Dell Officially In The Smartphone Game

[Nurhisham Hussein]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/17/dell-officially-developing-mobile-devices-for-china-mobile/' target='_blank'>http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/17/...r-china-mobile/</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"In a confirmation for the ages, Dell spokesperson Andrew Bowins has clearly stated that the company is "developing mobile devices for China Mobile," giving the Round Rock powerhouse access to the biggest mobile subscriber base on the entire planet."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/ppct/auto/1250640952.usr14226.jpg" style="border: 1px solid #d2d2bb;" /></p><p>Scuttlebutt has it that the first Dell smartphone will run a version of Android, but given Dell's previous history with Windows Mobile there's always a chance that WM may fit in there somewhere. And even though China's the initial target market, I find it hard to believe that Dell would confine itself to marketing smartphone's there. I'd say there's more than an even chance we'll see Dell branded handsets elsewhere, and hopefully with Windows Mobile.</p>

[Phillip Dyson]

Actually I would be surprised if they go with Windows Mobile. Assuming that they dismantled their Windows Mobile operations when they left the market, why would they enter back into such a restrictive platform.

Dell is pretty comfortable with Linux, so Android would make better sense to me. Minimal to no license costs. An infrastructure to push updates. Another company (Google) pushing their own patches (if they put out a Google branded phone).

Of course if they have WM licenses laying around from their last venture then maybe it makes sense.

[griph]

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2009/08/200908171501152fcb0.jpg (http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/17/dell-mini-3i-smartphone-gets-official-outing-in-china/#continued)

Its a flippin' iPhone! :D