:
The iPAQ 110 (identical iPAQ 111, in Europe it’s called the iPAQ 114) and 220 are the first full (3.5 inch) screen Pocket PCs without phone functionality to be released in about 2 years. The 110 is already out, PocketPCCentral has an extensive review which has this quote:
Today, there may be a bit of a reawakening of the iPAQ, or at least an attempt at one, as HP has announced two new Windows Mobile PDAs without built-in phones.
The device is similar to the rx1950 of yore, weighing in at just 3.5oz and with the added goodies of 802.11g support as well as Bluetooth and many other new features. The unit retails for about US$ 300 and approximately the same in Euros.
The iPAQ 210 announced for early next year will even features a full VGA (640×480) display, making it even better as a handheld PDF reader which, unlike the Amazon Kinlde, will have mature PDF support as well as a backlit display. From this review:
For a long while, it seemed the standalone Windows Mobile PDA, or Pocket PC, was a thing of the past. Now, HP is giving new hope for those who want a separate PDA and phone with an upcoming iPAQ 210 Enterprise Handheld which is just such a dedicated PDA device, offering a powerful Windows Mobile device without phone hardware or software.
It’s heartening to see the Pocket PC revived as it’s such a useful gadget not for the hardware (no phone, duh) but for the huge canon of software created over the past few years. Now if we’d just see a comeback of the Palm to get some new competition going in this space.
January 17th, 2011 at 8:24 pm
Fully understand what your stance on this matter. Though I would disagree on a number of the finer particulars, I feel you do an awesome work explaining it. Positive beats having to investigation it on my own. Many thanks
January 30th, 2011 at 8:09 pm
I believe we need to help bring them back into the market they are such useful devices. It’s such a shame that they were all discontinued, help get them back on the market, please! I love these little devices
Pocket PC Renaissance!
February 5th, 2011 at 8:20 am
@Derek: Thanks for your comment. Alas, no chance for a revival, the Pocket PC (without phone) is self contained so there are no expensive data services to be sold. GPS navigation with a Pocket PC is absolutely free, with the iPhone or similar phone devices it can be hundreds and thousands of Dollars/Euros per month if you are suckered into using any data service (which many will be).
The iPod Touch was the last holdout but now it has “video calls” for kids to spend their parents’ hard earned cash.