Dell smartphone rumors flare up -- Android or S60 phone in the works?

So rumors of Dell doing a smartphone have been around forever, but they've started heating up again today -- word on the street is that the company is planning a handset launch as early as next month at 3GSM or Mobile World Congress. That's just chatter we'd ordinarily dismiss as nonsense, but we couldn't help but notice most of the Dell people at the Adamo event were carrying G1s -- and Dell's director of consumer products was super-quick to pull out a Nokia E71 and gush over how well-built it was compared to other devices when we asked him where the Adamo line would be positioned. That jibes with long-standing rumors that Dell's working on Android and/or S60 devices -- rumors that Michael Dell himself refused to put to bed back in July. What does it all mean? Well, we have no idea, but we'd say that Dell's new focus on consumer-oriented design suggests that WinMo isn't really in the running if it is in fact planning a handset. We'll see how it plays out over the next few months -- we could be right, we could be wrong, but either way it should be interesting.

[Bleck @ Jan 13th 2009 8:26PM]

Thinner Dell Axim x51v + Android and keyboard = win.

[Verythrax @ Jan 13th 2009 8:28PM]

I think thwy will serve WinMo AND Android versions.

Why not?

[Verythrax @ Jan 13th 2009 8:33PM]

Oh, what's that white Centro lookalike phone in the picture?

[austin @ Jan 13th 2009 8:54PM]

its from the andriod demo released before the G1

[Fernando @ Jan 13th 2009 8:33PM]

Dell branded S60 phone? Gotta see that!

[lax @ Jan 14th 2009 6:26AM]

a lot of people dont like S60 but in Europe its pretty massive, well Nokia is, so s60 is,
i dont have a problem with it, itts worked fine on my n80 and now on my n95.

[Chip Daiger @ Jan 13th 2009 8:40PM]

I'm sure they have some people locked up in a secure location, flying a pirate flag, and using the phrase "insanely great" all the time... oh, wait....

[Jack @ Jan 13th 2009 8:42PM]

'Twill have the build/body of an E71 and Android. So, coming from Dell, it will be grey (in a nice way, dell is usually understated chic), have a so-so keyboard (but still pretty stellar), and an app they custom made on Android for exchange. Oh happy day!

[sybgtwy @ Jan 13th 2009 8:55PM]

It'll be WinMo, and likely a slider. If they actually updated the Axim line, I'd consider ditching my G1. I always wished my Axim could receive phone calls, that device was so capable.

--#

[bjay @ Jan 13th 2009 9:03PM]

My fingers re crossed till MWC

[Decoy @ Jan 13th 2009 9:03PM]

The long awaited Pre-Killer?

[KilgoreTrout @ Jan 13th 2009 9:30PM]

Welcome to the party Dell!
The more the merrier.

[Andrew @ Jan 13th 2009 9:39PM]

Dell needs some new product designers.

[Blastar @ Jan 14th 2009 3:06AM]

Ugliness to zenith.

[Stan-O @ Jan 13th 2009 9:36PM]

Please, let it be the S60-based phone! With Nokia killing SIP front-end from their latest phones, and Dell (probably) not restricted by the contracts with operators there's a hope!

[Wii60 @ Jan 13th 2009 9:50PM]

I loved my old dell axim x30 back in the day. I still halfway use it as a media center remote. I'd love to see dell bust out a cell phone.

[freakmarket @ Jan 13th 2009 11:02PM]

the axim x30 was my fave pda i ever owned to this day ... it performed so fast ... great wireless .. loved the 6 buttons across the front you could program.

[jan @ Jan 13th 2009 9:53PM]

Stan-O @ Jan 13th 2009 9:36PM

"Please, let it be the S60-based phone! With Nokia killing SIP front-end from their latest phones, and Dell (probably) not restricted by the contracts with operators there's a hope!"

Wat! U Crazy.

Better Be Android FTW
The more the phones the more evolved the operating system.

[dcoaster @ Jan 13th 2009 10:04PM]

Dell + S60 = no sale

[iKurt @ Jan 13th 2009 10:12PM]

It will never be better than the iPhone because it either has Windows Mobile or because it's a Dell.

[bob e @ Jan 13th 2009 10:26PM]

What a tough time to bring a new phone on the market.
How could Dell possibly improve on the Pre?
The iPhone is now looking long in the tooth compared to Pre.

Pre is the new iPhone.

[shugg @ Jan 13th 2009 10:39PM]

lol.,u gotta be kidding.,storm,gi etc had this much hype/diggs , once it was tried n tested n released they tanked. fell very short of being iphonekillers. i tell u what, all pre has to do is sell 1 million palms in first 72 hours here in the usa like the iphone did on july 11 2008 and it will earn coveted title .

[Al @ Jan 13th 2009 10:40PM]

I know Dell sells some unlocked S60 phones, but I can't remember them ever actually being involved with Symbian.

[TareX @ Jan 13th 2009 11:13PM]

If Dell was building a phone I'd presume it would be a WinMo phone.... not Android.

If anything I'd love a Dell Android.... esp. after the G2 leak letdown. Can't wait till GSM 2009.

[Jake Carpenter @ Jan 13th 2009 11:14PM]

DELL isn't in the open handset alliance... Am I missing something?

[Dralite @ Jan 14th 2009 6:42AM]

Maybe their hiding their involvement? Doubt it though...

[Nilay Patel @ Jan 13th 2009 11:17PM]

Banned. Will anyone ever learn?

[Brian @ Jan 13th 2009 11:36PM]

Android + WinMo, please. Series60 is a bust.

[skyshock21 @ Jan 13th 2009 11:59PM]

Dell already sells Nokia phones unlocked on their website. Nokia owns S60 now, so it would stand to reason Dell would probably partner with Nokia.

[Al @ Jan 13th 2009 11:53PM]

How about one that triple boots, Android, S60 touch, and WM6.5 and you get to choose what you want to run.

[shade @ Jan 14th 2009 2:42AM]

S60 would be okay, but Android would be absolutely ideal (from an n95 owner). Give us the same specs as the G1 with both a tmo and att version, and *please* leave it unlocked so we aren't screwing around with contract extensions and forced plan changes. Android has so much potential, and the more manufacturers that start pumping out such devices the better; this platform is going to die in the water if HTC/Samsung/Dell/others don't get their shit together and give us something other than WinMo crap.

[Aaron @ Jan 14th 2009 3:15AM]

I assume WinMo is excluded because it's not free?

[chefgon_ign @ Jan 14th 2009 6:28AM]

They excluded WinMo because they expect this to be a consumer-oriented phone and they don't think that WinMo is a consumer friendly OS. I tend to disagree, there's quite a few WinMo handsets aimed directly at the consumer, like the TouchFlo 3D and TouchWiz handsets. Not to mention the T-Mobile Dash (and possibly the Moto Q?) have sold much better to the consumer market than they have to the Enterprise market.

[HereAndNow @ Jan 14th 2009 4:17AM]

Android, as an OS, is evolving quickly and with the participation of the industries' top companies (see http://www.openhandsetalliance.com/oha_members.html), it will only get better.

All Dell (or any other OHA member, for that matter) needs to do is come up with a "must have" handset design, to propel themselves to the top level of the Android game (which is still in the early innings).

[Paulmichael @ Jan 14th 2009 4:34AM]

An update to the Axim line, so long as it's done correctly, would ensure that I hand Dell a couple hundred. Still using my X51V today, great device.

[chefgon_ign @ Jan 14th 2009 6:24AM]

An american company releasing a Symbian handset? I'll believe that one when I see it.

[Judge @ Jan 14th 2009 7:42AM]

Dell producing a S60 phone is *highly* unlikely. Although Nokia would be happy to have other companies (other than 'wellusethemall' Samsung) to support S60, there are few things to consider:

1) Producing Symbian phones is not easy. It requires a lot of expertise to master the obscure Symbian OS. There are no ODM's at the moment that can produce a Symbian phone. There is no business case for such a (huge) effort.
2) Although the Symbian is promised to be Open Source in upcoming years, it is not OSS at the moment -> lengthy licensing negotiations is required
3) For a new player, one can estimate that it takes 2.5 - 3 years to produce first Symbian phone. Don't think Dell would have taken the effort to produce a phone that competes directly (S60) with Nokia offering.
4) Symbian is being faded away even for Nokia (see recent Linux announcements based on Maemo)

Android on the other hand, is a business, that has still room to grow. The G1, although somewhat limited, showed that one can produce a smartphone based on Android, and in next few years we'll see who will take the biggest stake in Android-based phone market. HTC has the lead, but the real race has just begun.

[SPOKE @ Jan 14th 2009 7:58AM]

Not that S60 isnt great, but if Dell wants to make a name for itself in the market, they will have to go with Android - are they even a member of the OHA? Regardless, there are enough S60s out there, but nearly not enough G1 clones :)

[giodelgado @ Jan 16th 2009 9:01PM]

hopefully an s60 phone, it has more developing languages and more applications than any other cell phone software, carrier free please.