New HP big-screen handheld has Intel inside

PDAs aren't dead yet. Nor is Intel's XScale chip technology. Hewlett-Packard's new, attractive big-screen handheld packs an application processor that still includes plenty of Intel's XScale DNA.

HP iPAQ 210

(Credit: HP)

HP is now shipping production units of the long-awaited iPaq 210 (originally slated to ship last year) that features a 4.0-inch, 640x480 (VGA) resolution screen. The 210 (which is rebranded internationally as the 211, 212, and 214), comes with a Marvell PXA310 processor running at 624MHz, 128MB of memory, and 256MB of flash ROM.

Though Intel sold the business that made XScale processors to Marvell more than a year and a half ago (June 2006), Marvell is still making processors based on Intel technologies. Marvell states that the PXA3xx processor family "is the third generation of applications processors based on Intel's XScale technology." The PXA310, made on a 90-nanometer process, includes Intel SpeedStep technology, Intel Wireless Trusted Module encryption technology, and an Intel Wireless MMX 2 co-processor.

Marvell also makes a PXA320 that can achieve a clock speed of 800 MHz. (See graphic below.)

The iPaq 210 features both compact flash and a SDIO (Secure Digital Input/Output) slots. SDIO cards, more advanced than typical SD memory cards, can house a Bluetooth adapter, Wi-Fi adapter, Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, television tuner, and a number of other devices.

Marvell PXA320

(Credit: Marvell Technology)