Dell goes Android for mobile market entrance

Rodney Gedda

Rodney Gedda is the former deputy editor of CIO and former editor of Techworld.

Back in June I commented on the suggestion that Dell should acquire Palm to boost its presence in the portable computing and mobile phone space. With this week’s announcement of a Mini 3 smartphone to go on sale in China and Brazil, my prediction that Dell could go it alone with an Android-based device became apparent. The consumer information management space is changing and PC vendors need to adapt to meet demands.

When I say “consumer information management” I mean all the funky things consumers are now doing with their mobile phones.

E-mail, Facebook, Twitter, games, Web surfing, you name it. The e-mail and Web surfing parts are particularly interesting because that has the most potential to compete with time on traditional desktop PCs.

The paradigm shift that is occurring is centered around peoples time, not raw technological advancements.

Desktop PCs – and notebooks/netbooks for that matter – may be increasing in power and capacity, but that doesn’t mean they will more any more relevant that what they are today.

The relevancy of rice mobile devices is what’s attracting people away from traditional computers.

With the processing power of basic computer, today’s smartphones are more than adequate for handling average messaging-centric workloads like e-mail and social networking.

The PC vendors should be well aware of this paradigm shift and be preparing for the worst.

Of course, Dell’s move into mobile devices isn’t its first. A few years ago the company produced a line of “Axim” PDAs that ran Windows Mobile. The product was discontinued in 2007.

Is mobile computing likely to be another graveyard for Dell alongside its now defunct PDA effort? Probably not and here’s why.

When Dell first had a crack at entering the PDA market, the overall market for mobile computing was nowhere near as mature as what it is today.

Today, thanks largely to Apple and its iPhone, device manufacturers and mobile service providers offer compelling product and data bundles to enable people to manage their personal and business information wirelessly.

Dell’s PDA was languishing in the age of “sometimes on”, but a Dell smartphone combined with a generous data allowance from the mobile carrier is firmly in the “always on” department.

A large OEM like Dell with its mature direct (and sometimes partnered) sales channel can certainly support a smartphone product line. The big question is how prepared Dell is to get behind the product and make it “its own”.

Why Android and not Windows Mobile? The answer has also been discussed at length on this blog. With access to the source code and development tools, Dell can easily customise its smartphone to meet its needs (and style).

An iPhone-, HTC-like smartphone product is certainly missing from Dell’s portfolio, and if there is one company that could make it work it is Dell.

The prospect has left me wondering about the future of mobility in general. If Apple could ignite the industry the way it did with the iPhone, what could Dell possibly do with an open smartphone?

The answer is simple – a hell of a lot!