HP unveils 7 new mobile PC, printer products

To cater to the burgeoning demand for computing products which also provide a
host of entertainment and information processing capabilities 'on the go',
HP unveiled a new range of seven products at different price points to entice
choosy customers across the Asia Pacific region.

The new range of unveiled products include four new notebooks in the HP
Pavillion series, new additions to its iPAQ rX4000 Mobile Media Companion series
and an ultra-portable Compaq Presario B 1900 notebook PC which was designed for
this region at its Taiwan R&D center.

“We are also launching more than 70 new consumer imaging and printing
products, new supplies to the core printing product aimed at enhancing the
digital photography ecosystem by providing seamless customer experience,” said
Christopher Morgan, Senior VP- APAC Region, HP, at a special launch event on
the outskirts of Beijing.

The new range of notebooks are built with integrated connectivity to enable
customers to be in touch with their offices or homes on the go with webcams,
dual, omni-directional microphones for video conferencing and a host of other
features including facilities to operate the notebooks with the touch or graze
of a finger.

The new iPAQ series has a large 2.8-inch touch screen to enable quick launch
of music, photo and video files. All these, HP hopes, will enhance the mobile
entertainment experience.

The iPAQ 4000 will be priced at $299 and the new series of Compaq Presario
start at $999. The HP Pavillion range starts at $1,199.

With the increasing popularity of digital photography, HP is making a strong
attempt to capture the value chain involved in processing the 280 billion more
digital pictures that will be taken in the world by the year 2008. About a
fourth of these pictures are printed out and HP has a host of suppliers and
printers to enable professional quality photos by individual customers.

HP has also unveiled a HP Photosmart A 716 mobile printer, which can store up
to 4,000 pictures and print 4x6 inches photos in 39 seconds. In India, the 516
model which has slightly less storage will be available and priced at Rs 5,499.
The A 716 model has direct connection to TV and a HP Photo Fix button will
automatically remove red-eye, sharpen blurred images and improve photos.

HP also launched its next generation portable storage solutions with its 2.5”
wide HP Pocket Media Drive. The new products will have capacities of 80 to
120GB, with connectivity through the USB port. The HP Pavillion Series PCs have
special slots for the pocket media devices.

The company also unveiled two lightweight USB flash drives, c100 and s100.
The c100 has 512 MB of embedded memory and can be inserted with an external
memory card to expand its storage capacity up to 4GB. The s100 has a storage
capacity of 256MB to 1GB and 2GB and is styled distinctively with a swivel top
and neck cord.Most of the new products will be available in the Asia-Pacific
market this month or by October.

(The author was hosted in Beijing by HP)