14 DAY TRIAL // Computer maker Dell has been recently rumored to plan on releasing on the Chinese market a smartphone running under Google's Android operating system. The handset is expected to surface one of these days, and some more details on it have emerged on the Web, showing that it will indeed sport an Android OS, while being called “mini 3i.”
According to Chinese site NetEase, an email from China Mobile to its Mobile Market developers shows that the handset will come under the name of Dell “mini 3i,” and that it will run under the Android-based Open Mobile System (OMS). Interestingly enough though, it seems that the device will come with GSM connectivity on board, which means that it will not work on the company's upcoming TD-SCDMA (Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access) 3G network.
The smartphone should come to China Mobile along with an entire series of S60, Windows Mobile, and Android-based OMS devices. It should be noted that the supposed Dell mini 3i won't have a chance on the market if it comes only with GSM connectivity. As Engadget states, the upcoming 3G-capable O1 handset from Lenovo will bring Dell's phone down to its knees in no time.
Even so, the phone is expected to come to the market with a display boasting a 640 x 360 pixel resolution, which seems to be real enough, even if the aforementioned email seems to have emerged on NetEase alone, and not on OMS' official forums. Most of the supposed details on Dell's handset seem to be in line with what has been rumored about it before, yet it still remains to be seen whether it will indeed come as the mini 3i with 2G connectivity. Considering the fact that Dell was expected to announce the smartphone officially within days, we can assume that it shouldn't be too long before more info on it will become available.
