HP’s iPaq 614 Business Navigator is, as its name suggests, a device that combines mobile communications and navigation capabilities for professional users. As such, it is basically a smartphone with built-in GPS that can be used for turn-by-turn navigation, especially when combined with an optional HP car mounting kit.

Shipping since March, the iPaq 614 is about the size of a large bar of soap, putting it somewhere between a phone and a PDA. This is also an apt description of the device, which is designed for one-handed operation, but which also has a touch-screen and runs the Professional version of Windows Mobile 6 rather than the Smartphone edition.

As well as built-in GPS, the iPaq 614 supports 3G mobile networks with HSDPA – where this is available – and is a quad-band handset for making voice calls. It also has 802.11b/g Wi-Fi for faster browsing, and Bluetooth for linking to wireless headsets and other peripherals.

We found the iPaq 614 quite a handy compromise between the larger Pocket PC-style devices and smaller smartphones, and its larger 2.8in display is easier to read, especially when viewing web pages. HP has supplemented the standard phone dialling pad with several shortcuts such as a Windows menu key, OK button, and Clear and Enter keys. There are also two context-sensitive keys beneath the display. At 145g, it is also light for its size.

BlackBerry users will appreciate the jog dial to the left of the iPaq’s display, which lets you scroll through menus and select options while holding the device in one hand. There is also an unusual navigation control, the Smart-Touch wheel, which can be seen as a raised circle over the number keys. Sweeping your thumb clockwise around this scrolls down, while the reverse direction scrolls up.

However, despite HP’s efforts to make this a device for one-handed operation, we found there were occasions when it was easier to accomplish tasks by using the stylus, stored behind the bottom left of the iPaq. We could not close some windows without tapping the screen, for example.

While the phone, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth radios can all be turned on or off independently, there is no control for the GPS receiver. This comes on automatically when you open any application that needs it, according to HP. The iPaq 614 ships with Google Maps as its built-in navigation aid, but this downloads map data via the internet as required, and so will eat into a user’s data plan allowance. HP said its optional GPS Navigation Kit, available later in May, includes UK and European maps on a Micro SD card.

We found that the iPaq 614 was unable to get a fix on our position anywhere near IT Week’s offices in central London, due to the many high buildings that block clear reception of the satellite signals. It worked much better in suburban areas, but the device does take several minutes to get an initial fix after Google Maps is opened.

We tested the iPaq 614 using a Vodafone SIM, and found we could get a decent 3G connection in central London, even HSDPA intermittently. However, this dropped back to GPRS outside of the capital. When using 3G, we found download speeds made web browsing tolerable, but the version of Internet Explorer in Windows Mobile 6 is still not up to the standard set by Apple’s Safari browser in the iPhone.

The chief use of the iPaq 614 is likely to be as a phone and navigation aid, but as with other Windows Mobile devices it can link to Microsoft Exchange servers for push email delivery. The lack of a qwerty keypad makes it unsuitable for heavy email use, but HP does ship tools such as Voice Reply and Voice Commander that are designed to allow speech input and control.

The bright and clear 2.8in screen of the iPaq 614 also makes it better suited for displaying emails than many smaller phones, and a dedicated button switches this between portrait and landscape modes.

Powering the iPaq 614 is a 1590mAh lithium-polymer pack with a quoted life of up to four hours talk time and up to 10 days on standby. We were able to use the device for a couple of days from a single charge, but heavy use will likely shorten this.

Another niggle is that the SIM card and Micro SD card slots are both behind the battery, which means the phone has to be powered down and the battery removed in order to insert or remove a memory card.

The iPaq 614 is based on a 520MHz PXA270 processor with 128MB RAM and 256MB Flash ROM. It also features a three megapixel camera and ships with a built-in agent for HP’s Enterprise Mobility Suite (EMS) management tools.