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Gateway and Hewlett-Packard are unveiling new handheld devices this week in conjunction with the launch of Microsoft's Windows Mobile Software 2003, an update of the Pocket PC operating system.

As expected, the announcement marks Gateway's entrance into the handheld market, but Gateway's personal digital assistant won't ship until July, the company says.

HP is also announcing several new iPaq models that feature integrated Bluetooth wireless technology and secure digital I/O (SDIO) expansion slots. Other vendors are expected to refresh their handhelds with Microsoft's new operating system, called Windows Mobile 2003.

Gateway's First PDA

The Gateway 100X will feature a 400MHz XScale processor from Intel and a 3.5-inch screen. The company expects the device will be priced between $300 and $350, says Mike Stinson, vice president and general manager of mobile products. Gateway is keeping the rest of the PDA's specifications under wraps until its release.

All the HP handhelds share integrated Bluetooth technology for short-range wireless connectivity, and all come with printing software that lets users print documents on Bluetooth or infrared printers, says Cindy Box, HP's director of marketing for handhelds. "With our new launch on Monday, we've got the broadest range of handheld products than ever before," she says.

The range of HP's handheld products is the most impressive part of Monday's announcement, since the new devices themselves are largely incremental upgrades over previous iPaqs, says Todd Kort, a Gartner analyst. But other new features are important, such as the use of Bluetooth, SDIO, and transflective displays across all of the new models, he adds.

Newest HP Handhelds

HP's new h1940 is the same size and weight as the older h1910 PDA, but HP switched to a 266MHz processor from Samsung Electronics for the new handheld, Box says. The h1910 currently uses a 200MHz XScale processor. The Samsung chip offers performance in between that of a 300MHz XScale and a 400MHz XScale processor, but provides a better value than the 400MHz chip, she says.

Samsung's processor integrates the graphics controller and memory management functions directly onto the chip, which cuts down on the number of components needed on the PDA's motherboard, Box says.

The h1940 comes with a 3.5-inch screen and 64MB of SDRAM. The device measures 4.46 inches high by 2.75 inches wide by .5 inches thick, and weighs 4.37 ounces.

It will cost $299 in the U.S., but a lower-priced version called the h1930 is available outside the U.S. now and in the U.S. in the third quarter, Box says. The h1930 will come without integrated Bluetooth and with a 203MHz Samsung processor, she adds.

The h2210 is almost the same size as the h1940, but is slightly larger to accommodate a second expansion slot based on the Compact Flash standard. Many customers need two expansion slots to use devices such as Wi-Fi cards and digital cameras, or to use extra memory, Box says.

HP's h2210 will cost $399 with a 400MHz XScale processor, 64MB of SDRAM, and software that allows the device to be used as a universal remote control for televisions or stereos, Box says.

High-End Devices

The high-end models, the h5150 and h5550, are based on the original iPaq design, Box says. Customers of older iPaqs will be able to use their expansion cards in these models, which is especially important to certain customers like health-care organizations that have developed customized expansion cards for their specific needs, she says.

Both of these PDAs will come with a 400MHz XScale processor and a 3.8-inch display. The 5150 will use 32MB of flash memory and 64MB of SDRAM for a price of $549. For $649, the h5550 adds an integrated 802.11b wireless chip, a total of 48M bytes of flash memory and 128MB of SDRAM, and a biometric fingerprint reader for extra security.

HP will release the PDAs through its Web site and its reseller network, Box says. The company plans to release a slightly different version of each of the five handhelds for consumers through retail stores. Those PDAs will have the same specifications but will be loaded with a different set of applications that are more suitable for consumers, she says. The retail models will be known as the h1935, h1945, h2215, h5155, and h5555, and cost the same as the business PDAs, she says.

All of the handhelds will be generally available worldwide over the next two weeks, except for the h1930, which won't be available in the U.S. until later, and the h5150, which HP plans to market more exclusively to businesses in certain parts of the world, Box says.

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