Compaq Expands IPaq Family

Known for desktops and notebooks, Compaq is breaking out of the PC shell with the introduction of consumer devices and Internet appliances bearing its IPaq brand.

Compaq is unveiling on Tuesday a host of new IPaq products that follow on the heels of the popular IPaq Pocket PC handheld released in June. (See "Cool but Costly Palm Alternatives.") The new non-PC lineup includes a Web appliance with Microsoft's MSN service, two Compaq-branded Blackberry wireless e-mail devices from Research in Motion (RIM), a portable audio player, and a residential gateway. Compaq representatives describe the devices as designed to "get the most out of the Internet" and say these products represent a shift toward Internet-centric devices beyond the PC.

PDAs Take Work Home

The sleek IPaq Pocket PC personal digital assistant offers portable access to e-mail and the Web as well as contacts and schedules. Getting your hands on one is the hard part.

Since the Compaq IPaq Pocket PC began shipping, demand has been extraordinary, says Cindy Box of Compaq's I-appliance marketing group. "We're ramping up as fast as we can."

Thanks to Compaq's expansion jacket design, the IPaq Pocket PC can become a wireless device with the addition of existing CDPD PC Cards, such as the Sierra Wireless AirCard. But for more affordable wireless access to office e-mail, Compaq also announced IPaq versions of the RIM Blackberry system.

"The IPaq Blackberry wireless solution includes the server, airtime, and the devices," Box says. "Devices will come in a handheld and a wearable [pager-size] form factor."

The pager-size IPaq Blackberry W1000 is scheduled to be available by the end of August priced at $399, while the $499 H-1100 handheld should hit shelves by mid-September, Box says. Like existing Blackberry devices, the Compaq products offer wireless access to Microsoft Exchange e-mail either using a corporate Blackberry server or directly from an individual's PC using desktop connector software that comes with the device.

Compaq will sell unlimited wireless airtime for $39.95 monthly and offer additional services such as paging and Canadian roaming. Support for Lotus Domino is slated to roll out by the end of the year, and a Web browser is also under consideration.

Compaq isn't reinventing the wheel with its Blackberry products. Under the IPaq name, Compaq will offer the same RIM devices already sold with the Blackberry service: the H-1100 handheld is the $499 RIM 957, and the W1000 wearable is the $399 RIM 950, Box says. What Compaq brings to the equation is additional services.

"We're a leader in Microsoft Exchange deployment," Box adds. Compaq will sell the Blackberry package to corporations--with the Blackberry server--and to individuals.