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March 24, 2009 9:39 AM PDT

Dell CEO hints at a smartphone...again

by Erica Ogg

As he has been doing in public speeches and interviews in the last year, Michael Dell has again stirred up speculation about what his company has planned in the handheld market.

In a speech he gave in Tokyo Tuesday, the chief executive of Dell was slightly more specific than he has been in the past on this topic.

"For the last three years, we have integrated 3G radios into our notebooks," said Dell. "We already have agreements with many mobile carriers around Netbook devices, so it wouldn't be unreasonable to expect that we would have smaller mobile Internet devices or smartphones in the future."

The Dell smartphone rumors have swirled since former Motorola executive Ron Garriques was hired. Michael Dell has periodically made reference to "smaller- and smaller-screen devices" that his company was working on, but until now he hadn't spoken about a Dell-branded mobile Internet device, or MID.

Dell is in the process of expanding its lineup of products while at the same time attempting to tweak consumers' expectations of the company that made its name selling discount PCs direct. A smartphone, essentially a handheld computer, appears to fit in with Dell's plan to diversify its lineup of consumer PCs.

Erica Ogg is a CNET News reporter who covers Apple, HP, Dell, and other PC makers, as well as the consumer electronics industry. She's also one of the hosts of CNET News' Daily Podcast. In her non-work life, she's a history geek, a loyal Dodgers fan, and a mac-and-cheese connoisseur. E-mail Erica.
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by Mac User Too March 24, 2009 10:30 AM PDT
Whenever I have trouble falling asleep, I replay Michael Dell speeches.
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by BogusBasin March 24, 2009 10:35 AM PDT
Dude, I think Dell should close down and give the money back to the shareholders.
Reply to this comment
by CrashPad63 March 24, 2009 10:40 AM PDT
Just shut the hell up. Apple needed to be shuttered. They had one dim light on and it was flickering. Dell is a very strong OEM vmanufacturer. But of course you cant see that for all the distortion field Snobs puts out.
by Staszek March 24, 2009 12:39 PM PDT
@Crashpad

This wasnt an Apple Dell arguement, why did you make it one? But I guess if you are planning on making it one
Apple: 106.90 per share
Dell: 10.50 per share

Net Income Apple 4.8 2008
Net Income Dell: 3.6 2008
by NeverFade March 24, 2009 10:59 AM PDT
Wow Crashpad... getting a little touchy, on the topic, aren't ya? Perhaps your name is Michael Dell. If that's the case, I would do exactly as BBasin suggests and take your money, go buy a yacht and sail far away... because very few people want your merchandise anymore. As far as Apple goes - yes, the company you told to close down, well.. they could now buy your company 4 times over. Irony is a funny thing, isn't it?
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by solu1978 March 24, 2009 11:04 AM PDT
why do the apple fanboys need to get involved here. looks like they have nothing else to do on macbooks.
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by the_mrwhite March 24, 2009 11:05 AM PDT
Dell makes me laugh iLOL'd
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by BogusBasin March 24, 2009 11:57 AM PDT
Dude, chill out man. Like totally bumming me out with all the hostility. I suggest you smoke some herb and go get another Dell man. Totally.
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by BogusBasin March 24, 2009 12:00 PM PDT
Everyone knows Dells are the best because they are the cheapest. They are such innovators too! Where would the computing world be without all the innovation pumping out of Dell each and every day? No wonder they are so great to own and boy they really stand out from the rest of the pack don't they? Not to mention their award winning service and support! Amen
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by BogusBasin March 24, 2009 12:02 PM PDT
Can't wait to see what an awesome phone those Dell innovators will come up with. My guess is that it will have a touch screen and it will tie into some online marketplace for applications. Those guys never miss an opportunity to come up with something different. You betcha.
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by gsw01 March 24, 2009 4:21 PM PDT
You need to stop. You should check out a 2 year old xps m1730 laptop. Mine has dual 8800gtx, raid 0, blueray drive, replaceable battery, etc. New macbook pro still no where close to 2 year old dell( mid 2007). I have already made several HD home movies on my notebook. Even mac pro has no support for blueray in 2009. So all the innovation apple has done is great packaging and marketing. Check out dell vostro with icore 7 under 800. I think you are talking **** because you have never experience high end gaming rigs and HD video( blueray burning). I love cnet folks for loading Hd videos on cnet. Youtube has HD videos. Apple still without a blueray drive. Apple thinks 512mb 8800gt is high end video card in 2009. They need to check out 2gb 4870x2. gt280, etc
by CA1900 March 24, 2009 12:52 PM PDT
I'm only interested if it comes with their award-winning Indian tech support.
Reply to this comment
by BogusBasin March 24, 2009 1:14 PM PDT
I love how you can't understand a word they say and then they tell you their name is Jim or Mary. Boycott all that outsource tech support. Bring the jobs back home where we really need jobs.
by topgunb2 March 24, 2009 2:26 PM PDT
Is than Americans squirming when Indian's kick their *****.
by codynews March 24, 2009 5:41 PM PDT
@ topgunb2: Or maybe he just likes to speak to an English speaking American when he calls and has a problem. Nice try at an anti-American jab though.
by strongpimphand March 24, 2009 10:51 PM PDT
Do you guys know that Dell has a return policy of 21 days....FROM THE INVOICE DATE!!!! (meaning that it doesn't matter when it ships...it just matters when they sold it to you)

I learned the hard way. My 21st date was really their 24th and they refused a return. Last time I do business...
by checodaman March 24, 2009 2:24 PM PDT
It's just going to be some repackaged existing phone I bet...just like Acer tried to pull.
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by Dan7637 March 24, 2009 3:14 PM PDT
solu mac users dont spend their time gaming on a pc like those pc people, they actually have lives
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by March 24, 2009 4:00 PM PDT
Dell is a little late to the party.
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by the_mrwhite March 24, 2009 4:12 PM PDT
One thing is for sure Microsoft and Dell have something in common, they are both me too companies, bringing products out to market after the fact hoping to ride the coat tails of others success.

I say lame. You'd think they would have learned after they tried with thier MP3 player that sold a couple of dozen, lol. MS needs to do the same and kill the Zune, unfortunately they won't, they'll keep throwing cash into and making up stories at how successfull it is. It's the one thing they do good.
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by USDecliningDollar March 24, 2009 5:03 PM PDT
It would however be unreasonable to expect decent customer service or technical support for any of these new devices ...

Agree with the poster who said that Dell should close down and return shareholder money.

What Dell fails to realize is that they could conquer the world again, by simply "not sucking".
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by beachgalann March 24, 2009 6:14 PM PDT
OMG - Dell really sucks. Three horrible laptops in 3 years, two of which are my own personal. One never actually worked and after over 40 hours on the phone with Dell Tech support, it still doesn't work. In fact, one of their brilliant Techies insisted that he could fix the problem by remote - well, i allowed him and he disabled ALL connection to the internet and couln't get it back. I am now the proud owner of an HP laptop that has more then a current comparable Dell laptop for LESS money. So far, it actually WORKS! Amazing, getting what i paid for - a WORKING laptop. And don't even get me started on the "customer service". There is a reason that Dell settled with the Attorney General from at least 36 states for ~$3.2 million as retribution to consumers for products purchased since April 2005. What a joke.
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