“Dell is reportedly close to announcing a deal to bring Android-powered smartphones to AT&T,” Marin Perez reports for InformationWeek. “This comes after years of speculation that it would enter the mobile space, and a few months after it unveiled Android-powered smartphones for China Mobile. AT&T and Dell have not confirmed the report.”
“The smartphone market is becoming increasingly crowded, but the growing size means there could be room for new players such as Dell. IDC said 2008 smartphone shipments were up 27% from 2007 at 157 million units, and that number is expected to double by 2012,” Perez reports.
“Jack Gold, principal analyst at J. Gold Associates, said Dell’s first handset will not outsell Apple’s iPhone, but could potentially match the sales of the Palm Pre, which analysts estimate has sold more than 700,000 units since its summer release. The first Dell smartphone will reportedly be an upgraded version of the Mini 3i smartphone that will hit China soon. It features a large touchscreen with an iPhone-like user interface,” Perez reports.
“If the reports pan out, the move is another sign that Android is gaining momentum,” Perez reports. “Barring Apple, Nokia, and RIM, nearly every major handset maker plans to make a device using the Google-backed software, and other consumer electronics manufacturers also plan to use Android for tablets, netbooks, cable boxes, and other computing devices.”
Perez reports, “Wireless carriers appear to be on board and this is particularly important for the U.S. market. T-Mobile will soon have four Android handsets, Sprint will have two, and Verizon recently said it was partnering with Google to create a variety of mobile devices that will use the Linux-based OS.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Robert S.” for the heads up.]
Can’t wait to see the housebrick phone that Dell’s engineers come up with. Asbestos gloves required to hold it and a standby battery life of 3.5 minutes.
It feels like the 80’s all over again, this time with mobile phones.
Dell + Smartphone = Oxymoron!
iPod history being repeated. The smartphone wannabes will not slow down the iPhone, but fighting to take share from each other.
nah..just the ‘moron’ part
Of course, AT&T;has to respond to Verizon’s announcement. Android is just picking up the fumble WinMo made. Nature abhors a vacuum.
Someday there will be a better golfer than Tiger Woods. Someday there will be a better phone than iPhone. Maybe we fanboys need not be so smug. Just sayin’
I dunno. Android seems like a lot of talk for now. I’ll believe it’s “gaining moment” when the market is flooded with actual Android devices, not just plans for them.
I don’t see Android competing with the iPhone unless the actual device is as compelling as the software is. Android may be a great OS, but if it’s tied to devices made by unimaginative, non-innovative companies, and tied to the demands of carriers, it’s going nowhere.
——RM
*Thud!*…..
*clap….
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mike: *Thud!*…..
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You’re cruel!
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Correct, but still cruel…!