There's nothing quite as profoundly unsettling as reading a review about a phone you can't have. For Americans, that's an all-too-common experience -- and thanks to the ongoing Qualcomm / Broadcom drama, even phones that had originally been destined for the colonies have been unceremoniously dropped, destined for regions well beyond the reaches of the legal system. Case in point: HP had originally wanted to bring the interesting iPAQ 610 series here, but backed off at the last second. If you really want one, though, you can still finagle one from an importer -- not to mention that countless Windows Mobile fanatics populate areas of the globe friendlier to HP's latest pocket candy -- so Tracy and Matt's Blog took a close look at the 614c, which is now shipping. Although the reviewer found its Windows Mobile 6 load to be plenty speedy, he also discovered that it was a tad on the chunky side -- not to mention that the 3G radio seemed to be way flaky, the screen is too inset to use entirely stylus-free, and the virtual nav wheel embedded in the keypad (arguably the ace up the 610's sleeve) wasn't much fun to use. Nice try, HP, but on second thought, maybe we're not so broken up that you're keeping it out of the States.

What will it be, the good or the bad news first? How 'bout the good. After an initial rebuff, we finally managed to grab some photos of that exclusive T-Mobile MDA compact IV. You remember: 7.2Mbps HSDPA, GPS, VGA resolution screen, WiFi and 4GB of on-board storage. It'll also launch "mit neuestem Microsoft Betriebssytem" which we can safely assume is Windows Mobile 6.1 at this point. Oh yes, and the bad news. It's only a plastic dummy and our photographs were restricted by a glass cube. Still, this is as close as most of you will get for a long, long time. Full gallery over at Engadget.

So apparently HP just has a very special form of hatred for its native soil, because that iPAQ 610 series with that nifty touch sensitive scroll wheel embedded in the keypad now appears to be canceled only in the US. This bittersweet news comes courtesy of British retailer Devicewire, which reports that it'll have examples of the iPAQ 614 available to its customers as soon as next Monday for the princely sum of £389.99 (about $765). That's fine, though, HP, whatever. We didn't want your stupid iPAQ anyway.

[Via CoolSmartphone]

Ah, iPAQ 610. You were so close, and yet... so far away. According to a handful of tipsters, after a round of delays, HP has decided to cancel the release of its upcoming Windows Mobile smartphone, the 610 (also known as the iPAQ 614, 614c and 600). The company didn't give a lot of information, though they did state that, "due to recent legal issues between suppliers of mobile phone technologies, HP has decided not to offer the iPAQ 610 Business Navigator to U.S. customers as previously planned." It's unclear whether this means the phone will be missing from shelves worldwide, but it certainly won't be popping up on these shores anytime soon.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

What would you do if the US patent office gave you the go-ahead on a far-reaching, non-specific application filed for a "mobile entertainment and communication device"? If your answer was that you would immediately draw up lawsuits against almost every major electronics manufacturer that even looked at a smartphone funny, you get a cookie. Yes folks, as impossible as it is to believe, the holders of the aforementioned patent have just sued Apple, Nokia, RIM, Sprint, AT&T, HP, Motorola, Helio, HTC, Sony Ericsson, UTStarcomm, and Samsung... amongst others. So eager was this company to sue, in fact, that legal papers were filed a day before the patent was granted, and subsequently had to re-submitted. The real sucker-punch here is that the patent simply combines a list of prior technologies jumbled into one product, a practice which has recently been ruled against by the Supreme Court. Still, we doubt it will stop the holders from trying to nab a few dollars in settlements, staying the work of real innovators, and generally making a mockery of our patent system. Bravo!

[Via Slashdot]

Palm's not the only company bringing some new Windows Mobile kit to Vodafone this year -- Boy Genius Report's scoopage of Voda's '08 lineup includes a new HP, too. The "Silver" (a codename, we assume) should put the kinda sad iPAQ 510 out of business and appears to take a page straight outta the Pearl's book, right down to the WiFi, GPS, and SureType keyboard (which is surprisingly actually identified as "SureType," a RIM trademark). Unlike the Pearl, though, this sucker rocks Windows Mobile 6 Standard and HSDPA -- a whopping 7.2Mbps of it. Look for it in July for about £250 ($494).

Those waiting in tense anticipation for any of HP's iPAQs could be twiddling their thumbs even longer. Amidst the recent delays (and subsequent clarifications) of the 110 and 210 comes news that a whole slew of the devices will not be shipping on time. Reportedly, HP Austria has confirmed to TamsPPC that the 110 won't arrive until early next month, while the 200 series won't land until January of next year. It gets worse -- the 614 / 614c Business Navigator is purportedly delayed until next February, and the 914 / 914c isn't set to arrive until the cows come home May of 2008. As for the 314, you can still expect it by the end of next month. Granted, we can't confirm that Austria-based delays will necessarily affect America and the rest of the globe, but it certainly isn't confidence instilling news, regardless.

We're not really used to being buried in an endless array of Windows Mobile devices on any American carrier, but that could be the very problem we all face on AT&T if this latest tidbit materializes. Between the Tilt, Q Global, SMT5700, Pantech Duo, Treo 750, and the BlackJack -- all released or just around the corner -- pretty much every form factor, platform, and price point is covered, and it looks like the recently announced HP iPAQ 910 is in play now, too. Documentation on HP's site calls out the 910c (the version equipped with a 3 megapixel autofocus cam) as destined for AT&T's airwaves, a logical move considering the device's support for HSDPA 850 / 1900. Yeah, the extra choice means extra confusion for consumers just looking for a decent smartphone -- but with GPS, WiFi, and a touchscreen rocking Windows Mobile 6 Professional, we're not about to complain. [Warning: PDF link]

[Via Boy Genius Report]

In its fray of iPAQ introductions today come two new phones from HP -- the first since the rather bland 510 -- potentialy throwing the once-dominant Windows Mobile force back into the hunt. First up, the 600 series Business Navigator comes equipped with integrated GPS, a generous 2.8-inch touchscreen, 128MB of RAM, 256MB of ROM, 3 megapixel autofocus cam, WiFi, and Windows Mobile 6 Professional, all sitting atop a Marvell PXA270 putting along at 520MHz. The 600 rocks a numeric keypad; a dealbreaker for some, yes, but the nifty touch-sensitive scroll wheel integrated into the keys may be enough to sway a few back. The 900 series, meanwhile, swaps out the numeric pad for a standard QWERTY outfit and steps down to a 2.46-inch display, but the specs remain otherwise similar to its stablemate. Look for both to ship before the year's out.

[Via Phone Scoop]

Those hoping to get to know HP's iPAQ 600 series a bit better can start celebrating, as the folks over at Notebooks were able to sit down with Raj Bhavani, an iPAQ product manager, and record a brief demonstration describing its features. Notably, the built-in WiFi, Bluetooth, HSDPA, click-wheel, three-megapixel camera, integrated GPS, and Windows Mobile 6 operating system were all highly praised, but the lackluster 320 x 240 resolution display looked to be a (critical) weak point. Nevertheless, the device does look pretty sharp (or maybe we're just suckers for all that connectivity), so be sure and click through for a look at the interview.

Hot on the heels of those blurry, low-quality photos of the upcoming HP iPAQs, come these shiny new pics sure to have waiting fans foaming at the mouth. As you can see, the new handhelds are definitely a reality, and now we've got details on added models to the lineup, as well as rumored release information. First and foremost is the iPAQ 914 (pictured), a Windows Mobile smartphone with a 3-megapixel camera, GPS, WiFi, and HSDPA support. HP is also intro'ing the 614, another Windows Mobile device (this one presumably with a touchscreen), plus GPS, WiFi, and HSDPA -- both new phones are said to be selling for around $800. The company is also introducing the 314, a GPS navigator with custom HP software, and the iPAQ 214 and 114 ($500 / $430), two Windows Mobile-based PDAs without any phone functions (though they have WiFi, allowing for VoIP). All of the devices are said to be hitting shelves in October, save for the 914, which is due (supposedly) in November. Feel free to hit the read link for more info, though we warn you, it's in Swedish.

[Via Unwired View]

We've already heard plenty about this pair, the new 600 and 900 iPAQ series, but the folks over at MoDaCo look to have uncovered the first, albeit sketchy, pictures of the devices. Labeled the iPAQ 614c and 914c, the two devices line up pretty nicely with the rumors, with the 614c rocking a 2.8-inch QVGA screen in a candybar form factor with Windows Mobile 6 Professional, HSDPA, WiFi and a touch wheel, and even tacking on GPS and a 3 megapixel camera to the already juicy list. The 914c rotates the screen and goes QWERTY, with only 2.5-inches due to the orientation, but the same QVGA resolution and the rest of the 614c's specs. If these facts are legit, HP could be fighting back into the smartphone fray in a pretty big way

[Thanks, ZSX]