Dell Says: Hello Convergence?

[Jon Westfall]

<i>"A rumor is circulating that Dell intends to phase out its line of traditional handhelds. However, according to BargainPDA, this doesn't mean that the company is necessarily going to completely stop making mobile devices."</i><br /><br />Rumors are flying that Dell plans on axing it's traditional PDA devices to move to smartphones (small s - unknown if these will be Pocket PC Phone Editions or Smartphones). Dell is one of the last OEMs to adopt devices with some form of cellular radio, so it would make sense they would jump into convergence. However, if they do, they will be one of the ONLY OEMs that abandon all of their traditional PDAs for converged devices.

[Ed Hansberry]

in the US, Dell may have an adventage over HP. Not only can they sell to carriers, they can sell cellular service from their kiosks around the country from trained reps that can adequately demonstrate the device, vs reps at cell stores that don't care what they sell, just that something moves.

doesn't matter. it'll be made by HTC. :)

[ADBrown]

I'm not convinced that Dell is really getting out of the market. They've been consistently doing great with their existing style of lineup, and marketing converged devices does not mesh with their direct sales model. I think this is probably just rumor.

[Jon Westfall]

I'm not convinced that Dell is really getting out of the market. They've been consistently doing great with their existing style of lineup, and marketing converged devices does not mesh with their direct sales model. I think this is probably just rumor.

Of course they could try something new: sell the device without a service plan. While US vendors don't often like this approach, i-mate has been doing it for quite awhile now. The price issue has been the factor against it - devices normally cost $499 WITH activation, up to $800 without. However, if Dell continues their price structure of bringing high end without high price, they may have a winner: A converged device where the GSM phone is just as much a "use it or not" option like Bluetooth at a price rivaling $400 - $500.

I also have a feeling that the American people aren't so stupid that a quick instruction sheet on how to switch SIM cards ot a new device wouldn't be too hard for them to figure out, or a dell rep could do it at the kiosk.

[doughboy]

I hope this is not the case. I have yet to be sold on the whole idea of converged devices. A 3.5 in. screen is small enough, and I prefer 3.8+ in. I would not be able to deal with a 2.8" screen. I want to be able to take my cell phone to more rugged environments without needing to worry about "breaking" the functionality my PPC affords.

[inteller]

as long as they dont waste my time with some crapola EDGE phone like HP I think it will be great. An EV-DO Axim would be great.

[pocketpcadmirer]

I hope this is not the case. I have yet to be sold on the whole idea of converged devices. A 3.5 in. screen is small enough, and I prefer 3.8+ in. I would not be able to deal with a 2.8" screen.

I guess that you have not used a HTC magician or HTC wizard. Once you get accustomed to 2.8", you wont be having any problems in using any of the apps(since the resolution is same)

Back to the topic, I think Dell has made the right decision of moving to converged devices. I yearn for a not-so-expensive-like-universal device from them. I want a PPCPE and not a smartphone from them. They can prove to be serious threat to other OEMs with aggresive prices

Sunny

[Canuck]

I own and love my x50v, but I just can't help thinking that it is a Tyranasaurus Rex... the king of the dinosaurs.

My work gave me a Blackberry, which is basically a 10 year old palm with an email client, yet as dumb as it is, and as much as I hate it, I have it with me all the time.

[bnycastro]

I hope DELL does come out with converged devices [but not axe their existing lines]... if they release converged devices [carrier free and at 'DELL' prices] they could make a killing and also might be able to force down the price of other converged devices... which we all want :P

[Kacey Green]

My personal feelings are still that I don't want to be out of two devices due to a dead battery. Both cell and PDA. But the other side of the coin is that there is one less device to forget or try to squeeze into my pockets.

[Nurhisham Hussein]

Of course they could try something new: sell the device without a service plan.

This may be new in the US and Europe, but its the norm everywhere else. I've never bought a phone on a service plan, and I don't know anybody personally who has.

[Damion Chaplin]

My personal feelings are still that I don't want to be out of two devices due to a dead battery. Both cell and PDA.

It's really not as big an issue as one would think. My K-Jam charges through the USB connection as well as A/C, so you're never very far from a power source. My smartphone did the same. It's a very smart idea and I wish all small devices that took mini USB would do the same (my Archos uses mini USB, but requires a seperate A/C adapter).

As for screen size, believe me, if you can read the screen on your cell phone, you will have no problem using a 2.8" screen. Try to find one in person before making quick judgements. You may be surprised.


Back on topic: While it would be wonderful, I just can't see Dell selling phones without service. It's possible, but complicated. Most people (not those on this site) don't even realize that Cingular and Verizon are on different frequencies and therefore don't use the same types of phones. I recently explained to a coworker that because I was on Cingular, I can just buy a new phone and swap my SIM card. She had to call Verizon and have them switch her to the new phone, and they charged her $20 for it! 8O So I think Dell would face a lot of customer service issues were they to start selling phones without partnering up with a carrier...

[Muntasser]

well done Delll, heres a sticker. Now when is my darn X50 ROM update coming for WM5! :evil: :evil: :evil:

GRRRRRR!!!

[bluevolume]

Smokey the Bear says "Only you can prevent RUMOR fires!" :devilboy:

This story has gotten WAY out of hand. Everyone needs to go over to Aximsite and read the thread where this actually originated. It is a statement that someone got from their "IT guy", who got it from some unknown source. It doesn't even claim to come from Dell, and doesn't read like it is an official statement.

All of this hoo-ha because Dell hasn't fixed the WM5 ROM for the x50v. Yes Dell needs to do this, yes it was wrong of them to ship such a screwed up OS, but come on, all of this heresay and loosely drawn conclusions are just making us more crazy.

[shindullin]

Listening to rumors and then blinding speculating based on those unfounded (or barely founded) rumors are often more fun than the reality once everything settles down. Personally, I find it entertaining more than frustrating. The post could just as easilly be titled, "Wonder what Dell's gonna do this year?". It's probably going to have some sort of converged device in the offing. Given it's coporate history, Dell arrives late, adopts well established technology and then builds cheaper and at least as good in order to dominate the marketplace. That's what it did to computers and pda's. That's what it's doing to printers, and that's likely what it will do with converged devices. The only real question is whether stand alone devices have been/will be making Dell enough money to justify it staying in that space. I don't know myself, but I'll bet you money in Vegas that Dell does, or that it will prior to making a decision on whether to continue to support stand alone devices or not.

[Jonathan1]

I hope this is not the case. I have yet to be sold on the whole idea of converged devices. A 3.5 in. screen is small enough, and I prefer 3.8+ in. I would not be able to deal with a 2.8" screen.

I guess that you have not used a HTC magician or HTC wizard. Once you get accustomed to 2.8", you wont be having any problems in using any of the apps(since the resolution is same)



Tell that to my poor eyes when I real e-books. So what am I suppose to do? Drain my cellphone reading e-books and then keep a second battery for calls? Thanks but as long as there are stand alone PDA (Even if that means going back to Palm or using Linux.) I will stick with nonconvergence devices.

[Jonathon Watkins]

Well, on the whole I have been very happy with my X5 and X50v. :) I hope they do make a converged device. We'll have to wait and see........

[disconnected]

I've been happy with separate PDA and phone, but I'm starting to lean towards a converged device just because of Sprint's totally insane prices for tethering plans. I have a t608 phone with unlimited free Vision, but apparently the new 3G phones can prevent unauthorized tethering; when my t608 dies I don't know what I'll do.

I think I'd find it difficult to only have one card slot, and I'm almost positive I couldn't get along with any less than a 3.5" VGA screen (currently I have an iPAQ 4700 with 4" screen). I use it extensively for reading ebooks and GPS, and my eyesight isn't great.

It seems like the whole industry is going towards converged devices with keyboards and small screens and that just isn't what I need.

[ADBrown]

You know, if Dell really wanted to bring out a converged device (and I'm not convinced they do), I've got the perfect one for them. Kick ass specs, and visually consistent as well.

http://gsmnet.ru/news/data/upimages/446.jpg

[Cybrid]

I hope this is not the case. I have yet to be sold on the whole idea of converged devices. A 3.5 in. screen is small enough, and I prefer 3.8+ in. I would not be able to deal with a 2.8" screen.

I guess that you have not used a HTC magician or HTC wizard. Once you get accustomed to 2.8", you wont be having any problems in using any of the apps(since the resolution is same)

Back to the topic, I think Dell has made the right decision of moving to converged devices. I yearn for a not-so-expensive-like-universal device from them. I want a PPCPE and not a smartphone from them. They can prove to be serious threat to other OEMs with aggresive prices

Sunny Yea, uh huh! I have the UTS 6700 and the X50V. The UTS is a phone and Modem.....The X50v is the main attraction even though the X50v's screen is quite a bit less vivid. Not giving up my dual slot VGA any time soon :lol:

[Jonathon Watkins]

Not giving up my dual slot VGA any time soon :lol:

Yes indeed. I had been wondering about selling my X50v and moving onto the next thing, BUT, it almost certainly won't have those features.

Dual slots are soooo great for transferring and organising files and photos in 'the field'.

I *could* give up VGA for an small 'idea' PPC phone, but dual slots (and especially the CF slots) is something I can't do without at the moment.

[Phillip Dyson]

The idea of loosing the stand-alone PDA options saddens me. I went from Smartphone+PDA to a Convergence device for awhile, but ultimately went back.

The eten m500 device was great but I missed the memory, dual expansion, and especially the VGA screen.

Having gone to a hosted exchange service some of my gripes about 2 devices went away. Now I can leave my PDA behind (briefly 8O) and know that I've got my PIM data with me (in a read capacity).

Lets hope that if its true, that Dell is looking to expand their line and not replace it.

[MasterOfMoo]

well done Delll, heres a sticker. Now when is my darn X50 ROM update coming for WM5!

I've been driven to be branded as having social language issues (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourette_syndrome) because of how long the wait has been for the "post WM5 update" update. The base installation of the purchased upgrade was fine, but the performace was crap. I rolled back to the old OS and am still waiting for the hinted at subsequent ROM update. They released the update for the 51v, but still no dice for the 50v, and no notes on the status either.