Dell Bringing Smartphone to China, Brazil

Network World — Not wanting to be left behind in the smartphone wars, Dell today announced that it was bringing its first-ever smartphone to China Mobile.

The Dell Mini 3 smartphone, which made its first appearance in China this past summer, will make its official debut on China Mobile's network by the end of the month and will launch on Brazilian carrier Claro by year-end. The Chinese version of the phone will run on Open Mobile System, a unique incarnation of the open source Google Android platform that was developed by China Mobile.

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While Dell has not released specifications of the device, Engadget Mobile reported earlier this year that it features a 3.5-inch touchscreen with a 360x640-pixel display. The phone will run initially on China Mobile's 3G network.

Dell also says that it has "existing agreements" with other telecom providers around the world to sell the phone, including Vodafone, AT&T and Verizon. If the phone were to be available for both AT&T and Verizon customers, it would mean that Dell has developed versions of the phone that run on both GSM and CDMA networks.

"Our entry into the smartphone category is a logical extension of Dell's consumer product evolution over the past two years," says Ron Garriques, the president of Dell's Global Consumer Group. "We are developing smaller and smarter mobile products that enable our customers to take their Internet experience out of the home."

This autumn has been a busy season for smartphones, with Android phones in particular garnering a significant amount of attention. This fall along has seen the launch of the Motorola Droid on the Verizon network; the Samsung Moment and the HTC Hero on Sprint; and the Motorola Cliq on T-Mobile.

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