Fans of Dell, this is a good sign for you. It’s not every day that the higher-ups in a company are willing to spill a ton of info on how their future is shaping up. Sure they will say how positive things are looking, and how they are working hard to bring you the best overall customer experience money can afford… but that kind of stuff is all talk no walk. Lately though, it seems that tech companies are (at the very least) quick to jump and tell you what their OS of manufacturing choice is. They are starting to realize that something as important as the OS your device runs will either make or break you. They are starting to realize that operating system name are buzz-words for not only fanboys, but the general public as well. Now, of course there there will always companies like Apple who are full on one OS to rule them all (iOS/OSX), but there is also a ton of other high end popular manufacturers who will always be wild cards. Right now, I’m talking about Dell. I’m sure that Dell will still keep their hand in the Microsoft cookie jar for higher end devices like their Studio line of laptops, but Google is helping to make some of the other products they churn out a little more interesting.

Dell’s president of Greater China and South Asia, Amit Midha, had this to say in an interview today regarding Chrome OS and Android:

“We have to have a point of view on the industry and technology direction two years, three years down the road, so we continuously work with Google on this,”

“There are going to be unique innovations coming up in the marketplace in two, three years, with a new form of computing, we want to be on that forefront … So with Chrome or Android or anything like that we want to be one of the leaders,”

It should be said right now, this is in no way an official conformation that  Dell is going hard on Google’s multiple OSes… But I mean c’mon… what more could you want? Dell is pushing to get the Streak out here in the states by July and a Chrome OS netbook out by “fall”, as well as pushing to get a new smartphone out in China ASAP and the Streak out over there by the end of the year. I’d say that’s conformation enough, but of course, people in Midha’s position are always quick to let you know nothing is solid until the product is on the shelves.

So what do you guys think? Is Dell foolish for putting (some of) their eggs in Google’s basket, or are they genius? I’m going with genius on this one. As of right now, Android is quite the force to be reckoned with, and Chrome OS is shaping up to be amazing. I know come fall 2010, I’ll have at least one new toy to pick up and play with. I’m expecting it to be pretty marvelous too.

Via: BGR

Source: The Globe And Mail

We already knew that it’s big, and we knew it will ship with the Android Kindle app. And unlike the original source of these photos, we already knew it will come in a variety of colors, including red. We also knew that it has cleared the FCC with AT&T 3G bands, but one key bit of information we don’t have on Dell’s Streak – previously known as the Mini 5 – is exactly when it’s planned to drop.

And while we still don’t have a window more specific than late Summer, it’s good to see that someone was recently spotted out in the streets of Seattle, testing a handful of Streaks’ e-911 performance on AT&T’s network. The tester was apparently a bit nervous about having the photos taken, but I don’t think there are to many surprizes left up the Mini 5’s sleeve anyhow:

Engadget has their collective hands all over Dell’s precious goodies tonight. Three major Android leaks within a couple of hours: There’s Smoke, a budget portrait slider with a hardware QWERTY reminiscent of the Palm Pixi (first image below); Flash, a higher-spec’d drool invoking slab fashioned from curved glass (second photo below); and of course, Aero – the lonely bugger of the three to ship with a version of Android younger than Froyo (third image below). We already knew about that last one, but new details have emerged, such as the type of processor that will power the phone. Head on over to Engadget via the links above for further details.

This shouldn’t be surprizing considering that Dell’s Streak – what amounts to a giant Android handset (albeit a special one) reportedly dropping this Summer – was initially called the Mini 5. The computer OEM has two more Android tablets on deck: one with a 7″ screen and the other with a 10″screen, both of which officially make the Mini 5 miniature in comparison. The 7 incher should be launching later this year and the 10 in 2011. In other news, analysts estimate that 24% of tablets released this year will run Android.

I haven’t personally held Dell’s Aero, so I can’t offer any comments of my own regarding the quality of the experience. However, Joshua Topolsky was allowed to test the phone that bloggers were allowed to handle (but not turn on) at CTIA, and he’s viewing Aero as a “glorified featurephone.” As you’ll see in the video below, the UI has been heavily modified and Engadget tells us that the system is packed with AT&T bloatware (big surprize). Of course software updates could turn things around a bit, possibly including what Topolsky calls “One of the worst implementations of a virtual keyboard.” Sounds like Dell is hopping into the American world of Android on the wrong foot. I want to bee rooting for Dell. I hope this is just a little bump in the road on the way to a great line of Androids. Video after the break: