Sinobytes

Dell smartphone officially announced: Headed to China (and Brazil)

Nov 15, 2009 20:04

As I previewed a couple of months ago, Dell's first ever smartphone is a badly kept secret, and so this week there weren't too many gasps of surprise when the US company announced that its "Mini 3" smartphone will launch soon.

And by "soon", I mean "Dell didn't bother to say when exactly". But it did clarify, in its official announcement, that the Android-powered Mini 3 will be available only in China and Brazil, initially. Specs will differ in each market, as will the look and configuration of the Android OS; and so, it's clear that Dell is looking to tailor the phone very carefully for each country and telco, in contrast to the more sweeping iPhone launch.

There'll also no doubt be disappointment in America and Europe that Dell's first Android phone is not as exciting or powerful as Motorola's first, the impressive Droid which launched in the US earlier this month, and perhaps even some bafflement that Dell is focusing on emerging markets.

But this is the company's strategy for its Mini 3: For it to be a platform for some telcos. Thus, in China, it will be a major part of China Mobile's "Ophone" platform, which will heavily modify Google's Android OS to better suit Chinese consumers, and may even have its own app store that will bypass Google's Marketplace. With half a billion subscribers in China (while the other partner, Brazilian telco Claro, has 42 million), Dell have clearly decided that making the first "Ophone" for China Mobile will be a very profitable move.

The US firm did reveal some universal specs this week:

• 3G compatible (we were all led to believe previously that it wouldn't have 3G)


• A 3.5-inch 640 x 360 touchscreen


• A 3.2-megapixel camera


• A mini-USB port


• An SD card expansion slot

So, don't hold your breath for a Dell Mini 3 in the US or Europe (indeed, with such lackluster specs, it may never show up there at all). No China launch date has been given, but if Dell is close to having this thing ready, then Chinese New Year would be a great time to launch--so that'd be February 14, 2010. In fact, Sinobytes is prepared to bet his trilby hat that that'll be the launch date of the Mini 3i in mainland China...

*Disclosure: I don't actually own a trilby.

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