In a report by Wall Street Journal, sources close to Dell reveal how the PC company will debut a smartphone lineup as early as next month. Supposedly, a group of engineers have been working on a Dell phone for more than a year.
One of the hottest tech rumours this week concerns Dell, known for its PCs and peripherals. The Wall Street Journal predicts Dell will soon unveil various smartphones in the next month or so, fuelling speculation the company is aggressively mimicing Apple’s strategy of bringing both PCs and cellphone to market.
Sources close to the company told WSJ the phones will operate on both the Google operating system Android and Windows Mobile. One model uses a touchscreen with no physical keyboard, similar to the iPhone. Another phone is a slider-style unit with a keypad that slips out from beneath the screen, like the Palm Pre.
DigitalJournal.com contacted Dell Canada to confirm or deny the rumours. Spokesperson Janet Fabri told us, “We do not comment on rumour or speculation.”
A research firm foresaw Dell’s dalliance with cellphones several months ago. Kaufman Brothers’ Shaw Wu believed an announcement could come as soon as the Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona in mid-February. He wrote: From our supply chain checks, Dell has been studying the cell phone market and talking with component suppliers and manufacturers for nearly two years now.
The WSJ adds that the Round Rock, Texas, company has hired a group of engineers to work on the phones for more than a year from an office in the Chicago area. Also, Dell recently hired two former employees from Motorola.
