The smartphone and tablet run customized Android versions.
Dell will bring its new Mini 3 phone and Mini 5 tablet to both wireless carriers and retail stores in the U.S., execs said today at CES. I got a bit of time with both devices and discussed the strategy of customizing devices for wireless carriers.
"AT&T will choose to have different applications on their device. Some will be their own, some will be Google's, and there's some they've asked us to deliver," said Bill Gordon, Dell's general manager of small-screen devices.
"Our customers are the carrier base ... the carrier is our customer," said John Thode, Dell's president of small devices.
But even though the Mini 3 will be customized to AT&T's demands, there will also be an unlocked version, Thode said.
Thode said the Mini 3 will support both Exchange ActiveSync and sync media with Windows Media Player, including DRM files.
I got some very limited hands-on time with the Mini 3 and only a brief glimpse of the UI, which Dell made sure to say is unfinished. That said, it doesn't look like the standard Android user interface—even on AT&T, this may be a customized phone rather than the usual Android kit.
The Dell Mini 5 Tablet
The Mini 5 is even more intriguing. It's a 5-inch, touchscreen Android tablet, with a wide screen, a slim body, and both HSDPA and WiFi connectivity. The Mini 5 has a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash on the back, and a smaller camera on the front. It supports multitouch and works with Android Market applications. While AT&T didn't announce support for the Mini 5, Dell said it would sell it both through carriers and directly at retail stores.
The Mini 5 has a recognizable Android experience, just larger. Dell wouldn't confirm the version of Android on board. I typed on a large, comfortable touch keyboard, and movies played smoothly on the device. Google Maps navigation looked great on the large screen, showing lots of streets at once.
The Mini 5 also works as a phone—it has a microphone in it, but Dell expects most people to use a Bluetooth headset as it's rather awkward to hold up to your head.
While Dell talked a lot about customizing Android for their carrier partners, the Mini 5's version of Android didn't seem highly customized. There were definitely some new touches, such as popping the applications tray down from a menu button on the upper left hand corner of the screen. But the Mini 5 seemed to be running much more straight-up Android than, say, Dell's Chinese Mini 3i phone or the Lenovo Le Phone.
Dell execs couldn't quite articulate why someone would want a 5-inch tablet, except to say that it was a new product category with unforeseen uses. I definitely liked using it, but it's too large to fit in a pocket. It would definitely have to be an additional device, not replacing anything you already use.
Thode said that Mini 5 demand will flourish once wireless carriers stop charging high monthly fees for every device you want to put on its network. "Carrier business models are completely changing; you see this in Europe where you see prepaid data minutes everywhere. I wouldn't assume that you're going to be paying $60 per device very much longer," Thode said.
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