14 DAY TRIAL // Dell's latest Android-based smartphone, the Venue, has just been officially introduced in Korea through major carrier KT. The announcement does not reveal a certain launch date for the device, but it does mention that it will hit the shelves at the end of December.
The Venue is the Android version of Dell's Venue Pro featuring Windows Phone 7, which was launched on the market back in November. Unlike Venue Pro, the Android-based smartphone does not come with a full QWERTY keyboard.
However, most of the features are pretty much the same as Dell Venue is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon QSD8250 1 GHz processor and features a 4.1-inch curved AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with 16 million colors, 480 x 800 pixels resolution and Gorilla Glass that protects the display.
Obviously, it runs on the Android 2.2 (Froyo) platform out-of-the-box, but there is no word on a potential upgrade to Android 2.3 Gingerbread yet.
The full specifications of the smartphone are yet to be revealed, but an earlier FCC filing for Dell Venue mentions GSM/EDGE/UMTS/HSPA support.
It looks like the Koreans have a knack for renaming every smartphone that is made available locally, so Dell Venue will be known as 'Benyu', most likely because they have a slight pronunciation difficulty with the original name.
The smartphone will be available at the end of December for 700,000 won (roughly $600).
As a side note, KT also mentions in the official statement that Dell Streak, as well as an unannounced Pantech Vega Xpress will also be available at the end of the month. Apparently, the Vega Xpress is an advanced Pantech Vega with a slightly larger display and a newer mobile operating system.
Both come with Android 2.2 (Froyo) out-of-the-box and large touch displays, 5-inch for the Dell Streak and 4-inch for the Pantech Vega Xpress.
While the Pantech's price is yet to be decided, Dell Streak will be available through KT carrier for 800,000 won (about $700).