launched its first slim, consumer-oriented smart phone.Called the iPaq 510 Voice Messenger, the device fills out HP's iPaq line and is designed to help the company expand its current audience of corporate users to include customers who want a robust phone with e-mail capabilities.
The HP iPaq 510 Voice Messenger features advanced voice-command functions and the new Windows Mobile 6 operating system with enhanced e-mail functions and Office Mobile tools. The smart phone also has a compact design, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, a 1.3-megapixel camera, and VoIP capabilities.
Unfortunately, the iPaq 510's speakerphone quality was subpar, and there is no support for 3G. The phone's keypad and navigation controls also are cramped, and it has a lower resolution screen. HP has been a small participant in the smart phone market, garnering about 1 percent of U.S. sales in 2006, according to research firm IDC. In the past, the Palo Alto company offered a line of PDA phones with full text keyboards that had little success against such established companies as RIM, Palm and Motorola.