New HPs roll into Asia with a boom

Edvarcl Heng | Sep 11, 2007

Yes, it was Big Bang time again when HP held a regional consumer launch event in Singapore today.

Four product categories saw new entrants, but it was the printer category which dominated the proceedings with a staggering 13 new models along with the announcement of the Snapfish online photo service in Singapore.

The Palo Alto-based company also debuted five new iPaqs--two business-oriented PDA-phones, two PDAs and one GPS navigation device. The hero product of the bunch is the iPaq 612 Business Navigator which includes a raised touch-sensitive circular edge on the keypad for navigation.

Over on the computing side, Chin Hon Cheng, vice president for HP's Consumer Products and Mobile Business Group, elaborated on one of its strategy cornerstones. "We will engage the youth as an emerging segment of our consumers… and this youth will one day become a working adult." Chin explained that HP hoped the impression made on the youth will influence the products and technologies they will be using in working life.

To help its bid to net the youth market, HP has extended three new design finishes--Verve, Influx, Trace--to its laptops. Chin also revealed that Webcams will be a standard feature for its future laptops.