HP iPAQ Unboxed

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Review versisons of HP’s upcoming iPAQ smartphone were sent to internet reviewers, and unboxing videos and hands-on opinions followed. The iPAQ is sort of an unusual mix of iPhone touchscreen and Blackberry QWERTY as it features a touchscreen but also a full plastic QWERTY keyboard.

The HP iPAQ Glisten is being sold through AT&T and will only be sold on their online store, which is a bit of an odd move. The phone is being aimed at business professionals with the RIM-like full QWERTY keyboard, however, the inclusion of a touchscreen adds something that most phones in this space don’t have. However, I don’t know how many business users will even bother with the touchscreen.

However, the resistive touchscreen is only 2.5″, as it fits in the Blackberry-like formfactor. The small touchscreen doesn’t leave many possibilities. Ideally, you’d put a full touchscreen in a phone with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, but perception is everything HP probably doesn’t want their ‘business’ phone to have that look.

In addition to the screen, the phone sports a 533MHz CPU, 256MB of RAM, aGPS and a microSD slot. Unfortunately, the phone comes with Windows Mobile 6.5, which isn’t exactly an award winning mobile OS. The iPAQ Glisten will be sold on AT&T’s website for $180 subsidized or $380 without a contract.