Dell Flash to offer Android Froyo in a 'dramatic' package
By Chris Ziegler 
posted April 21st 2010 8:15PM
posted April 21st 2010 8:15PM
As you might recall, the MSM7230 is part of Qualcomm's next generation lineup of midrange smartphone cores, a series that looks to bring Snapdragon-class performance to the masses with HD video out capability and -- hopefully, anyway -- the performance you'll need to make Flash 10.1 fly. Dell plans to load this bad boy with Android Froyo, presumably with the same kind of custom skin that it'll start pushing with the Streak series this year; we're seeing references to a so-called "Stage UI," and we think that's what it is. This one's mentioned for a first quarter '11 release on AT&T and globally, though it's not clear whether it'll be AT&T-branded or simply be offered as an unlocked device compatible with AT&T's 3G bands -- but either way, you can count us in. Don't change a thing, Dell.
Duuuuuuuude, I'm gettin' a Dell!!!
@Bushrod
Me too!
I like the wallpaper...makes the screen look deep...
@Bushrod
Please control your excitement!
Yes, it is really Dellicious, but that dish must be served on a table...Dell what is the name of that tablet?
With the Adamo experience, Dell has the design (s)kill to kill.
Now lets see some webOS on that bad boy.
@DavidVogt
Not going to happen.
That UI looks so sexy.
@Celside
Btw, Flash, Thunder and Lightning... I guess thats all?
@Celside There might be a rainbow later.
@Edobe If RIM hadn't taken Storm, the 4th would have tied them up nicely. How about some of us come up with a another name? I got Power.
@Vman Cumulus cloud?
@Edobe Tornado. or Hurricane (taken?) or Typhoon. :P
FROYO?!!?!?! YUM.
What the Dell?
@7egend
FFR dude!
dell, i think i've been looking for you all my life. the only thing missing now is a little bit of love for that dying technology known as cdma...
Honest question from someone that doesn't get it: Why is "video out" constantly being touted as such a big feature? Is this something that just pretties up a spec sheet or something that manufacturers actually expect the masses to use?
@RidleyGriff
Why does everything have to be targeted at the "masses"? That for iPhonies.
Why can't I have a nice ass phone with TV Out? I would love it, I use it every day on my laptop already.
@RidleyGriff Those of us with jobs can afford LCDs and Plasma TVs. It would be nice to be able to store HD videos on these devices and plug them into your friend's TV w/out lugging around DVDs/BlueRays.
@ryan420 Aiming for the masses is for iPhonies?
You do understand you're talking about phones from Dell, the biggest mass market computer maker in the history of the industry, right?
You do understand that all of these phones are designed to sell to the masses, which is where all of the future sales and growth of the smartphone industry is, right?
My question was simple -- was it a feature added for people to think they're cool for having -- "Why can't I have a nice ass phone with a TV out"/OMG, I would _totally_ use it every day!!!!! -- vs. something that people would actually use on a day to day basis..
You provided a ridiculous response, friend, but I can't say you didn't answer my question. Enjoy your shiny object.
@Palomino "Those of us with jobs?" Please friend; don't think you know anything about anybody else posting on these forums. Especially when you're chatting with someone that's had hi-def plasmas back when they cost $7-10K. But I'm glad you're enjoying your Costco LCD.
Point is, we've had phones that have had this ability for years now -- from all platforms. It's never really caught on, and I just don't see the point. You're going to take the time and effort to sideload a movie from your computer, taking up a huge amount of the onboard storage space, just to watch a movie once at your buddy's house? And when you get there, you have to wrangle with cables, etc., and put your phone out of commission while you're watching said flick?
I get that it's "neat" to say this is a feature, but in a real world scenario, DVDs and BluRays are a hell of a lot easier -- and in the case of BluRay, look (and sound) a hell of a lot better.
Hence my conclusion that it's a spec sheet feature, not a real world one. Haven't heard any argument to the contrary, but still would love to hear one.
@RidleyGriff No, you're right. Lets leave a bunch of features on the table for later. PLUH! As an engineering student, I'm reminded of our saying: "If it ain't broke, it doesn't have enough features." Our phones are taking on more and more features by the year. Eventually I think the phone, or whatever it will turn into, might be so feature-packed that it will be the only device we use.
@drkow19 Dude, why are you pivoting off into this weird tangent? It's strange that nobody can respond to my question directly, without either going personal or into rant mode.
I was simply wondering why everybody has a hard-on for video-out, as it seems like a not-very-big-deal feature to me (certainly not anything new).
Strangely, nobody has a response, other than "Why can't I have it." This tells me it's not a very big deal feature. No harm, no foul, it's just not as big of a feature in real life as Dell would like you to believe.
Also, as an engineering student, I would think there's one thing you're going to eventually learn -- features do not equal utility.
@RidleyGriff Ok now you're being an ass and acting like everyone on this board is below you. I answered your question, why add this feature? People like features, engineers like adding features, features sell phones. What aren't you getting? I understand that you don't want a tv-out and don't see the use. Can you imagine that out of the 7 billion people on this world that maybe a few of them might like tv-out on their phone? Quit whining.
@drkow19 I apologize if my tone rubbed you the wrong way -- one thing for sure is that I don't think I'm above anyone on this board.
TV out to me has always seemed like a gimmick feature, yes. I don't understand why so many seem to get so hyped on it. That's why I asked a simple question about why people do -- and even your response seems to boil down to "because it's another feature and more features are better".
That's a spec sheet argument to me, not a utilitarian one. Sorry if you don't like that, but doesn't mean I'm being a jerk. A lot of people buy great tech based on spec sheets -- and the spec sheet race served the PC industry just fine for many years. But all devices don't need to be all things to all people -- and that may not even be the way to create the best devices. There's nothing wrong with asking "why".
@RidleyGriff Nah, I'm with you. I don't understand why video out is thought to be such a big deal.
The responses to your query are interesting though. Not so much in the defensiveness, but in the repeated claim that the key to cell phone success is just to pile on as many features as possible. I think the iPhone has shown that one successful approach is not to just pile features on so you can bulk up the spec sheet, but add features which are well integrated into the rest of the hardware and the software. Folks here think that's "fanboyish," but I don't think Apple's become a hugely profitable company over the last eight years by catering to its small group of fans from 2002. But, you know, the Engadget crowd is not filled with your typical cell phone consumer.
@RidleyGriff Thank you. Some of the phrases you use are very condescending. Yeah, I answer from the perspective that no realistic feature is a bad one, because I have the engineering perspective. Obviously they're not going to make this thing slice bread, but tv-out is a common feature and people will pay money to have it. In my experience it is women that like this, because they will film something and immediately want to show their friends. My grandmother would have her mini-DV camera and cables over at my aunt's house. Now she can do this on a phone. Soon she will be able to do this without wires. This goes back to my first argument that phones are becoming so powerful that they can and should be able to do everything our other devices can do.
You ask why, I ask why not? Good talk, I'll see you out there!
@RidleyGriff,
Nop! In a real world scenario writing and copying DVD and Blu-ray discs is quite inconvenient. It's so much easier to use rewrittable medium like flash drives. It'getting common to have USB ports on DVD players, so you can just stick USB flash in. More players and TVs become DLNA-compatible, so that you can stream a movie from your phone's Twonky Media server, etc.
@ryan420
He asked a simple and legit question which you responded with a peremtory response.
@RidleyGriff
It is not really a feature for the masses but one that some might use. Given the mini-computer nature that smartphones have become, one might use it for presentations or watching movies or other things that might call for a large screen. As a quick example, a friend has a Blackberry Storm which is his only computer at home. Reasons aside, he uses it for all his music and some of his video needs. It really is his main computer. For him, a video out is very useful but certainly not a feature that the masses use... Yet.
@drkow19 Thanks for your response. The example of a grandmother sharing videos definitely resonates with me; my girlfriend's mother is a HUGE Flip cam user for this very same type of reason (though she emails the videos, obviously).
I do wonder though -- and I'm just thinking aloud here, not critiquing or anything -- if the the TV-out idea is something that is still left over from that mini-DV camera era we're coming out of. It was never really feasible to share video on a mini-DV camera screen, so we always needed to hook it up to a TV (same thing with Hi8, VHS-C, and all the other consumer formats back in the day). My mom takes videos on her phone, but she shares them with her phone as well - would she hook it up to a TV if she had the chance? Probably not, only because it would take her more time to set up the device with the TV than it would to watch the content itself.
Once again, not arguing for or against the inclusion of such a feature; just spitballing real world use.
I think you're also dead on with wireless -- that's when this kind of feature will really become useful and widespread. And I think we're going to get there probably a lot sooner than any of us anticipate.
@vkelman I don't think copying DVDs/BluRays is a realistic usage scenario, though. That's way too much hassle; for most people, if they want to watch a movie they own at a friend's house, they'll just take the movie itself.
As mentioned above, streaming would be a different scenario, but if the choice is between sideloading, waiting for the copy time, and then fussing with cables vs. just popping in a disc, I think consumers will always go with what's more convenient. JMO.
@ajendus Thanks as well for your response. Your friends scenario is very interesting -- and no doubt a precursor to where we're going with portable devices, tablets, etc. I suspect that you're very right in that it a feature that is not used very often -- but very prized by the ones that do use it.
It's hard to know when the "coolness factor" ends and the "usage factor" begins for a lot of these features, especially when companies are pushing their products so vigorously. I'm as much of a geek as anybody else on this stuff -- in my case, I'm getting the component out kit so I can hook up an iPad or iPhone to my TV -- but for me it's definitely something I want to do just cause I can, not because I'm going to use it.
But as you said, these things aren't mainstream... yet. Seeing how they get there will be half of the fun of following this stuff.
Dell is on a roll ,screw iphone 4g
man if apple would inclued a home screen like this it wouldnt be so borning I'm tiredof turning on my phone and seenkng a millon apps !
Just like that dell becomes a major player in the mobile space... I love competition
@mogren
Yeah, after they tore up the MP3 player scene and aced everyone in netbooks, it's time for them to conquer the smartphone market, just like that. What was it Scott McNealy said about Dell? Something like - "When you're selling bananas, the only value you can add is a bruise".
Dell doesn't do anything original, they just glom onto a market and try to make a quick buck selling cheap stuff to people who can't afford a decent haircut.
@Ed T I smell a frightened fanboi
This is looking less and less like a leak and more like free publicity via controlled release of info.
@mobilehavoc Yeah... Leaked by pr@dell.com
@mobilehavoc Nope, it's a real leak. We don't play around.
@Nilay Patel
Amen!
@Nilay Patel
I officially declare April the month of the leak...
@SolidSnake
You can't buy a render and dismantle it though. Less of a leak, more of a promise for the future.
@Nilay Patel Yes, it's a leak to you. Just saying I doubt Dell is particularly upset about this like some more fruity companies might be
Let the itrolls begin...
"Who needs a choice? There's too many of them!"
OMG DELL IS RAMPAGING
Sexy b*tch
@qmartman711 evo is good for now
Lovin the small bezel
3 Dell articles in a row!!!
*head explodes*
@ahha,
...and all within 1 hour!!!
*another head explodes*
@yes. That was me
Am I missing something here Dell? Is today's your keynote day or what?
(explosion continues)
@ftw. Whoa, I'm on a roll with my force head exploding