TECH WATCH

An easy answer
HP Courts Practitioners With Bundled Mobility

Get all the mobile technology you need to service your clients from the field—for only $80 a month.

BY MIKE ANTONIAK

Drawing on its expertise in digital imaging, printing, and mobile computing, Hewlett-Packard Co. has but together a hardware/software bundle to address the needs of today’s mobile real estate professionals. A section of HP’s Web site is devoted to real estate practitioners, and visitors can find the latest product information with recommendations for real estate professionals, as well as buying guides, articles by industry experts on using technology, and Web-based learning courses.

Lisa Hopkins, HP’s manager of vertical markets for small and medium business, claims the new bundle makes it easier and more affordable for practitioners to acquire the combination of tools to improve productivity and customer service. Components include:

• The Tablet PC tc11000, a Windows XP-compatible unit with built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless technology
  
• The iPAQ h6315 Pocket PC, a multifunction handheld that combines phone, e-mail, personal organizer, and digital-camera functions in one unit; also compatible with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
  
• The DeskJet 450 WBT mobile printer, a 1,200 dpi color inkjet model that supports Bluetooth
  
• The PhotoSmart R707 digital camera, a 5.1 megapixel digital camera with a panorama mode for extra wide-angle images
  
• HP’s Real Estate Marketing Assistant software, with 600 design templates for creating marketing materials most often used by practitioners to promote listings and market their services.
  
  The bundle is to be offered through the “bestsellers” section of HP’s real estate Web site and the REALTOR® VIP Alliance Program. (HP is a REALTOR® VIP Alliance Partner.) Total cost for the bundle is $2,815, according to Hopkins. For those who want a more manageable investment in the solution, HP also offers the bundle on a four-year lease/purchase plan, for approximately $80 per month.
  
  Hopkins says the equipment offered in the mobility solution responds to what the company learned about real estate needs from feedback at its Web site, as well its recent contest for “Top Technology Producers.” More than 200 practitioners entered.
  
  The bundle reflects the ways top performers have integrated mobile technology into their careers, Hopkins says. Early adopters have found the Tablet PC can serve as both field and office computer. The multifunction iPAQ handheld can handle all their information and communications needs in the field, when the larger screen size of a Tablet PC isn’t required. The camera’s panorama mode simplifies the process of capturing wide-angle shots for Web-based listings. Finally, the mobile printer’s support for Bluetooth makes it easier to get the prints required when meeting with clients.
  
  As far as the software goes, HP is currently negotiating with MLS providers throughout the country to enable subscribers to download local MLS data directly into the Real Estate Marketing Assistant templates for quick production of print promotions. So far, three MLSs have signed on; HP hopes to have the software offered through 27 MLSs within a year.
  
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