Dell consumer products VP hints at a smartphone

At this point we're not sure why Dell won't just come out and say it's working on a smartphone, but for whatever reason the company's executives keep hinting around it. Case in point: Dell consumer division VP Ron Garriques, who told analysts yesterday that the company would "work with the top three to four" carriers "and see what their needs are." That's only slightly more concrete that what we've been hearing Michael Dell say for a while now, but apparently Ron got a little more specific: reports from the event also say he indicated that plans are being drawn up to launch products in the US, Asia, and Europe. We'd love a full transcript to figure out exactly what went down, but remember that Mr. Garriques here is the ex-head of Motorola's mobile devices unit, so he's got some experience cranking out handsets for every market. Just a note, though, Ron: if you ever pull an Adamo on us and reveal a product without specs, you are so not invited to sit at our table for lunch anymore.

[this_damn_good @ Jul 15th 2009 6:28PM]

iPhone - MS phone, Dell phone
Apple store - MS store, Dell store?

[spodi @ Jul 15th 2009 7:05PM]

they do / did

[Mikeweezer @ Jul 15th 2009 8:54PM]

App Store / One App / Dell App?

[derX @ Jul 15th 2009 6:37PM]

I hope this is actually good. As Acer has shown us, the computer-to-smartphone jump isn't as seamless as one would hope or imagine.

[jjbecerra909 @ Jul 15th 2009 6:41PM]

I thoght this was Android

[AtTheDriveIn @ Jul 15th 2009 6:42PM]

at first i thought this was a palm pre.

[Cynical Writer @ Jul 15th 2009 6:42PM]

Dell has shown that they can make pretty damn sexy hardware (even if it's not always the highest quality).

Hopefully it will draw inspiration from the Studio line.

[MacVicta @ Jul 15th 2009 6:42PM]

Who better to put in charge of the project than Ron Garriques, the guy who presided over Motorola's cell phone division as it burned to the ground?

[Information Central @ Jul 16th 2009 6:41AM]

HA HA HA just what I was about to post.

Motorola's phone division should not be a point of pride on anyone's resume, unless he designed the StarTAC.

[dsteve303 @ Jul 15th 2009 6:53PM]

It cannot have a glossy plastic case. It should be designed with the Adamo in mind.

[troyboytn @ Jul 15th 2009 6:57PM]

who cares! while Dell makes nice looking hardware, the internal components are dismal at best

[Will @ Jul 15th 2009 8:52PM]

Fine, go buy an Apple computer. I'm sure the E6700 in the imac is somehow better than the one inside the Dell machine. It must be because it is shiny, pretty, and costs a lot of money right?

No computer company makes their own hardware anymore.

[Juan @ Jul 15th 2009 7:18PM]

we will see if this is a good product

[htd @ Jul 15th 2009 7:19PM]

why they still use the ugly shape like axim?

[Anthology @ Jul 15th 2009 7:27PM]

Their smartphones would randomly explode in people's pockets.

[Logboy @ Jul 15th 2009 7:50PM]

Dude you're getting a iDell-1PreBerry.

[rv @ Jul 16th 2009 12:01AM]

Dude, you're getting a -!

[Solo @ Jul 15th 2009 8:54PM]

Remember Dell DJ? Now, are they going to call Dell PJ (Phone Jockey)?

[why not the LS2LS7? @ Jul 16th 2009 12:20AM]

Didn't I freaking post about this months ago on here?

Dell had a team on the peninsula (between San Francisco and San Jose) doing a music player two years back but they stopped them working on it because another team was doing something that made their product unnecessary. But they still paid them due to contractual obligations. This other team was working on a Dell phone even then.

Also, on another note, Tom Ryan left Lab126 (Amazon division who did Kindle) to work on HP's phone project almost a year ago.

Apparently everybody is jumping in now.

[Julz @ Jul 16th 2009 2:06AM]

Hmmm.

Dell is not the first name I think of with when i think of innovation.

I tend to think "cheap" and "just good enough to be acceptable" as a company credo.

This is a hectic marketplace, apple, google and palm are throwing massive resources at this battle in terms of hardware and crucially OS.

If i was a dell shareholder - i would be preparing for a hit in dividends to write off a project that is deeply unlikely to generate more than it costs to develop and launch.





What on earth thinks it

[Nelagster @ Jul 16th 2009 3:16AM]

"At this point we're not sure why Dell won't just come out and say it's working on a smartphone"

Oh really? Don't other fruity companys have this same strategy of not ever telling anything about future products? But it's not okay for Dell to do it? cool engadget

yea go ahead and digg me down (or whatever you call engadget's crappy comment system)

*on topic*
sounds like it might be a pretty sweet phone/smartphone/netbook/MID/whatever it is