HP iPaq 510 "Voice Messenger" gets shouted at

The thing only got announced at 3GSM, and already LAPTOP Magazine have got a review of it.  I'm talking of course about HP's latest iPaq, the 510 "Voice Messenger" cellphone.  Now stupid name aside (Are we going to start calling everything by its function now?  Is my electric shaver in fact a "face smoothener"?), it has a pretty decent list of abilities, mainly thanks to running Windows Mobile 6.

Voice Command is going to get the most column-inches, being an alternative to hitting keys and instead allowing the phone to read emails out to you, and in return you telling it exactly what you want it to do (kind of like some twisted electronic phone-sex).  Hit up the cut to find out whether they thought it was the Big 'O' or a no-no...

 

Well, at 5.8oz and 0.7-inches thick it'll cause no "Size Zero" controversy on the cellular catwalks, although the 6.5hrs of talktime do go some way to making up for that.  Buttons are solid and reasonable but the interface as a whole is let down by the dreary 176 x 220 two-inch display, although it does okay showing photos taken by the 1.3-megapixel camera.

 

And what of the much-vaunted Voice Command?  Well, missed words, poor pronunciation and general first-generation glitchiness means it could be an expensive ($300) mistake if you're not willing to put up with it all.

Frankly the design puts me off more than the feature set; what do you think?

LAPTOP Magazine [via Engadget]