After you delay a not-exactly-groundbreaking product like the iPAQ 900 for the umpteenth time, there should really be no surprise to find a lukewarm reaction when it actually ships. Nevertheless, loyalists out there that refuse to give up on HP's Windows Mobile 6.1-powered Business Communicator will likely love the lengthy hands-on demonstration at GottaBeMobile. There's nothing there that'll floor you or anything, but if you really needed to see someone handle this thing for 14 minutes before making your purchasing decision, head on past the break and mash that sideways triangle.

[Thanks, Rob]

We first heard about HP's iPAQ 900 / 914 3G Business Messenger in September of last year, and after a series of delays (which seem to be endemic to the iPAQ line), it looks like the device is finally set to start shipping. Nothing much has changed, except that a Windows Mobile 6.1 device with a 2.46-inch display, WiFi, GPS, HSDPA, and a 3 megapixel camera isn't exactly the hot sheets it was almost a year ago. That said, that chubby case hides a 1800mAh battery, which should let enterprise users get their business on for the better part of a full day. Should be shipping around the world starting June 30, although specific worldwide dates will vary.

[Via WMPoweruser and Phone Scoop]

Read - HP press release
Read - Hands-on at Mobinaute

This unlocked Blackberry 9000 was spotted on eBay just before the auction mysteriously ended. The seller says the phone is unlocked and will "Not be released until August 2007" -- we'll guess he / she is a little unclear as to what year it is. However, said seller promises that this particular unlocked phone is actually in stock now and ready to ship for the lucky winner. Listed features (according to this auction) include: 3G, Edge, WiFi, and Bluetooth, as we've seen elsewhere. There's no telling how legit this is, and the seller clearly pulled the auction for some unknown reason, but there do seem to be at least a few of these floating around. Peep the pictures in the gallery here for some photographic evidence.

[Thanks, Ezra]

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]

Once the glittering crown jewel of the Windows Mobile world, HP has sat back, taken it easy on R&D, and watched its empire dwindle to an empty husk of what it once was. The reasons are unclear, but other manufacturers have certainly had no qualms about rushing in to fill the void -- most notably HTC, the ODM largely responsible for HP's success in the first place. Does it stand a chance of reclaiming the throne? Eh, with so many competitors in the game at this point, probably not, but that may not stop it from trying. Rumors have been swirling the last few days that HP will surround its iPAQ 510 Windows Mobile 6 Standard smartphone with a wide variety of devices positioned both above and below it, and if the details pan out, there could definitely be a few winners in the bunch. The 600 series is said to be similar to the 510 in form factor -- candybar with a numeric keypad -- but will add tri-band HSDPA, a touch sensitive navigation wheel, double the RAM and ROM, and will sport Windows Mobile Professional in place of Standard. The 900 should be largely similar, but trades the numeric keypad for a QWERTY version. Word on the street is that these should be announced in September with availability late in the year -- if it all turns out to be true, we wish the best of luck to ya, HP!

We're still bellyaching over T-Mobile's unfortunate (but necessary) addition of 1700MHz to the world's WCDMA spectrum, but it seems four bands of UMTS -- 850, 1700, 1900, and 2100MHz -- wasn't enough to satisfy everyone's needs. Or the Isle of Man's, at least. The British territory is the first landmass in the world to get a trial UMTS / WCDMA deployment on the 900MHz band, thanks to Alcatel-Lucent and O2's Manx Telecom. Though there's already a 2100MHz 3G network alive and well in those parts, the companies are touting 900's advantages -- chiefly its increased building penetration and enhanced range, letting carriers get 3G to more places with fewer cells. Though the trial has run for a full six months, there appear to be no plans to make it live and accessible to customers at the moment; that's probably just as well, seeing how there's no retail equipment to take advantage.

We think 3G is great, we really do. Be it EV-DO, UMTS, HSDPA, HSUPA, the long-forgotten EV-DV... it's all good in our books. But if there's one thing that we don't like, it's adding yet another band into the mix. Yes, we understand that GSM 900 is already well-established across much of the world, and it only makes sense for Belgium's Option to be working with networks to develop UMTS 900 hardware for overlays -- but still, someone has to put their foot down and stop the madness before we're all stuck waiting for phones with six-band radios. (Whew, we feel a little better now.) Anyhoo, it looks like Option has hooked up with Finland's Elisa to successfully place the world's first UMTS 900 call and demonstrate simultaneous voice / data services. The test has also caught the interest of Nokia -- possibly on account of Elisa hanging out in their backyard, which looks at UMTS 900 as a way to fast-track wireless broadband to Finland's rural areas. No word on when the requisite hardware might be in production, but between this and the newly-coined 1700 band, our heads are spinning just a bit.