Sucheta Dalal :Dell unveils its China-only smartphone 'Mini 3i'
Sucheta Dalal

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Dell unveils its China-only smartphone 'Mini 3i'  

August 18, 2009

 

Personal Computer manufacturer Dell Inc has unveiled, what the experts believe, a mobile phone based on Google's Android operating system (OS) in China.
 
According to various reports, Dell unveiled the "Mini 3i" mobile at the China Mobile event in Beijing. China Mobile is the world’s biggest phone carrier and distributes the phone in that country.
 
The computer manufacturer was believed to have been working on a mobile phone for over a year, during which time it has consulted networks across the globe to help determine its functionality and appearance.
It all started, when Dell poached Ron Garriques, the head of handsets from Motorola. Incidentally, Garriques is heading a newly formed unit at Dell.
 
The Mini 3i features a 3.5-inch touchscreen with 360×640 resolution, higher than iPhone's 3.5-inch screen with 320×480 resolution and Palm Pre's 3.1-inch screen with 320×480 resolution, a 3.2MP camera, Bluetooth, a 950mAh battery, a mini USB port and a microSD card slot. There is no physical keyboard and no Wifi.
 
The phone supports 2G only, but runs on the something called Open Mobile System, the proprietary infrastructure from China Mobile which combines Android OS with TD-SCDMA. TD-SCDMA is China’s home-grown 3G standard.
Some early pictures of the "Mini 3i" are available on major Chinese news portal 163.com, however Dell China or China Mobile still are not mentioning anything about the phone on their respective websites.
 
There still is no word on the actual production or launch of the phone. As per reports, the phone would be tested in China and after fixing initial bugs and making other changes; it would be launched in western world. Whether Dell launches this phone in India, the second largest mobile market in the world, remains unanswered, but we will keep our fingers crossed.
–Yogesh Sapkale [email protected]

-- Sucheta Dalal