A source with knowledge of the situation tells us that Dell is launching (or at least announcing) a mobile phone in China in the next day or two. We are trying to verify the information and gather more details on the hardware and operating system now.
Our sources on new hardware coming out of Asia tend to be spot on (we broke the news of the second and third generation Amazon Kindles, the launch of the Palm Pre and the existence of the second Palm WebOS phone and generally have good information on sales figures for iPhones, Kindles and other devices). But in this case the information we’ve received is extremely thin.
There have been reports of Dell launching a phone in the Chinese market in recent months, with rumors of the carrier partner being China Mobile in one case and China Unicom in another.
There is also wide speculation on the operating system, but we’re guessing it’s Android. Dell has also been working with Google on an Android-powered tablet computer in recent months. But in April Reuters had a report that Dell may be creating a proprietary operating system with China-based software maker Red Office.
What we’ve heard on the hardware: iPhone-like, touchscreen, no physical keyboard. that’s it for now. Keep an eye on the Dell China site.
Update:
We now get reports from China that China Mobile is about to release a Dell-branded Android phone called “Ophone mini3i” in the next days. More info over at MobileCrunch.
Only in China?
yes, that’s the information we have now. stay tuned.
I guess Dell is trying to beat the iPhone in one market.
Interesting, I guess we’ll have to wait for info on us and eu release
If they are going to use Android they might have a shot of selling some.
If they are Windows Mobile … its going to be funny as hell watching it crumble and watch em give it up a year later.
Have you ever used Windows Mobile or are you just one of those Google fanboys who attempts to piss at everything that is Microsoft?
I don’t see why Windows Mobile gets bashed so much, especially under Dell. My trusty Dell Axim X50 running on PocketPC 2003 SE from 4-5 years back is still running strong, with the stock battery no less, even though I’ve been using it on a daily basis for watching movies and music. Recently just upgraded the bluetooth stack to use it with my AD2P and AVRCP capable stereo headset too. I’ve dropped it several times, got in soaked in rain twice and it’s still functioning without a hitch other than having some physical scratches and paint scrapes in some places.
I don’t trust Dell myself for its consumer PCs and Laptops, but their PDAs and rackdense servers have been solid so far. Sure, windows mobile can have its quirks, so does the iphone – every wanted to have the virtual keyboard in landscape mode? 3rd party apps are widely available too with no restriction from MS. What’s not to like? If a phone is unstable, it’s usually cos the manufacturer didn’t put in enough time and effort to work with and fully test out the hardware with the OS. It’s not inherent in the OS itself.
Double text in the first paragraph.
And now delete these two comments so I don’t look like an idiot now it’s been fixed. Thanks.
A quick scan on google looks like it is an Android based phone. No real confirmation whether it is or not and whether it is an actual story or not.
If it is an Android phone, then it means they are being backed by Google, so that will be a huge plus to the reason why they are succeeding and Apple failed.
ah was a little slow on the post there
Dell Phone could be Microsoft arrival into the phone market as DELL is a longtime partner of Microsoft. I won’t be surprised if the phone uses a Microsoft Framework.
though Dell has long time partnership with Microsoft .. i think, Dell will go with Android this time …. but, frankly, i didn’t like idea of Dell phone … Dell really needs to concentrate on their core business ..
…which is re-branding other manufacturer’s products.
Very cool… If it is Android, will the device have Google Voice all ready to use? Is that possible/probable in China?
Something about Google Voice having a stream of all my phone communication bothers me. As as company though, Google seems to accommodate the somewhat “different” way things are done in China.
I hope it runs Android. And I’m curious how the Android app ecosystem turns out in China.
The iPhone-like interface is sort of unfortunate. Everyone there seems to love the superficial aspects of the iPhone interface. The mini fake iPhone was so popular.
And the lack of hard keyboard makes sense. Touchscreen is probably better for inputting Chinese characters.
i hope not only in china
Good move by Dell. There is a massive market in China.
Dell. Cellphones. They don’t seem to go together so well. Cellphone choice is an expression of individual identity. What kind of person chooses a Dell?
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+1
I was jerking off and thought. Just China? What about me? This is bullshit.
One more player added in the race of touch screen phones.
Never care about these ’source’ news. Even if this turns out to be true, Dell is very late entering this market as they always are into anything.
‘Keep an eye on the Dell China site’- Wish I knew that language.
Or perhaps, they are just buying Meizu, which makes iPhone clones for the China market.
is it going to be released only in china?? yea they know america got the iphone thats why thy dont even want to compete
i want one!!
i was thinking on an android phone because is open source but HTC don’t convince me… so this is all i what i was waiting =D
The HTC mobile phones are popular worldwide for their enchanting touchscreen. HTC is a world fame mobile manufacturer in the domain of communication.
Ye, that must be a crack!
I guess Dell is trying to beat the iPhone in one market.