HP iPaq Glisten (AT&T)

[ Background music ]>> Bonnie Cha: Hi I'm Bonnie Cha Senior Editor at CNET.com and today we're taking a first look at the HP iPac Glisten. It's been a long time since we've seen a smartphone from HP here in the US but they're back with this new business focused messaging smartphone for AT&T. So let's see what it's got to offer. The design of the phone is pretty standard. It's got a slate form factor that's a little bit on the wider side so it's a bit of a handful when you're on the phone call but it has a very solid construction and features a soft touch finish on the back so it's definitely a very sturdy phone. Now one of the highlights of the glisten is supposed to be a AMOLED touch screen. AMOLE displays are supposed to be brighter, sharper and consume less power than standard LCDs and I've definitely been impressed with the ones I've seen on Samsungs phones like the Omnia 2 but compared to those the Glisten has a lower resolution QVGA display so images and texts aren't as smooth and colors look duller. So it seems like the AMOLED display is wasted here on the Glisten. Also the smaller screen size doesn't really work with the new menu layout of Windows Mobile 6.5. Fewer icons are displayed on the start menu which means more scrolling and when you get deeper into App menus the interface just looks outdated and you have to use a stylus to select some items. I feel like the touch screen should really give the Glisten the advantage over some of the competition like the Blackberry Bold but it really just doesn't deliver. One thing I do like about the Glisten's design though is the full QWERTY keyboard. The buttons are nice and large and it's easy to read the letters and numbers so I had no problem typing emails and text messages on this phone plus you get some app short cuts on the bottom here which is convenient. As far as features the iPac Glisten really sticks to just the basics. It's running on Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional Edition so you're getting some of the enhancements of the updated OS like Microsoft's myphone backup service and an improved Internet Explorer Mobile. The smartphone also offers support for both corporate and personal email and you get the full Microsoft Office Mobile Suite for viewing and editing office documents and there are a handful of other apps that AT&T throws on there including Mobile banking, the Weather Channel and some of its services like AT&T navigator, AT&T Music and AT&T video. Glisten also provides you with the full range of wireless options including 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS. Now from what I've listed off it seems like the iPac glisten offers all of the essential things that a mobile professional would want in a smartphone and it does but I just came away feeling underwhelmed by this device. Like I said earlier the touch screen should be something that gives the Glisten an advantage over other devices but I think the low resolution screen, the poor user interface it just falls flat. I'd rather give up the touch screen and go with something like the Rim Blackberry Bold 9700 which offers a sharper screen, faster performance and costs about $80 less than the iPac but I know not everyone is a Blackberry fan so if you're partial to Windows Mobile the IPAC Glisten can do the job just don't expect a lot of bells and whistles. [ Background music ] >> Bonnie Cha: The HP iPac Glisten is available now from AT&T for 179.99 with a 2-year contract. I'm Bonnie Cha this has been your first look at the iPac Glisten. ^M00:03:03 [ Music ]