HP Announces iPaq rx5900 Travel Companion

HP has stormed the GPS market with its sleek handheld and travel friendly HP iPaq rx5900 Travel Companion that offers both the benefits of a Windows Mobile PDA and GPS functionality.

The HP iPaq rx5900 has a streamlined look and attractive silver casing and burnt-orange accents, at 5.9 ounces and a dimension of 4.7 by 3 by 0.6 inches; it is quite portable and can be easily carried between one's car and for use on foot. It has a 240x320 pixel resolution QVGA touch screen of 3.5" and features an antiglare coating, which did a pretty decent job of keeping the display readable in direct sunlight.

The screen's orientation can be rotated in four ways with the screen rotation button on the right spine making it possible to adjust it to any suitable angle and to the right is located the power button which blink different colors ranges from blue for the wireless connections, amber for battery charge to green for complete charge depending on the status.

There are also three more shortcut keys to the Quick Launch page, Navigation menu, and media player which are identified clearly by small icons, and they can be reprogrammed to open other applications depending on the user's choice.

Other features that are present are a voice record button, a reset hole, and an SD/MMC card expansion slot on top of the unit. while the left spine has a port for attaching an external antenna for enhanced GPS reception, a mini USB connector, and a 3.5mm headset jack that accepts Walkman-style headphones.

According to the information made available by the company, the HP iPaq rx5900 will be available for sale in mid-October and will cost $599.