iPAQ

This article is about the iPAQ PDA; for the iPAQ Desktop Personal Computer, see iPAQ (desktop computer).

iPAQ presently refers to a Pocket PC and personal digital assistant first unveiled by Compaq in April 2000; the name was borrowed from Compaq's earlier iPAQ Desktop Personal Computers. Since Hewlett-Packard's acquisition of Compaq, the product has been marketed by HP. The devices use a Windows Mobile interface. In addition to this, there are several Linux distributions that will also operate on some of these devices. Earlier, units were modular. "Sleeve" accessories, technically called jackets, which slide around the unit and add functionality such as a card reader, wireless networking, GPS, and even extra batteries were used. Current iPAQs have most of these features integrated into the base device itself.

Hewlett-Packard introduced the first SmartPhone iPaq Pocket PC that looks like a regular cell phone and has VoIP capability. The series is the HP iPAQ 500 Series Voice Messenger.[1] HP's current line-up of iPAQ devices includes PDA-devices, Smartphones and GPS-navigators. A substantial number of current and past devices are outsourced from Taiwanese HTC corporation.

Contents

History

The iPAQ was developed by Compaq based on the SA-1110 "Assabet" and SA-1111 "Neponset" reference boards that were engineered by a StrongARM development group located at Digital Equipment Corporation's Hudson Massachusetts facility. At the time when these boards were in development, this facility was acquired by Intel. When the "Assabet" board is combined with the "Neponset" companion processor board they provide support for 32 megabytes of SDRAM in addition to CompactFlash and PCMCIA slots along with an I2S or AC-Link serial audio bus, PS/2 mouse and trackpad interfaces, a USB host controller and 18 additional GPIO pins. Software drivers for a CompactFlash ethernet device, IDE storage devices such as the IBM Microdrive and the Lucent WaveLAN/IEEE 802.11 Wifi device were also available. An earlier StrongARM SA-1100 based research handheld device call the "Itsy" had been developed at Digital Equipment Corporation's Western Research Laboratory (later to become the Compaq Western Research Laboratory). With the acquisition of Compaq by Hewlett-Packard, HP discontinued the Jornada line of Microsoft Windows powered Pocket PCs, moving development and marketing of Pocket PCs to the iPAQ line.

The first iPAQ to be released was the H3100. It had a four-bit grayscale display, running on Pocket PC 2000. The H3100 was succeeded by the similarly-designed H3600. Changes included a colour display and a chrome coloured directional pad compared to the monochrome display and gunmetal grey d-pad of its predecessor. The H3600 was succeeded by the H3800 and H3900, which retained the same form factor, but had a different button layout.

In June 2003, HP retired the h3xxx line of iPAQs and introduced the h1xxx line of iPAQs targeted at price conscious buyers, the h2xxx consumer line, and the h5xxx line, targeted at business customers. They were sold pre-installed with the Windows Mobile for Pocket PC 2003 Operating System. The h63xx series of iPAQs running the Phone Edition of Windows Mobile 2003, the hx47xx series and the rz17xx series, both running the Second Edition of Windows Mobile 2003 were introduced in August 2004.

In August 2004, HP released the rz17xx and rx3xxx series of Mobile Media Companions. These devices were aimed at consumers, rather than the traditional corporate audience. Emphasis was placed on media features, like NEVO TV Remote and Mobile Media. They ran on Windows Mobile 2003SE.

In February 2005 the iPAQ Mobile Messenger hw6500 series was introduced to selected media at the 3GSM conference in Cannes, France. It was replaced a year later by the hw6900 series, running on Windows Mobile 5.

In 2007 the iPAQ rx4000 Mobile Media Companion PDA/media devices and rx5000 Travel Companion PDA/GPS devices were released. Both series of iPAQs work on the Windows Mobile 5 Operating System (WM5), as do the hx2000 and hw6900 series. The first HP Windows Mobile 6 device, the iPAQ 500 Series Voice Messenger, with the Windows Mobile 6 Standard Operating System (WM6), and numeric pad, was released in the same year.

The entire iPAQ line was completely revamped by the introduction of five new iPAQ series to complement the introduction of the iPAQ 500 Series Voice Messenger earlier in the year. The models announced were the 100 Series Classic Handheld, the 200 Series Enterprise Handheld, the 300 Series Travel Companion, the 600 Series Business Navigator and the 900 Series Business Messenger. The 100 and 200 Series are regular touchscreen PDAs without phone functionality running WM6. The 300 Series Travel Companion is not a PDA; marketed as a Personal Navigation Device, it is a handheld GPS unit operating on the Windows CE 5.0 core Operating System with a custom user interface. The 600 and 900 series are phones with integrated GPS and 3G capabilities, running the WM6 Professional. The 600 series possesses a numeric pad and the 900 series features a full QWERTY keyboard.

In December 2009, HP released the iPAQ Glisten, running on Windows Mobile 6.5.

As of April 2011, no new models have been announced. HP continues to advertise the 111 series and the Glisten on its website, however. As such, the status and fate of the iPAQ line is unclear.

In mid-August 2011, HP announced that they are discontinuing all webOS devices, and possibly mobile devices.[2]It is unclear if this move will affect the iPAQ line, although they are producing several new iPAQs for the Dutch Railways as of 2011-11.

Model list

Jacket-compatible

These older models are compatible with the iPAQ Jacket which can accept 1 CompactFlash, 1 PC Card or 2 PC Card slots.

iPAQ jacket PN 173396-001 PCMCIA (PC port) x1 internal Li-ion battery PN 167648 3.7v 1500mAh (upgradable)

Model RAM (MiB) ROM (MiB) Slots CPU CPU Clock(MHz) OS WiFi Bluetooth IrDA PN 173396-001 Special Feature
H3100 16 16 None SA-1110 206 PPC2000 Yes 4-bit gray scale display
H3630 32 16 None SA-1110 206 PPC2000 Yes Yes
H3660 64 16 None SA-1110 206 PPC2000 Yes Yes
H3760 64 32 None SA-1110 206 PPC2002
H3830 (Rosella) 32 32 1SD SA-1110 206 PPC2002 Premium Yes
H3850 64 32 1SD SA-1110 206 PPC2002
H3870 64 32 1SD SA-1110 206 PPC2002 BT1.1 Yes Yes
H3950 64 32 1SD/IO PXA250 400 PPC2002 Premium Yes NEVO TV Remote Software
H3970 64 48 1SD PXA250 400 PPC2002 Premium BT1.1 Yes Yes NEVO TV Remote Software
H5150 64 32 1SD PXA255 400 WM2003 BT1.1 Yes Yes NEVO TV Remote Software
H5400 64 48 1SD PXA250 400 WM2003 802.11b BT1.1 Yes Yes NEVO TV Remote Software, Biometric Fingerprint reader
H5500 128 48 1SD PXA255 400 WM2003 802.11b BT1.1 Yes Yes Biometric Fingerprint reader

Newer models

Model RAM (MiB) ROM (MiB) Slots CPU CPU Clock(MHz) OS WiFi Bluetooth More
H1910 64 16 1SD PXA250 200 PPC2002 No No No RS232 Support
H1915 64 16 1SD PXA255 200 PPC2002 No No No RS232 Support
H1930 64 16 1SDIO S3C2410 203 WM2003 No No No RS232 Support
H1940 64 32 1SDIO S3C2410 266 WM2003 No BT1.1 No RS232 Support
rx1950 32 64 1SDIO S3C2442 300 WM5 802.11b No
rx1950 Navigator 32 64 1SDIO S3C2442 300 WM5 802.11b No GPS
H2100 64 64 1CF 1SDIO PXA270 312 WM2003 802.11b No
H2110 64 64 1CF 1SDIO PXA270 312 WM2003SE No Yes
H2210 64 32 1CF 1SDIO PXA250 400 WM2003 No BT1.1 NEVO TV Remote Software v2.0
H4150 64 32 1SDIO PXA255 400 WM2003 802.11b BT1.1
H4350 64 32 1SDIO PXA255 400 WM2003 802.11b BT1.1
hx2100 64 64 1CF 1SDIO PXA270 312 WM5 No BT IrDA, USB2.0
hx2110 64 64 1CF 1SDIO PXA270 312 WM2003SE No BT1.2 IrDA, USB1.1
hx2190b 64 192 1CF 1SDIO PXA270 312 WM5 No BT1.2 IrDA, USB2.0
hx2200 64 ?? 1CF 1SDIO PXA250 400 PPC2003 Premium Yes No
hx2410 64 64 1CF 1SDIO PXA270 520 WM2003SE 802.11b BT1.2
hx2415 64 64 1CF 1SDIO 1MMC PXA270 520 WM2003SE 802.11b BT1.2
hx2490b 64 192 1CF 1SDIO PXA270 520 WM5 Premium 802.11b BT IrDA, USB2.0
hx2495b 64 192 1CF 1SDIO PXA270 520 WM5 802.11b BT1.7.1
hx2750 128 128 1CF 1SDIO PXA270 624 WM2003SE 802.11b BT1.2
hx2790 64 192 1CF 1SDIO PXA270 624 WM5 802.11b BT1.7.1
hx2790b 64 320 1CF 1SDIO PXA270 624 WM5 802.11b BT1.7.1
hx2790c 64 512 1CF 1SDIO PXA270 624 WM5 802.11b BT1.7.1
hx4700 64 128 1CF 1SDIO PXA270 624 WM2003SE 802.11b BT1.2 VGA, may be unofficially upgraded to WM 6.5
rz1700 32 32 1SDIO S3C2410 203 WM2003SE No No
rz1710 25 ?? 1SDIO 1SD/MMC S3C2410 203 WM2003SE No No Full RS 232, IrDA
rx1950 64 32 1SIO 1SD/MMC SC32442 300 WM5.0 802.11b unknown May be unofficially upgraded to WM 6.1
rx3100 64 32 1SDIO S3C2440 300 WM2003SE 802.11b BT1.2 NEVO TV Remote Software v2.0
rx3115 64 32 1SDIO S3C2440 300 WM2003SE 802.11b BT1.2 NEVO TV Remote Software v2.0
rx3415 64 32 1SDIO S3C2440 400 WM2003SE 802.11b BT1.2 NEVO TV Remote Software v2.0
rx3417 64 64 1SDIO S3C2440 400 WM2003SE 802.11b BT1.2 NEVO TV Remote Software v2.0
rx3700 64 128 1SDIO S3C2440 400 WM2003SE 802.11b BT1.2 Camera
rx3715 64 128 1SDIO S3C2440 400 WM2003SE 802.11b BT1.2 IrDA, 1.2 MP Camera, NEVO TV Remote Software v2.0
h6300 64 64 1SDIO TI OMAP 168 WM2003 802.11b BT1.1 GPRS/Camera
h6310 64 64 1SDIO TI OMAP 1510 168 WM2003 802.11b BT1.1 GPRS
hw6500 64 64 1SDIO 1miniSD PXA270 312 WM2003SE BT1.2 GPRS/EDGE, GPS
hw6900 (Sable) 64 64 1miniSD PXA270 416 WM5.0 802.11b BT1.2 GPRS/EDGE, GPS
rw6800 64 128 1miniSD PXA270 416 WM5.0 802.11b BT1.2 GPRS/EDGE
110 64 256 1SDHC/SDIO PXA310 624 WM6.0 802.11b/g BT2.0 w/ EDR
210/211/214 128 256 1CF 1SDHC/SDIO PXA310 624 WM6.0 802.11b/g BT2.0 w/ EDR VGA
614c 128 256 1SDHC/SDIO PXA270 520 WM6.0 802.11b/g BT2.0 w/ EDR QVGA, GPRS/EDGE/3G, GPS
910c 128 256 1microSDHC PXA270 416 WM6.1 802.11b/g BT2.0 w/ EDR QVGA, GPRS/EDGE/3G, GPS
Glisten ? ? ? ? ? WM6.5 ? ? 3G

Alternative operating systems for the iPAQ

NetBSD

NetBSD will install and run on iPAQ.

Familiar Linux

An alternative Linux-based OS is available for the iPAQ, called Familiar. It is available with the Opie or GPE GUI environment, or as a base Linux system with no GUI if preferred.

Both Opie and GPE provide the usual PIM suite (calendar, contacts, to do list, and notes) as well as a long list of other applications. Support for handwriting recognition, on-screen keyboard, bluetooth, IrDA and add-on hardware such as keyboards are standard in both environments.

The v0.8.4 (2006-08-20) version supports HP iPAQ H3xxx and H5xxx series of handhelds, and introduces initial support for the HP iPAQ H2200, Hx4700, and H6300 series.

Plan 9 from Bell Labs

Plan 9 from Bell Labs runs on the iPAQ. The nickname of the architecture is "bitsy," after the name of the ARM-based chipsets used in many of the machines.

Ångström distribution

See Ångström distribution

Upgrades

The hx2000 series and some later models are upgradeable to newer versions of Windows Mobile. Upgrades could be purchased from HP. Windows Mobile 2003 could be installed on the H3970 and possibly other models of the H3xxx series with sufficient ROM capacity. Other "cooked" roms have been provided by the group known as xda-developers and are available for the hx2000 series, the hx4700 and others. These include Windows Mobile 6.0, 6.1 and 6.5.

Internal Li-ion battery

iPAQ models 3100 - 3700 are fitted with internal Li-ion battery PN 167648 3.7v 1500mAh which can be replaced with a 2200mAh unit. The same battery is used in the iPAQ jacket PN 173396-001 PCMCIA (PC port), which may also be upgraded to a 2200mAh unit. The 3800/3900 series are fitted with a 1700mAh cell as standard, also upgradeable to 2200mAh. Compaq presumably upgraded the battery to cope with the faster CPU's power requirements.

RAM Upgrade

It is possible to have the internal RAM of an iPAQ H3970 and hx4700 upgraded to 128MB by using a specialist service which replaces the surface-mount BGA RAM chips.

See also

References