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Rumors of Google and Dell iPhone Rival
An anonymous reader writes "Speculation is mounting that Google is plotting the launch of a mobile phone in partnership with computer giant Dell.
Senior industry sources claim the two companies will reveal their plans at next month's 3GSM telecoms conference in Barcelona, although Google insiders deny an announcement is due in the near future."
Competition is Good. We're just at the beginning. (And just catching up to the Japanese!)
Despite this most likely happening right after duke nukem forever comes out, if it does happen, it'll be a great thing to have. Right now Apple needs a rival. If they sit at the top alone with the iPhone, it won't have any incentive to get better. Google is just the company to give them this competition, and Dell's equally enormous resources will surely fuel the hardware side of the development.
Remember the Dell DJ?
Dell is good at selling commodity products to businesses and value consumers. When they try and move up the food chain, they don't do so well, the Alienware acquisition notwithstanding.
...and the Axim is the top currently selling pda from Dell.
Half baked and abandoned hardware - yeah, that's what I really want in a device.
Sorry, but there has got to be a better hardware vendor to choose than Dell for such a venture. Dell consumer is about high turnover and commodity parts that can be changed with the wind when prices fluctuate - not what I want in a phone builder. Doesn't Nokia or Moto want a piece of this kind of action?
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
I think Google should partner with a technology company to provide the hardware instead of Dell. Dell has no R&D to speak of. They take off-the-shelf parts, brand them and sell a warranty. This partnership is on a fast train to also-ran city.
You like your Macintosh better than me, don't you Dave? Dave? Can you hear me Dave?
Seriously people, this tag is getting massively overused. Dell making a cell phone is not the same thing as, say, implanting neural tissue from a pig into paralyzed children or building robots with machine guns. The worst thing that could go wrong here is that Dell might make a shitty phone and lose money. BFD.
Anyone else who's sick of whatcouldpossiblygowrong abuse, please go ahead and put in a !whatcouldpossiblygowrong into the tags box.
Causation can cause correlation
From the grandparent comment: It's not a Mac vs Linux thing -- as the poster above states, there are very successful Windows Mobile phones that are doing a much better job at business applications than iPhone. Blackberry and Palm are sort of run-of-the-mill these days and don't offer much more than a normal Internet-ready phone. Exchange integration is the big thing -- everyone wants their calendar anywhere, even if they don't have Internet access.
One thing I'd really like on the iPhone is a grdesktop client and ssh client. Exchange integration will make the iPhone widely accepted by businesses running Exchange, but IT guys need their tools too.
I think the iPod's success is more to do with the user interface than the form factor.
It doesn't look that different to other mp3 players, but the incredibly simple and intuitive interface made it accessible to millions of folk who would not have put up with the UIs of other portable media devices.
Most of the Windows phones look so similar that they are primarily Windows phones with MS-brand images being larger than the manufacturers logos etc(Ooh look! A Windows phone, I wonder who makes it). The MS/Windows brand is the strongest brand on these devices.
The first one or two Android phones will get a lot of reflected Googleshine, just like the launch of the first few MS phones.
Engineering is the art of compromise.