HP's consumer-focused iPAQ Voice Messenger is a compact phone with a focus on clean design inside and out, simple interaction, and powerful functionality thanks to Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard. Eschewing the bulky form factor typical of many Windows Mobile devices, the candybar device is only 13 millimeters thin (a millimeter thicker than the iPhone) and packs in two useful hardware controls: a long-overdue ringer silence switch and a novel five-way navigator button that uses an optical sensor to detect swipes. With full 3G support (HSDPA up to 7.2 Mbps and HSUPA up to 2.0 Mbps), built-in Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth 2.0, the unit is definitely a capable data device despite its name, though it is curious that HP did not use the more power efficient Bluetooth 2.1 protocol. While it does feature a 3.1 megapixel camera with LED flash and a MicroSD slot for up to 8GB of storage, the phone has an outdated 240 x 320 QVGA screen, a 2.5 millimeter headphone jack that requires an adapter for use with typical headphones, and an uncommon Micro-USB port for data transfer. 

Shipping unlocked for $500 (and at some point through Vodafone with a contract), this phone joins the larger IPAQ Data Messenger that features similar specs with a larger screen and a slide-out keyboard. While these iPAQ updates aren't necessarily sub-par, their conservative hardware and software features may seem uninspired in the face of aggressively progressive devices like Apple's iPhone, T-Mobile's G1, and BlackBerry's Storm.