Vodafone roadmap reveals HP Oak, all gloss no wood

HP's Oak makes an appearance in the relentless binge of new handset madness that is the Vodafone roadmap. The HP Oak delivers many of the baubles we've come to expect from Windows Mobile devices, things like 7.2 Mbps HSDPA, quad-band GSM, qwerty keyboard, a touchscreen, and even GPS have found there way in. Other connectivity options include the almost standard WiFi and Bluetooth, with chatter time listed as 3.5 hours and 360 hours standby. We're feeling a lot of similarities between this fella and the HTC TyTN II, but the HP gets the puffy rainbow sticker -- with prancing Pegasus, of course -- for opting to add that ultra-handy dialpad on the front. Oak's due date is set for September 2008 at roughly $500.

[7of7 @ Jan 5th 2008 11:52PM]

The word is "their."

[ARealOG @ Jan 5th 2008 11:57PM]

This phone looks excellent on paper (or PowerPoint slide most likely), but with a date of Sept. '08, it nothing more than concept at this point. Hopefully it's real and I can get it unlocked because I will be looking for a phone around that time. (Nearing ending of contract)

[jd @ Jan 6th 2008 12:08AM]

man, i want it now! or at most next 2 weeks. not next 9 months.
if the design is already done, what's taking them so long to ship it from china to here?

[Angie @ Jan 6th 2008 12:12AM]

don't you have engadget mobile? why am I getting all these updates in my regular engadget rss feed?

[Brent @ Jan 6th 2008 12:22AM]

It's the phone I've always wanted... now if only I could figure out why I wanted it 4 years ago and it just finally got made... in 9 months.

[derX @ Jan 6th 2008 12:26AM]

Wow, there really isn't much to say: This phone is perfection.

...but then we'll get the news that the HSPDA isn't triband, but I'll be able to live with it. Seriously, the phone is very aestethically pleasing, the feature set is solid, and the price is great. The only possible problem is that the phone is made by HP and all I can remember is that the HP 6515 got some complaints.

[Derek @ Jan 6th 2008 12:46AM]

That's one sexy phone...

[DarkLightConnection @ Jan 6th 2008 1:16AM]

Seconded... I usually don't like phones because, well, I have no one to talk to, and there's always the paranoia factor, and I really hate "stick with us for 2 years or pay" contracts... but this might change my mind (specially if that "color screen" is a VGA)

[starkruzr @ Jan 6th 2008 1:46AM]

It would be perfection if it didn't run Windows Mobile.

[DarkLightConnection @ Jan 6th 2008 5:25PM]

But WinMo is better than the rest... (even better than Linux at this specific stage, and I'm a Linux fanboy.... if more apps were ported to Linux, it would rule)

[Dach @ Jan 6th 2008 1:46AM]

$500 for a phone with no camera? No thanks! Seems a really basic thing to leave off.

[Brent @ Jan 6th 2008 2:08AM]

Seems like a really worthless thing to leave off. I've used my phone camera once, and some girl took a picture of herself. It's still my background. How devastating.

[Sabba @ Jan 6th 2008 2:49AM]

So i went to the Vodafone website and selected USA as where I'm from and it redirected me to Verizon Wireless. So I'm guessing they are somehow connected. How likely is it that this phone will find its way to Verizon?

[errrduh.... @ Jan 6th 2008 3:18AM]

I find it ironic that all of the hardware designers using WM professional are finding as many ways as possible to ensure that you don't need to use Microsofts lousy touchscreen. I had the Blackjack after having a Cingular 8125 and didn't miss it at all. Ended up switching to the Blackberry curve because it has the only e-mail solution that my company supports.

[Mr. H @ Jan 6th 2008 3:31AM]

You do realize that other phones can run Blackberry connect...right?

[errrduh.... @ Jan 6th 2008 3:34AM]

Mr. H - Only if your network provider supports it.

[E @ Jan 6th 2008 6:24PM]

I hope this thing gets a camara on it, if so it is bought.