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After inadvertently confirming the expansion of its iPAQ Mobile Messenger Series a couple of times, the cat is officially out of the bag, as Hewlett-Packard today - at the 3GSM trade show in Barcelona, Spain - announced the hw6900 series today.

The new Pocket PC Phone looks very similar to past Messenger offerings like the hw6515—same square 240 x 240 pixel resolution, 64k color 3-inch display and a QWERTY thumb-keyboard, for example—but it has something past iPAQ phones didn't, four types of wireless networking.

There's Quad-band (850/900/1800/1900) GSM voice for those who travel abroad, GPRS/EDGE (Enhanced Data for Global Evolution for high speed cellular) for data services, GPS for location and navigation-based applications, Bluetooth for headsets and other personal area networking accessories (like printers), as well as Wi-Fi: the new kid on the block of the Mobile Messenger series.

Bundled GPS apps include Microsoft Pocket Streets 2006 for basic navigation assistance and a trial of HP's own iPAQ Navigation Software with Maps on CD to provide voice-guided, turn-by-turn navigation. European customers get TomTom Navigator 5 software pre-installed.

As with the hw6515, the new iPAQ's dimensions and weight, at 4.6 x 2.8 x 0.7 inches and 6.33 ounces, are more PDA-like than phone-like.

HP moved this Messenger up to Windows Mobile 5.0 with support for the Exchange Security Feature Pack and Direct Push on-device client, putting BlackBerry-like mobile messaging front and center for the hw6900. It also works with Good Technologies GoodLink push e-mail and data synchronization service.

As with other handhelds or smartphones with tons of features, HP promises to replace even the kitchen sink with the hw6900. HP senior vp & general manger for mobile computing Ted Clark asserts, “Busy professionals no longer need to sacrifice connectivity when away from their desk. With the handheld's wireless e-mail, voice and fast data access, our customers can get more done and be more mobile with fewer devices."

Inside the new iPAQ is 128 MB of ROM and 64 MB of RAM (45 MB of memory available to the users, down from 55 MB in the hw6500) plus a 416 MHz Intel XScale processor, up from 312 MHz in the previous model. Unlike the hw6500, HP didn't go with two expansion slots. It nixes full-sized Secure Digital cards, leaving support only for the miniSD variety.

As with the hw6500, you can snap pictures and take video through the Pocket PC Phone's 1.3-megapixel camera, which has a flash. The Photosmart compatible camera enables users to capture and share photos and videos wirelessly. Like past iPAQ phones, there will be a version of the hw6900 without a camera for security conscious enterprises.

HP rates the new iPAQ's 1200mAH removable battery for 4 hours talk and up to seven days standby time.

North America won't see the hw6900 until summer, directly from HP and select carriers. It'll hit the Asia Pacific and Europe, Middle East and Africa regions this spring, however.

We've got a hw6900 on hand already. So stay tuned for our preview.