Tears well up in our eyes when we think back to the early days of Windows Mobile and HP's dominance; in recent years, the company has all but vanished from the scene, trudging along with a
handful of poorly-marketed, underexposed devices that haven't launched on any US carrier. Turns out we haven't said our last goodbyes, though, because the iPAQ K3 -- codenamed "Obsidian," seemingly -- is scheduled for November 30 retail availability on AT&T. The device would launch with
Windows Mobile 6.5 onboard and feature a 2 megapixel camera (a second cameraless version for high-security businessfolk might be available, too), 256MB of RAM, a half gig of ROM, microSD slot, GPS, triband HSDPA and quadband EDGE, WiFi, 3.5mm headphone jack, and a QVGA display to complement the full QWERTY keyboard. Looks like it won't be the most exciting smartphone on the carrier's shelves, but it might be a sensible choice for businesses and really, really boring people. Follow the break for a couple renders of the phone in action-packed angle shots!
posted May 24th 2009 6:23PM
Primer.
No stylus on a Windows Mobile device? Why?
Welcome to Windows Mobile 'Standard' and not 'Professional'.
Standard is the non-touch smartphone edition, Professional is the touchscreen smartphone edition, Classic is the touchscreen non-smartphone edition.
Alright, except the spec sheet says "flush touch screen (no stylus)"
I've never had a problem using my finger to operate the touchscreen on my ancient iPAQ 1935. If you're concerned that a stylus isn't included (for whatever reason), I can also vouch for using a standard pen as the stylus - although you should probably apply a screen protecting film - and don't press too hard. I even used a mechanical pencil as a stylus to operate the TI-83 emulation for that one statistics class I had to take back in college. The screen still looks great, and is as responsive as ever.
is it just me? Or WinMo 6.5 Standard has already the UI queues from WinPhone 7?
How's that Standard always looks and functions a lot better than Pro?
It might be a capacitive touch screen.
I think you are seeing the shift of no stylus because everyone wants the touch screen technology and it is the next logical progression for all of the mobile devices. Actually this is very exciting and it appears there are many new and innovative phones with large and beautiful displays.
Is that Windows Mobile 6.5? Looks a bit like the early Windows Mobile 7 concepts:
http://www.engadget.com/photos/is-this-windows-mobile-7/561227/
Interesting. Maybe the version running on this phone is 7 or the final 6x release and more polished than 6.5, or this is another old mockup.
looks EXACTALY likw windows mobile 7. not 6.5.
that really don't look like the WinMo6.5 GUI to me...
Did they just get a new batch of AT&T leaks or something?
I guess I must be boring then because I think this looks pretty nice.
QVGA? Ugh. You'd think the standard resolution for WM devices would've been increased in the past 10 or so years.
Your last nine posts have been about phones.
Don't forget what Engadget Mobile is there for...
Thing is, this is all really, really, really big news.
You ninja'd your way into AT&T Development meetings, didn't you?
Another faceless clone. HP is pathetic.
It cracks me up how they describe 2.8'' qvga screen as "large" and good luck with no stylus for that tiny screen.
Looks pretty good, they even have a 3.5MM JACK that HTC has managed to omit from basically all their new phones, which sucks because in this day and age i am not going to settle for a 500$ phone that i cant play some mp3s at at my friends.
I have been using windows mobile for like.. 5-6 years and i have basically never used a stylus
maybe if you want to draw a picture, but then i use a tablet or a piece of paper, otherwise i type.
This actually looks pretty sleek. Not bad.
I have an iPAQ 210 PDA. Given HP's lack of support for the device they'd have to release something I can't resist for me to over purchase one of their products in the future.
Typo: over = ever
Yeah, HP is not loyal to their customers. HP sucks.
My eyes hurt.
Looks like a nice unit, too bad it will run on Windows Millennium.
Hm, Windows ME on a smartphone would actually be kind of neat...
Er, neat in the sense that "I'd like to see it", but not in the sense of, "I'd like to use that phone on a daily basis"...
Notice what it says under the header "Top Selling Features":
"Large, 'THUMB' sized keys for heavy email usage."
"'THUMB' sized keys"? Capitalized? In quotation marks? "WHY?"
Well, obviously when the keys turn out to be no bigger than the thumb of a six-year-old, they don't want to get hammered for false advertising.
@LEE
http://www.nocapslock.org/images/capslock.jpg
Not sure if i'd want this or the real obsidian more...
pretty cool that they've named it after volcanic glass though... :-)
I'd get one if i wasn't contracted into my xperia...
Um... triumphant? I think that remains to be seen, as they would have to actually sell enough to justify remaining in the market at all. Their fall from greatness is a prime example of really poor foresight and planning on the part of the divisions leadership.
no one cares... SO STOP YELLING AT US!!!
STOP TYPING ALL CAPS!!!!! You know etiquette? No one is reading your response. I didn't either.
@richb93 LMFAO
...HEY DUMB ASS"S.....I WILL TYPE AS I PLEASE.....AND U DID READ IT...AND IT IS NOT "YELLING"....IT IS JUST TYPING.......U STUPID ASS......GET A LIFE, AND QUIT TELLING OTHERS WHAT TO DO IDIOT!
ENOUGH SAID.....
L
QVGA, why, oh why, would you take a perfectly amazing device and do that to it. QVGA should just be banned.
Ahh, brings back memories. I owned several various iPAQ devices back in the day. Quality little gadgets, too. Good to see it making a comeback. :-)
Oh my clients would be so pleased!
I still use my old iPAQ from 2003 and it works great (but it's not a phone). I wish HP would come out with a phone iPAQ with a bigger screen size of 4". I use a stylus to draw webcomics on it. HP, if you are reading this, take note.