Dell to launch Android netbooks
So says PC giant's software porting partners
Dell is preparing to launch a Google Android-based netbook, one of the firm’s loose-lipped business partners has revealed.
Software developer Bsquare issued a press release this week which stated that it’s “porting Adobe’s Flash Lite 3.17 technology onto Dell Netbooks running Google’s Android platform”.
Whoa! That’s quite an announcement to make when Dell hasn’t even confirmed that it’s planning to launch Android-based computers in any shape or form – despite several recent rumours.
Could Dell's Mini Inspiron 9 become an Android PC?
Bsquare’s kept mum on any specific details, but made reference to industry analyst predictions that “Android will gain traction on smart devices, such as the ultra-portable Dell Mini Inspiron 9”. This will obviously lead many to assume that the small, cheap computer could be one of the machines Dell’s considering pre-loading with Android.
Dell and Bsquare have since joined forces to claim the release as a mistake. Andrew Bowins, a Dell spokesman, told the Wall Street Journal that the announcement was “made in error” - no shit... - but stopped short of confirming or denying if the company's working on an Android netbook. ®
COMMENTS
@David Halko
How about Nokia as your visionary? Their (linux-based) N810 seems a nicer piece of kit than any conventional "netbook". Robust, easy to handle, and one third of the weight. I've absolutely no desire for anything between that and my macbook.
Android as a 'mobile' platform
Having used android, even with the initial problems- felt about 3/4 finished at the time- i loved it, and the idea of a unified, powerful and open platform for mobile phones was wonderful. especially with a gui as good as that. by taking it onto any form of laptop however is going to break it. there won't be any application unity and unlike apple's 'just works' app store, it'll just be a mess.
umpc's too won't gain anything as it'll either be crippled, or android for pc's will outclass android for mobiles- so what's the point?
having said that retaining some intercompatability would by good- calendar, email etc, but i can do that already.
my hopes are resting on android, as uiq is now dead, and s60 is horrible. i don't want it to become another linux- with 'too' many distros, etc. it needs to stay focused on mobile phones.
Android and Mini Portables
This would be a very healthy thing for the industry!
With Android and the various Google distributed applications, if people can edit documents, read email, play flash content, and do research on the Internet - why not save $50-$100?
I would never have expected a visionary announcement like this from Dell - perhaps from Sun.
Will the consolidation of Sun force other companies into testing the markets to become visionaries?
Sounds pretty pointless to me; if true.
The reason I buy a PC is so that I can run PC software on it; if I wanted a PDA or smart phone, I'd have bought one of those instead.
I'm sure Android is lovely, but personally I don't want it as the main OS on one of my PCs.
I suspect most non-technical customers don't really want it either, not least because many of them won't understand why they can't run their existing software on it. They might go for it because it has a "cool" name; but I suspect they'll take it back pretty quickly once they realise they can't do what they're expecting to do with it.
And in related news ...
Flying chairs have been observed at Dell HQ during a visit by executive managers from a major partner.
