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Combination device makes a pre-launch splash

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Product: Hewlett-Parkard iPaq H6300 Price: Not available; expected to ship in March or April Pros: The ultimate wireless device with integrated Wi-fi, Bluetooth, GPRS and GSM Cons: Much of the device's looks and specifications are not confirmed

Last year Hewlett-Packard promised it would roll out a combination PDA and mobile phone in the not too distant future. While there are no announcements yet, Pocket PC enthusiasts are already buzzing about a mysterious HP iPaq H6300 that will have integrated Wi-fi, Bluetooth, GSM and GPRS.

I found at least two websites featuring the full specifications of the device and taking pre-orders. One was selling at US$699 and the other at US$850. Beware of these online stores however, because HP has not officially launched the product. The product was not listed on the company's website and HP in Hong Kong claimed it had never seen or heard of the HP iPaq H6300 when we forwarded them the link.

Nevertheless, we believe the device exists and will become available in the United States shortly. This new iPaq is expected to have a 3.5-inch 65K colour display, an integrated VGA camera, a slot that takes Secure Digital media cards, a removable 1850mAH Lithium Ion battery, 64 megabytes of Ram, Bluetooth version 1.1, wireless LAN IEEE 802.11b, and GSM/GPRS. According to the BargainPDA.com website, the rumoured iPaq will be about the same size as the H2200 series and is expected to be released next month.

From website photos , it appears the handheld is black and silver with a large antenna at the top left. It is expected to weigh about 185 grams, which is quite a bit lighter than the xDA II. However, some sites feature the H6300 iPaq with flip covers and some with integrated keyboards like the Treo 600's.

Online PDA store Tek n Toys featured the device with an integrated keyboard running Microsoft's Windows Mobile 2003 operating system and Research In Motion's push e-mail software, and a version without a built-in digital camera.

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