HP may be preparing to launch an own-brand, updated version of O2's XDA Atom compact wireless PDA phone.

According to Chinese-language newspaper the Commercial Times, Taiwanese contract manufacturer Quanta, which is building the device for HP, will begin volume shipments of the product some time in H1 2006.

CT also claimed HP and Quanta were discussing the development of a 3G device. No other details of the 2.5G version were provided, but the Atom is based on a 416MHz Intel XScale PXA272 processor backed with 128MB of ROM and 64MB of RAM. The unit has a 2.7in, 240 x 320, 262,000-colour display.

In addition, the Atom supports 802.11b Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 1.2.

Quanta is reported to have indicated it expects to ship 1.5-2m PDA phones in 2006. ®

Related stories

• Compal to fab Fujitsu-Siemens' 3G handhelds (6 February 2006)
• HP confirms iPaq hw6910 - again (3 February 2006)
• HP confirms iPaq hw6900 series (27 January 2006)
• Fujitsu-Siemens looks to ship Wi-Fi smart phones in Q3 (13 January 2006)
• CES Handheld PC runs two OSes on two CPUs (6 January 2006)
• Palm pledges three new smart phones in 2006 (21 December 2005)
• Palm sales surpass expectations (21 December 2005)
• MS punts 'sub-$300 PDA phone' plan (9 December 2005)
• RIM battles PDA patent holder in UK court (1 December 2005)
• Exclusive HTC confirms HSDPA 3G handsets will ship H2 2006 (25 November 2005)