HP is moving to differentiate its business desktop and handheld products from other vendors’ offerings by adding services for its mobile devices, while focusing on power efficiency for PCs.
The company unveiled a range of new products in early September, consisting of a new business desktop; two workstations; and several new handhelds, including a BlackBerry rival and a model with a large screen designed for mobile applications.
HP’s new dc7800 desktop is based on Intel’s updated vPro platform and ships in three form factors, including a new ultra-small desktop, for which HP believes there is a demand. Its chassis is 46 per cent smaller than previous compact designs, comparable with thin clients, according to HP. It can be mounted behind an HP monitor to effectively give a zero-footprint deployment.
“HP can take the lead in customer-facing environments, such as reception desks and estate agents. We believe it is the smallest form factor on this new platform,” said Alex Ebeid, desktop category manager for HP UK.
HP is also pushing power efficiency with the new models. As well as using the firm’s 80 per cent efficient power supply, all the dc7800 models ship with an agent for Verdiem’s Surveyor tool, which lets firms monitor PC usage across their network and control power management settings.
HP’s new iPaqs buck the industry consensus that PDAs are dead. The iPaq 114 is a classic Pocket PC design with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and will appeal to those who want to keep PIM data on a separate device from their phone, HP said.
The iPaq 214 Enterprise handheld follows a similar format, but is designed for mobile applications. It boasts a 4in VGA display and has a CompactFlash slot, used in vertical applications to add a barcode scanner. With its 624MHz processor and 128MB RAM, the device is “perfect for systems integrators to build mobile solutions with”, said Neil Dagger, HP’s iPaq and Wireless business manager.
Meanwhile, the iPaq 614 Business Navigator and iPaq 914 Business Messenger are aimed at mobile professionals. Both support 3G and Wi-Fi, and also have built-in GPS to provide satellite navigation. The 914 has a full qwerty keypad and is aimed at the BlackBerry market, Dagger said, while the 614 has a numeric keypad.
With HP’s new iPaq customisation service, the firm said it can ship devices pre-loaded with applications and ready configured for policies and network settings. HP is also now shipping its Enterprise Mobility Suite (EMS) to let IT staff configure and manage iPaq devices over-the-air.
“These are more than just products, we’ve wrapped solutions and services around them," Dagger said.
