As promised by Dieter on our Twitter feed, here are a couple of new offerings from HP which have been dubbed "The Beauty and the Beast."

First up is the Ipaq Data Messenger (that's it on the right). Here are the deets, in handy bullet point fashion:

• Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional
• 2.8-inch 320x240 touchscreen
• Dimensions: 5.7 x 1.74 x 11.4 cm
• 128 megs RAM, 256 megs ROM.
• WiFi (b/g)
• Standard slider keyboard
• Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR
• Quad-band GSM (850/900/1800/1900), the European flavors of HSDPA (900/1900/2100 MHz)
• aGPS
• 3.1MP camera with 5x digital zoom and LED flash.
• 1140 mAh battery.
• Micro USB for sync and charge.
• Micro SD card, up to 8 gigabytes.

Here's the new hotness: Instead of a standard D-pad or trackball, there's an optical sensor (as opposed to an "optical mouse", we guess) that offers "gliding" optical control.

Also released is the Ipaq Voice Messenger. You get mostly the same specs as above, sans touchscreen, the full keyboard is replaced by a 20-key alphanumeric, the screen is a tad smaller at 2.4 inches diagonal (though the resolution is the same) and the batter is a little smaller at 1260 mAh.

Note that these are about on par with the HP Silver and Oak that we've previously reported on.

WM Poweruser via JK On the Run

Update: Engadget Mobile has spied the Vodafone details. Off-contract, the DataMessenger will run $677, and the Voice Messenger is $565 (yes, we know they don't use dollars in Europe). Also check out the hands-on video in which you can see the optical sensor in action.

Just when we started getting used to the name game with Samsung (Omnia, Mirage, BlackJack II) it looks like Hewlett-Packard is getting into the mix. We first heard about the Silver, then the Oak and now an un-named iPhone rival? Luckily, it looks like in HP’s case, we’re actually talking about three different devices. We can’t say the same for Samsung.

We’ve discovered rumors of a third device from our friends across the pond, The Register. It is reported that HP is planning on releasing another Windows Mobile device that could be yet another rival to Apple’s iPhone. That, plus the fact that it ought to have a keyboard, is really about all we know just now.

Building off a Wall Street Journal article that cites un-named sources within HP, the new device is slated for European release by the end of 2008 and worldwide shortly thereafter. Specifications on this rumored device are being kept close to the vest but according to the WSJ article, it will sport a touchscreen, keypad and will be loaded with WM 6.1 Pro.

So if all holds true, we will be graced with yet another black slab-like WM device on GSM. You’ll have the HTC series, Palm Treo Pro, Sony's Xperia X1, Samsung Omnia/Mirage and the Epix, and now the HP trio. Looks like this Christmas season will be full of choices for WM users to add to Santa’s wishlist!

It now looks like a couple of HP devices could be getting a resurrection, or at least some resuscitation.

Word recently came the the HP Silver is back from the dead, and the Wall Street Journal snuck in a piece describing a Windows Mobile 6.1 device with a touchscreen and keypad that will also soon be coming to Europe. It will get the iPaq branding.

The WSJ story doesn't name any names, but WM Power User and Slashphone are speculating that this "new" phone could the forgotten "Oak," which like the Silver was one of the devices we first got wind of in January and then quickly forgot about.

Notice in the photo above the original target launch of September 2008, which obviously has come and gone, just like the Silver missed its July target.

We just said that BGR's roadmap was the gift that keeps on giving and boy did we mean it. Next up: HP is taking another swing at Windows Mobile devices and this time they're going for the fences. That's a welcome sign after their previous bunts.

The highlight is definitely the Oak, a WM 6.1 Pro device with a touchscreen, quad-band HSDPA, bluetooth, gps, wifi, and a thin slider form factor that looks hottt with three Ts. The thin comes at a price, though, a measly 1010 mAh battery that they're optimistically claiming will last for 3.5 hours of talk time.

Next up is the Silver, which is interesting because not only does it look a heckuva lot like a BlackBerry Peal, but it also sports a “SureType” keyboard that they're calling a “suretype” keyboard -- perhaps it's been licensed from RIM? It has nearly identical specs as the above Oak (though they mysteriously left Bluetooth off the list. Surely an omission). It's WM6.1 standard and due in July.

There was also a low-endish ODM v16xx on BGR's list - an inexpensive WM 6.1 Pro device that lacks WiFi but has GPS and a front-facing QWERTY. We suspect it's just EDGE, but don't know for sure. Due in September.

Is anybody else wishing Vodafone would hurry up and get their subsidiary, Verizon, onto GSM already? Because they clearly have the Windows Mobile goods coming to Europe and we're jealous. Very jealous.

Read: hp oak | The Boy Genius Report

Read: hp silver | The Boy Genius Report