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Alienware Planning Android iPhone Killer?

meteorit found a story about rumors of an Alienware phone based on Google's Android phone OS. As Dell has a history of bombing with handhelds, it would be interesting to try the Alienware brand instead. And I'm not exactly sure where they get off claiming that their drawings are the first pictures of the thing. Cheesy renderings designed explicitly for your website are not quite pictures of a product... they are artists impressions.

152 comments

  1. Anyone else think... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...this thing looks more like a creepy, Gigeresque sex toy than a phone? Sil would be pleased.

    1. Re:Anyone else think... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      This looks like a cheap POS, look at how much space is wasted by that grill. There's absolutely NO way this is an iPhone killer, this looks more like some kids first phone that they are going to glue plastic beads to or put .25 cent vending machine stickers on. There's no QWERTY keyboard, and the screen on the phone uses no more than 1/3rd of the phone's realestate. No one is going to be sending e-mail back and forth on it, no one is going to be texting with this thing, and enterprise corporations arent going to buy batches of 30,000 of these to hand out to their sales staff. I can see it being used as a MP3 player, but at best I see this being marketed as a kids first phone.

    2. Re:Anyone else think... by MikeUW · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Based on these fictional images, it looks like this thing will just be uncomfortable in general. The grill things will probably break at some point too, and AC mentions, waste space. I don't see how this thing has anything to do with the iPhone. The fact that it will be based on Android is somewhat cool. But otherwise it's physical design/functionally looks like just about every other modern cellphone, and as I understand it, the physical design/UI is what really makes the iPhone most distinctive.

    3. Re:Anyone else think... by Vexorian · · Score: 4, Informative

      If I understand it these are just rumors and the images are all invented and not from alienware itself, in fact it looks like it is more of a CNP of the alien ware case to look like a cell phone...

      --

      Copyright infringement is "piracy" in the same way DRM is "consumer rape"
    4. Re:Anyone else think... by ATL_gadget_grrl · · Score: 4, Funny

      I defy you to find me one woman who would carry that thing...

    5. Re:Anyone else think... by frdmfghtr · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I don't see how this thing has anything to do with the iPhone.
      That's because it doesn't have anything to do with the iPhone. The iPhone isn't even mentioned in the linked article.

      However, "iPhone" in the headline attracts more attention.
      --
      Government's idea of a balanced budget: take money from the right pocket to balance...oh who am I kidding?
    6. Re:Anyone else think... by Provocateur · · Score: 4, Funny

      You posting on /., you could still shorten that to

      I defy you to find me one woman.

      --
      WARNING: Smartphones have side effects--most of them undocumented.
    7. Re:Anyone else think... by i4u · · Score: 2, Insightful

      exactly it is just a rumor without a source and fake photos. congrats to the webmaster on getting this story slashdotted. Oh, have you heard about the Coca Cola iPhone killer? It looks like a soda can.

    8. Re:Anyone else think... by Kaeluka · · Score: 1

      This looks like ritual dagger from outer space.

    9. Re:Anyone else think... by lastchance_000 · · Score: 1

      It's not even a rumor, it's somebody saying "Hey, wouldn't this be coooool!"

    10. Re:Anyone else think... by Wo1ke · · Score: 1

      I defy you to find me.

    11. Re:Anyone else think... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But I have a vagina, you insensitive clod!

    12. Re:Anyone else think... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Actually, I think it looks like a stick of deodorant.

    13. Re:Anyone else think... by SuurMyy · · Score: 1

      Maybe in America. In Soviet Russia women defy you to carry that phone.

      --
      The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne
    14. Re:Anyone else think... by penguin+king · · Score: 1

      "To add to the excitement there have been rumours recently that Dell and Google are on the point of making a surprise announcement at the 3GSM World Mobile Congress with speculation growing over an iPhone-challenging mobile device."

      We were reading the same TFA right?

    15. Re:Anyone else think... by Hognoxious · · Score: 2, Funny

      Oh, have you heard about the Coca Cola iPhone killer? It looks like a soda can.
      Have you heard about the Starbucks keyboard? Well thanks to you, I now have one.
      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    16. Re:Anyone else think... by psychodelicacy · · Score: 1

      I'd definitely use it - it's cool!

      --
      A closed mouth gathers no foot.
    17. Re:Anyone else think... by frdmfghtr · · Score: 1

      Probably, I just may have overlooked it.

      --
      Government's idea of a balanced budget: take money from the right pocket to balance...oh who am I kidding?
  2. iPhone killer? by timeOday · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I don't think the iPhone has attained the status that any new smartphone must be considered a competitor first and foremost to it. Especially when, as in this case, it's a completely different styling concept. I do see iPhones here and there, but by far most people still use other cellphones, so I do not think the iPhone merits a reference in the title of every story about cellphones.

    1. Re:iPhone killer? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Spoken like one of the poor saps who yet do not know the erotic pleasures of owning an iPhone.

    2. Re:iPhone killer? by jacksonj04 · · Score: 5, Insightful
      I was just wondering that myself. Other points, from the article:

      It would have the striking design to make an impression in a mobile market dominated by fashion phones... Eh? It looks like something you get free in a cereal packet. Wasting half the form factor on a pointless grille != good design.

      ...it would instantly be the coolest phone on the market thanks to the popularity of the Alienware brand... No, it would be bought by a few die-hard Alienware fanatics who don't mind trading features for silly design. It looks like it's got relief details on that fascia, they snag in your pocket. This is not a cool design, no matter how many blinky lights it has.

      ...it would have the marketing muscle of Dell behind it to push it beyond its established niche and into the mainstream... It would have to play on the Alienware brand which at the moment, at least in tech circles, has connotations of overpricing. For Joe Public, I doubt they would see the point in this phone because it would have the 'Gaming' association of Alienware.

      ...and it would be the mobile gamer's dream, just as video gaming on mobile phones is starting to enter the picture. I don't know how they work this out. Video gaming on mobile phones isn't starting to enter the picture at all, because most people only want their phones to play idle games of Snake on at most. Hardcore mobile gamers would want something easy to play on, the design of this doesn't look to offer much hope of that. More intense gamers wouldn't care for the tiny screen and poor quality graphics, and to make it even stand a chance at reasonable gaming it would sacrifice loads of battery. Perhaps that's why it has the grille, it's to fit a huge battery pack behind.
      --
      How many people can read hex if only you and dead people can read hex?
    3. Re:iPhone killer? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Is killing the N-Gage really something to brag about? That'd be like a person bragging about killing a quadriplegic.

      Besides it's the "in" thing nowadays to say you're working on an iPhone killer, and it gets press. Do you think we'd be reading about this if the iPhone wasn't mentioned?

    4. Re:iPhone killer? by aplusjimages · · Score: 5, Funny

      I think they mean it's literally an iPhone killer. You see this isn't just an ordinary phone. It's what a ninja would be if it were a phone. These ninja-phones, if you will, act as your everyday phone, but when in close proximity to an iPhone the ninja-phone transforms into a ninja star or katana and literally kills the iPhone and it's owner. So you see it is the iPhone killer.

      --
      Can I bum a sig?
    5. Re:iPhone killer? by hitmark · · Score: 4, Funny

      erotic? remind me to never borrow a phone from you...

      --
      comment first, facts later. http://chem.tufts.edu/AnswersInScience/RelativityofWrong.htm
    6. Re:iPhone killer? by Professor_UNIX · · Score: 1

      You don't have an iPhone do you? Poor SOB. Someday you will... just keep saving your pennies and you will know the glory of the iPhone.

    7. Re:iPhone killer? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      ... well there's no real keypad to get sticky. It just wipes right off.

    8. Re:iPhone killer? by timeOday · · Score: 1

      Actually I don't even have a cellphone. My wife does have a tracfone which I ocassionally borrow. I just don't like talking on the phone all that much, and fortunately my job is not such that I need to be interruptible all the time.

    9. Re:iPhone killer? by STrinity · · Score: 1
      And then there's this bit:

      The increasingly dull associations with the Dell brand? Maybe they should change their name to Dull.


      If you're the sort of retard who thinks a custom built case that looks like a silly alien is |3\/\/1, sure. But if you're the sort of person who buys computers based on reliability and capabilities, Dell is a great brand. I'd rather have a plain-jane cell phone that's reliable, than some overpriced flanged monstrosity that looks like it was designed by a pimply-faced 13 year old boy who spends more time playing D&D than fantasizing about girls.
      --
      Les Miserables Volume 1 now up with my reading of
    10. Re:iPhone killer? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      An iPhone is better in some ways:

      1: You can't get a disease from an iPhone.
      2: An iPhone is always turned on.
      3: An iPhone always looks good, even at 7am in the morning when you have a hangover.
      4: Nobody cares if you manipulate your iPhone in public.
      5: An iPhone is always popular.
      6: An iPhone always makes you look like you are a cool cat.
      7: Meeting an iPhone's "friends" (such as a Macbook) is always a good thing.

    11. Re:iPhone killer? by johnpaul191 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The iPhone is important because it made the smartphone concept mainstream. Tech nerds aside, before the iPhone it was common to see business people with Blackberries. There was some sort of stigma from that masses that they could never escape the office because they were always in touch. The iPhone somehow succeeded where Palm failed to..... make a smart phone seem really freakin useful and fun. Let's face it, Palm took the basic handheld they have been selling for 10+ years and added a phone to it. Windows Mobil phones are just Microsoft's version of that, and again often an extension of the office. The iPhone may have the best mobile browser out there, and that matters. I can't tell you how many times we will be out to dinner and randomly want to look something up online. It's always the iPhone that has the best browsing results.

      I know a lot of people that freelance, and want/need email and some sort of web access in their pocket. The Treo still seems to dominate that world, but maybe it will change? These are people picking out their own phones and paying for their own plans, not issued by work.
      *Most* iPhone owners i know are new to a smartphone. The second biggest group are people that upgraded from a Treo.

      I write this as a Treo owner, and a Mac user.... but if the iPhone was CDMA, i would probably own one. The iPhone's Safari is the app i want more than anything. Having a Verizon/BREW Treo it does not seem like i have 3rd party options for browsers that are anywhere near Safari (operamini doesn't run on my phone).

    12. Re:iPhone killer? by Skruggs · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I couldn't disagree more... I see iPhones EVERYWHERE and given the amount of talking people do about them, I think it's fair to say it's the ONLY thing people currently compare against. Palm? Dead. RIM? Alive but really a totally different market. Symbian? Boring. Windows Mobile? DOA. The proof to me was last week on an airplane to California. In a row of 5 seats, 4 of the row occupants had iPhones out during the flight (including me)

    13. Re:iPhone killer? by r_jensen11 · · Score: 1

      I don't think the iPhone has attained the status that any new smartphone must be considered a competitor first and foremost to it. Especially when, as in this case, it's a completely different styling concept. I do see iPhones here and there, but by far most people still use other cellphones, so I do not think the iPhone merits a reference in the title of every story about cellphones. Very good point, but let me compound why the iPhone is not going to overtake the cell phone market:

      The vast majority of consumers do not want to have to use a music library/player on their computers in order to use a cell phone. They're two drastically different devices with very little overlap.

      iPhones do not have the "Business image." That belongs primarily to RIM's Blackberry.

      At least in American markets, consumers are afraid to spend money up-front for a cell phone. Rather (and unknown to them,) they essentially pay a two-year loan on their phones.
    14. Re:iPhone killer? by jlarocco · · Score: 1

      I'm in the market for a new phone, and I'd love to know why you think the iPhone is so great?

    15. Re:iPhone killer? by mdwh2 · · Score: 1

      Interesting - here in the UK I've yet to see a single iphone. I've seen lots of other types of smartphones. Perhaps it's different in different countries, but I suspect people just use what smartphone is best for them, and the iphone is yet another one. As with everything else, Apple fans love to claim that Apple did something first, but then qualify it with "well, they were the ones who made it popular", whether or not that was true.

      I know a lot of people that freelance, and want/need email and some sort of web access in their pocket.

      Any dirt cheap bog standard phone does email and web access. I think you're missing a point here - what distinguishes smartphones is usually the ability to run standalone applications, and running a complete operating system, and not that they have Internet access. The iphone isn't popularising anything here, rather it's become standard for all phones - including phones hundreds of pounds cheaper. I'm also not convinced people are using iphones for the ability to run general standalone applications.

      If anything, I suspect people are more interested in using it as a combined phone and ipod, as this is still a relatively new market (most phones do mp3, but the storage sizes have only recently been of any significant size). But then again, as prices of memory cards fall, this market will be quickly swamped with every other bog standard phone that can do Internet and play mp3s.

    16. Re:iPhone killer? by 99BottlesOfBeerInMyF · · Score: 1

      I don't think the iPhone has attained the status that any new smartphone must be considered a competitor first and foremost to it.

      Do you own a TV? I don't own an iPhone, but I have seen advertisements for months now from every major carrier which feature their iPhone imitator. When every major manufacturer is selling a look-like, then yeah, all new smart phones are going to be compared to it by the media and by normal people.

    17. Re:iPhone killer? by that+this+is+not+und · · Score: 1

      I'm much like you (except I have the TracPhone that my wife occasionally borrows, which neither of us use much at all)

      I feel sorry for people who are so hooked on yakking on a phone that they can't ever be away from it. I am most assuredly not enthusiastic about carrying a 24/7 tracking device.

    18. Re:iPhone killer? by that+this+is+not+und · · Score: 1

      The iPhone somehow succeeded where Palm failed to..

      What's really weird to me is I keep seeing people say things like this, but I don't see the metrics out there to back the claim up.

      A lot of common-sense people in this discussion have stated they see a lot of cellphone usage and only a little with the Apple Iphone. I agree, based in part on the fact that I've never yet seen somebody using an iPhone in a real setting. Not once.

      Viral marking schemes like spreading rumors that 'everybody has one' fall flat on their face when people see few or none of them out there. It just discredits the source trying to spam us with said viral marketing.

    19. Re:iPhone killer? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's still common to see business people with Blackberries. What planet do you live on?

    20. Re:iPhone killer? by deepsight · · Score: 1

      Were you flying Virgin®?

    21. Re:iPhone killer? by drinkypoo · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I have yet to actually see an iPhone in person. Outside of the rat race of the cities where if your phone isn't cool enough girls won't talk to you, no one gives a squashed shit about it.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    22. Re:iPhone killer? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      It would have to play on the Alienware brand which at the moment, at least in tech circles, has connotations of overpricing. For Joe Public, I doubt they would see the point in this phone because it would have the 'Gaming' association of Alienware.

      It's actually worse than that. Non-nerds look to us to tell them what to buy, especially with expensive things, because they feel lost and see us as being confident and assertive (when speaking about technology, at least.) And nerds think Alienware is poop. Every Alienware system is at least half again more expensive than it should be, and their laptops are COMPLETE CRAP (at least recently.) Alienware is now considered an also-ran and Dell isn't exactly a bastion of credibility.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    23. Re:iPhone killer? by Lemmy+Caution · · Score: 1

      Gack. I like Apple products (iPod, Mac) but this argument, that if you don't have an iPhone, you must want one, is ridiculous. The iPod Touch is all the interesting bits of an iPhone without that horrid phone service thrown in. When the iPhone2 comes out with 3G, then maybe there will be something to talk about. Until then, it's just a cult fetish object.

    24. Re:iPhone killer? by johnpaul191 · · Score: 1

      i'm talking about lawyers, politicians etc. what do you see them carrying?

    25. Re:iPhone killer? by johnpaul191 · · Score: 1

      what do you mean by "in a real setting"? honestly i see a lot of them. i am talking about around town, restaurants, bla bla bla. I personally know about as many people that own iPhones that own Treos, and by that i mean people i interact with on a daily/weekly basis that is not just for work (family, friends etc).

      I have no idea how many active Treos are out there, but i guess iPhones are at about 4 or 5 million... and we can assume they are mostly all still functional. We know they are not being given out by corporations the way blackerrriers are (were?). of all the smartphone users i know (that picked one out themselves) i know one or two people that have blackberries, a few Windows Mobile ones and the bulk of them are Treos and iPhones.

      i know there are some major iPhone issues, and not having copy/paste may make me go nuts. the SDK is due this month, and that *may* change things. the thing that kills me about my (Verizon) Treo is the browser. I have had to borrow an iPhone to use their browser because mine is useless. that's just a real world fact. it's also a fact that the iPhone is about 1/3 the thickness of the Treo. The iPod functionality as actually unimportant to me because i already have music players (ipods actually).

      i used to carry various Palm IIIs back 7+ years ago, so i love having that functionality on my phone. I just wish Palm would take a major leap and make the phone a lot smaller.

      i basically want a phone that makes calls, has a web browser, has email and syncs with my Mac. if it can't talk to OS X reliably, then it's also kind of worthless. i can't handle it purging random contacts the way some smartphones seem to.

      i don't mean to rant, but i'm just posting my observations. i should say most of the people i am talking about are not as nerdy as i am, but they are getting the phones for things like constant email access (for freelance work etc).

  3. yawn by v1 · · Score: 0

    look out here come the ipod killers!

    (pause)

    ok... look out here come the iphone killers!

    --
    I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
  4. Proof? by Noxzoul · · Score: 1

    Looks to me like this guy is talking out his ass about the entire Alienware thing.

    --
    ~NoX
    1. Re:Proof? by p0tat03 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Not to mention Alie nware can't make a cell phone if it meant their life. They can barely make laptops (the build quality isn't very good), and their case designs are generics from Asian suppliers, modified slightly to give it that distinct Alienware style at the top. I don't believe they have the engineering expertise to build a mobile system from the ground up - not when their status is merely a (substandard quality, overpriced) systems integrator.

      Hell, the iPhone's only *real* advantage is its incredibly slick and easy UI. That Alienphone concept has a UI that looks convoluted enough that even a techie like myself will get lost.

    2. Re:Proof? by usrusr · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Alienware couldn't, but Dell could. And besides, they could do exactly the same thing with phones they do with cheap computer cases, china has plenty of noname gadgets makers that can supply "phone blanks". It still does not matter at all, because Alienware as a brand does not really exist outside of the basements of a few rich parents. In comparison to Alienware, Apple is mainstream. And in the market of mobile phones, even Apple is still midget, despite of the biggest hype ever made around a piece of electronics and even a few serious technical merits.

      --
      [i have an opinion and i am not afraid to use it]
    3. Re:Proof? by p0tat03 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I think mobile consumers have proven themselves savvy enough not to buy substandard "phone blank" devices. Why is Motorola in the rut they are in now? Well, years of making substandard devices (hardware quality was fine, software was not) that had no ergonomics physically nor mentally. They thought they could ride on their brand (which at one time was THE most powerful in the market) with mediocre phones. Consumers knew better.

      For anyone to break into, or even survive in, the mobile market, they need to bring to the table something amazing, either by offering unprecedented feature sets, or simply making the gadget slick and stylish. A "blank phone" would accomplish neither of those things.

      In the end, any serious competitor in this market is going to have to spend a LOT of money building their phones, no corner may be cut.

    4. Re:Proof? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My supply chain class had us doing an analysis on motorola. My SWOT analysis/recommendations were called bad because I didn't analyze the supply chain enough and instead focused on how they need to really work on re-building a brand and making something new, and pointed out just how closely the RAZR mirrored their StarTAC; once the best on the market, but rested heavily on it's laurels. Motorola does well when they try some completely new design.

      Amazingly enough the supply chain for motorola is a) really hard to analyze with just web available information and b) probably not the deciding factor in the success of a cell phone manufacturer (just like no one's going to contend that a janitor isn't necessary for a company, but it's rare to find an industry where you can thrive by having really good janitors.) Pointless rant, but I get somewhat annoyed at the inanity and unrealistic examples we're given in the classroom.

    5. Re:Proof? by p0tat03 · · Score: 1

      Don't underestimate the effect of supply chains. While a good supply chain can't save a bad product, a horrible one can actually make a great product unprofitable. That being said, I agree, I really doubt supply chain is really Motorola's problem. Their problem is not that they can't build these cheap enough, or build enough, or get them to stores quick enough - it's that NOBODY WANTS THEM.

      LG used to be the newbie in the industry that's the butt of all the jokes. Now they are at the top, with customer satisfaction ratings just below Blackberry and iPhone, and that's amazing. Their devices are slick, look nice, with pretty easy UI (though I'm spoiled by my iPhone). I've played around with a few of them, and honestly if I didn't splurge for the iPhone I would've gotten an LG.

      Motorola is anything but. When they came out with their MP3 phones, consumers were surprised to learn that using the music player app would bring battery life down to 5-6 hours, and it wasn't even able to play VBR MP3s! Given how many VBR MP3s are floating around on file sharing networks, a LOT of people were bitten. Their OS is slow, unresponsive, and buggy - I've had my V635 crash about once every couple of days while I owned it. I'm reluctant to even TRY a Moto product now, given my experiences with them, and it's hard to see a company like them burn away SO many years of customer loyalty and good will.

    6. Re:Proof? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      I have a RAZR V3i. The interface still sucks, although I've repeatedly heard from review sites (not fake ones either) that the RAZR 2 (which is a QVGA linux touch-screen phone 2mm thinner than the V3i, which is itself ~2mm thinner than the V3) has a usable interface. I can't speak to any other problems but I can tell you that my V3i will play VBRE MP3s and gets 3 days of standby time. It DOES still occasionally hang up and have to be rebooted before it will make a call properly, which is pathetic. Not as bad as my V300, which would sometimes make calls but not turn on the microphone.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  5. Foul looking device... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yeay, just what the world needs, a 4 tone mobile phone with four seconds of battery life and dedicated cooling system, that can just about play Doom II.

    (Yeay, I'm a little upset with my £2.5k ($5k) Alienware laptop.)

  6. moral of this article by Coraon · · Score: 2, Informative

    1. liquid nitrogen very cool 2. fire very not cool 3. alienware cool 4. dell not cool 5. slashdot always cool

    --
    -Ours is the wisdom of Solomon, the magic of Merlyn, the fall of Icaris.
  7. errr.... by weeeeed · · Score: 0, Troll

    That rendering is the most ugly shit i've seen in years. It does not even look close to anything i'd want to get even for free. I wish you teenage fanbois could just shut up and go back to your mamas basement to tune your shitty alien dells.

  8. Eat up Martha by 0xdeadbeef · · Score: 3, Insightful

    As Dell has a history of bombing with handhelds

    So does Apple, fool.

    1. Re:Eat up Martha by Kamokazi · · Score: 1

      I would generally consider that a very false statment anyway. The Dell Axims were very well received during their time and were some of the best PDAs for the money too. They left on a bad note with X50/51 Windows Mobile 5 support, but the x5, x3, x30, and x50 were all considered very good PDAs when launched and years later.

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      As our way of thanking you for your positive contributions to Slashdot, you are eligible to disable Slashdot 2.0.
  9. iPhones not "the" phone to beat by webmaster404 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I really don't think that now the iPhone is the phone to beat. Most people I know have a RAZR or similar, while they would like an iPhone as most people would, the $600 price tag plus dealing with AT&T makes them not buy one.

    --
    There is no "disagree" moderation, and troll, flamebait and overrated are not valid substitutes
    1. Re:iPhones not "the" phone to beat by Tony+Hoyle · · Score: 2, Interesting

      It could become so though.

      The ipod wasn't the mp3 player to beat for years... at the beginning it was OSX only, then it got windows compatibility but was still a hideously expensive geek toy. That's about where the iphone is now. Look what happened - It got colour, it got video, the design was refined, it got more capacity, then followed the ipod mini(? forgot its title), nano, etc. all came out, the price plummeted then everyone got one.

      Following the same track - get 3G, more capacity, decent camera, maybe an iphone nano on PAYT for half the price, etc. and it'll take off. Apple know how to make a phone UI (compared to Symbian, which is a bit of a trainwreck, it's not got a lot of competition on that front). Might take a few years... but it's not beyond possbility.

    2. Re:iPhones not "the" phone to beat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I would I thought the phone to beat at the moment was Blackberry. The foul little lumps of crap might be well foul lumps of crap but buisness loves them.

    3. Re:iPhones not "the" phone to beat by smilindog2000 · · Score: 1

      I fully agree. The cell industry has had it's ass so far up there for so long, it took Steve Jobs to show them how screwed up they are. The only threat IMO to Apple dominating smart cell phones the way they dominated music players is Google's Android, which currently is far far behind, and Steve Jobs keeping his head in his own ass to boot. Steve can make an advanced and desirable product, but he can't compete against open platforms any better than he competes against Windows/IBM PCs. If Google offers a native devkit (which they currently do not), and Jobs continues to be hostile to native app developers, eventually the iPhone line will be nothing but pretty, high-end low-feature stuff, just like his Macs. It'll be Mac vs Wintel all over again.

      The reason Jobs kicks butt in music players is that it's low-end stuff, where we can't build open platforms to compete against him.

      --
      Beer is proof that God loves us, and wants us to be happy.
    4. Re:iPhones not "the" phone to beat by macs4all · · Score: 1
      Um, iPhones are $400, not $600, moron. Even the brand-new 16GB model is only $500.

      Or are you submitting comments from the past, before the price drop over five months ago?

    5. Re:iPhones not "the" phone to beat by macs4all · · Score: 0, Flamebait
      'and Jobs continues to be hostile to native app developers..'

      Hey, fuckface! Quit spreading FUD!

      Or, I guess you didn't hear: 'Jobs' announced an Apple-approved SDK for the iPhone/iPod Touch to be released, um, THIS MONTH about FOUR MONTHS AGO.

      Stupid Git.

    6. Re:iPhones not "the" phone to beat by Nixoloco · · Score: 1

      pretty, high-end low-feature stuff, just like his Macs. My MacBook Pro that runs Windows, Linux, & OSX along with all of their applications, plus it has Firewire 400/800, 802.11abgn, USB2, an amazing screen, backlit keyboard, dual link DVI, etc etc and is half the size of other laptops strongly disagrees with you regarding the low-feature comment. But I will agree that it is very pretty.
    7. Re:iPhones not "the" phone to beat by rukidding · · Score: 0

      I agree that the IPhone is not the dominate cell phone in the over all cell phone market, but when it comes to cell phones that utilize the internet, the IPhone is by far the market leader.

      This past Thursday an Apple Insider reports that "Google on Wednesday said it has seen 50 times more search requests coming from Apple iPhones than any other mobile handset -- a revelation so astonishing that the company originally suspected it had made an error culling its own data."

      http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/02/14/google_iphone_usage_shocks_search_giant.html/

      These are huge numbers.

      --
      ...
    8. Re:iPhones not "the" phone to beat by mdwh2 · · Score: 1

      The cell industry has had it's ass so far up there for so long, it took Steve Jobs to show them how screwed up they are.

      In what way? The post your replied to listed a whole load of things that need to be fixed for it, so how exactly are they leading the way?

      This is a genuine question - given all the bog-standard things that the iphone lacks (3G, MMS, video recording, even drafts and copy and past according to Wikipedia though I can't believe it?), that any normal dirt cheap phone has, I'm curious what special features it does have that no other phone has?

    9. Re:iPhones not "the" phone to beat by mdwh2 · · Score: 1

      I fully agree. I find it sad that what the number of Iphone Slashvertisments we get here anyway, even on the rare blue moon occasion we get a story about another phone, we still have to have a mention for the iphone. What about all the other phones on the market?

      I feel it's the marketing equivalent of "famous for being famous" - it gets lots of publicity because it's well known, but it's well known because of all the publicity... (I wonder if Paris Hilton owns one?)

    10. Re:iPhones not "the" phone to beat by mdwh2 · · Score: 1

      My MacBook Pro that runs Windows, Linux, & OSX

      I'm not sure that being able to run multiple OSs on the same box is a particular advantage for most people. Years ago, I remember the Amiga could do this feat, running AmigaOS, MacOS, some Unixes and so on, but Macs couldn't do the same - I don't recall Mac users being bothered though. Plus all these years we heard about how Windows was bad - I find it interesting that now Macs can run Windows, it's touted as a good thing.

      If you're buying a Mac to run OS X, then you don't care about Windows anyway. If you're buying a Mac to run Windows - then yeah, so the Mac is as good as a PC, but that's not saying anything good about OS X. If you actually need to dual boot both operating systems, then you are either someone in a small minority (e.g., a developer porting an application), or for some reason your preferred OS isn't up to the job of doing everything you need.

      Anyhow, there are also other operating systems that run on PCs, which may not run on Macs, so I'm not convinced that your Mac wins the "can run most operating systems" trophy anyway.

    11. Re:iPhones not "the" phone to beat by smilindog2000 · · Score: 1

      I'll try to answer... The iPhone has nothing going for it technology wise... it's old news, except for the great touch-screen. However, the stupid cell industry has had a buzz-word mentality for decades now. "3G, MMS, vidoe recoding"... the existing players just add a bunch of features and check the boxes. Without a great OS, and great programming, they all suck big time. How about adding 8 gig of music to a phone? The stupid cell industry added less than 1 gig. How about a giant display so you can do real pictures and video, rather than some postage stamp? How about adding a simple zoom feature to that big display, and real wi-fi so you get an actual functional browser? I had several phones with limited browsers that only were able to view the stupid cell phone company's sites. And the interface? The typical phone has a stupid wheel that is actually just 4 direction buttons. The devices with real keyboards have some value, but the rest are just worthless. What really pissed me off is that my last two stupid cell carriers wouldn't even let me download pictures I took with my camera... they held them hostage, and wanted me to pay to get them off my phone. Fuckers.

      When I had an iPhone, I used the music player, camera, ssh shell, wi-fi, photo-album (great for sales), e-mail, contacts, man... they gave me very few programs, but I hammered them all. Very unlike the crap I've gotten for years from the rest.

      I also hammered the 3rd party hacker-apps. I particularly loved ssh-ing into servers at work to check on things. I'd also do some slashdotting, and check on the latest news from sites I like (rather than the ones my cell company prefers). Frankly, the rest of the field sucks big-time compared to the current generation of iPhone. Again, the big threat I see to Apple is Google Android, and even then only if Android opens up a bit more, and only if Steve remains mostly closed.

      --
      Beer is proof that God loves us, and wants us to be happy.
    12. Re:iPhones not "the" phone to beat by mdwh2 · · Score: 1

      Are those features any different to other smartphones? I've seen big screens on other phones too. A quick Google search suggests there are other phones with Wi-Fi. Other smartphones have proper browsers, and can run all those applications. Plus I'm not sure what you mean by "buzzword" - to you, 3G is a buzzword whilst Wi-Fi is important, but to someone else, 3G and MMS are important whilst Wi-Fi (along with SSH, photo-album, e-mail etc) is a buzzword!

      Even for cheap non-smartphones: Storage for mp3s has been increasing gradually, and other phones have reached 8GB too. Any old phone can download Opera Mini, so you at least have that as a decent functioning browser. And something is severely wrong if you can't download your photos - any normal phone lets you do this. I'm not sure that the iphone wins on the carrier part anyway, given that it's tied into a contract - with any other phone, you can have a choice, and just don't choose stupid carriers that suck like yours did.

      It sounds like you have a really bad experience with a poor phone and/or network. The rest of the market is a lot better than what you describe - and I was hoping there'd be something going for the iphone more than simply "There are worse phones". But so far, that's all I've had people tell me.

    13. Re:iPhones not "the" phone to beat by Nixoloco · · Score: 1

      I'm not sure that being able to run multiple OSs on the same box is a particular advantage for most people. Not everyone, but it is a feature, which was the point I was trying to make. Intel Macs can run OSX/Windows/Linux/Solaris/*BSD and several others, PC's can run all of these too, except for OSX (legally). Also, this feature appeals to more than just a minority now a days. I've seen more than a few non-developers, systems administrators, and business users running Windows in a VM on a Mac to use certain proprietary/single platform apps. This isn't because of deficiency in OSX, except for a perhaps a market share deficiency.
    14. Re:iPhones not "the" phone to beat by penguin+king · · Score: 1

      "If you actually need to dual boot both operating systems, then you are either someone in a small minority (e.g., a developer porting an application), or for some reason your preferred OS isn't up to the job of doing everything you need." Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't Microsoft Office 2008 (ie for Mac) ship without Macros enabled (or supported?) thus anyone needing these would have to run an earlier version or the Windows version, so if someone had a Mac with OSX and wanted Macros, perhaps they might have to dual boot. It's not always the OS that's not up to the job. Even if my example is wrong (I'm going from what my friendly mac user said) there are often situations when the software you want isn't available. For example as a chemist I dual boot Windows and Linux. Why? I love using Linux, running fluxbox because it's light and configurable. I run windows because I need the ChemOffice and Microsoft Office compatibility. I can't afford to not have absolute compatibility! To a small degree this also extends to EndNote, although this is replaceable it's personal thing.

    15. Re:iPhones not "the" phone to beat by that+this+is+not+und · · Score: 1

      Apple has always been 70% about hype and marketing and 30% about technology. That goes all the way back to the start of the company, because Jobs is someone who 'rides along' on tech, not someone who lives inside it. He viewed the Homebrewing Computer scene the way a coke dealer views a party.

    16. Re:iPhones not "the" phone to beat by entgod · · Score: 1

      Symbian isn't an UI at all, it's an OS.S60 is one of the many examples of an UI built on top of Symbian.

  10. Yet another Killer by tigheig · · Score: 5, Informative

    If you read TFA you find that it's not even a rumor, it's entirely speculation based on the purchase of Alienware by Dell. It states that the argument for the Alienware phone is "overwhelming" based on the fact that the author thinks that Alienware is cool and is well known outside of us build-it-yourself PC geeks. TFA is accompanied by something labeled "First Pictures of Alienware Android Cell Phone" that is actually a GIF mockup drawn by a staff artist based on what they'd like it to look like. So now the Slashdot "killer" label is being applied to products that not only don't exist yet, but for which there's no objective evidence that anyone is even thinking about. Can we retire the "killer" now? It's become parody.

    1. Re:Yet another Killer by usrusr · · Score: 1

      looks more like a GIF mockup drawn by an unsupervised intern than like a GIF mockup drawn by a staff artist.

      --
      [i have an opinion and i am not afraid to use it]
  11. The author is the biggest pussy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    and that phone looks like the huge stinky turd that I just birthed while checking slashdot. God bless wireless internet!

  12. Butt Ugly by Telvin_3d · · Score: 5, Insightful

    That may be the ugliest piece of hardware I have ever laid my eyes on.

    As for an iPhone killer? Why is everything these days an iPhone killer? This abomination does not compete with the iPhone in any way. Completely different design (if you can call it that) aesthetic. It's not based on a touch screen. Any mention of an iPhone killer exists only to drive people to the site so they can have a look. If the title was 'Dell subsidy designs cellphone, beats it with ugly stick' they would not get as much traffic.

    1. Re:Butt Ugly by Spunkemeyer · · Score: 1

      I have a hard time believing that anyone would be looking at that thing, and the iPhone, and seriously trying to choose between the two of them. That looks like the complete opposite of what the iPhone tries to achieve. They might as well go all-out and put a "Type RS" racer sticker on it. At this point, why be subtle about it?

    2. Re:Butt Ugly by Gordonjcp · · Score: 1

      As for an iPhone killer? Why is everything these days an iPhone killer? This abomination does not compete with the iPhone in any way.

      I think what they mean is:
      1) place iPhone on desk
      2) hammer iPhone to death with Alienware phone
      3) ...?
      4) sweep up the mess

      I can't see where "Profit!!!" fits in here.

    3. Re:Butt Ugly by __aaqvdr516 · · Score: 1

      Why is everything these days an iPhone killer?

      Because you can't get people to click on your page if you say "here's a cool phone idea". People are sheep. If you tell them that product X is better than product Y, many will take time to look at it. Then, in the end, they'll just end up buying what they're told to buy.

    4. Re:Butt Ugly by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For a moment I thought this was a cell phone that was designed like goatse. Now that would be scary!

    5. Re:Butt Ugly by ZERO1ZERO · · Score: 1
      Isn't about time these guys came up with an iphone Killer?

      http://www.fiftythree.org/etherkiller/

  13. bombing? by llZENll · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "Dell has a history of bombing with handhelds"

    The Dell Axim series was one of the most popular Pocket PCs in history, I would bet they sold several times more Axims than Apple has sold iPhones.

    The highest powered Axims released in the later years of the series was more powerful and feature rich than the iPhone. The x50 had VGA, touchscreen, wifi, BT, SD/CF, IR, 620mhz CPU, over 6000 software apps, and came out in 2004.

    If Dell was serious about releasing an iPhone 'killer' all they would have to do is resurrect their x50 and add phone support and it would be better than the iPhone except for the interface. After releasing 6 PDA models they have the knowledge and experience to easily do this. Its probably only a matter of business contracts with the mobile carriers that is holding them back.

    1. Re:bombing? by natrius · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If Dell was serious about releasing an iPhone 'killer' all they would have to do is resurrect their x50 and add phone support and it would be better than the iPhone except for the interface.

      The interface is the device.

    2. Re:bombing? by astaldaran · · Score: 1

      llZENll (545605) had some great points but in addition to this I just want to point out that this article seems very very cheesy..at best. First of all throughout the article they give opinion, obviously not the best journalistic approach. Now this site probably isn't a serious news site and most of its articles are some what op-ed in nature but still. Secondly (either this comment is correct or the article is just badly written enough that I think it is) the article doesn't cite real knowledge that A) dell is getting into the phone market B) that they will brand it under alienware C) and the crazy phone design (though I admit it does look like alienware) rendered in 3d only adds to the unbelievability of this article. This article is full of conjecture and opinion and i'm not sure how seriously we can take it...though it is possible that everything it says is correct it is just hard to tell due to the manner that it was written.

    3. Re:bombing? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Dell Axim series was one of the most popular Pocket PCs in history, I would bet they sold several times more Axims than Apple has sold iPhones. Excellent point. The Axim in almost certainly outsold the iPhone by considerable numbers. It was an awesome device, way before its time. It had a lot of features still not found in many small handhelds.

      So don't consider Dell dead in this area - they're just playing it cool. Clearly their Alienware-branded device is a potential iPhone killer; Dell is likely just floating this idea to the public to gather reaction and to let businesses know that they should wait on the iPhone to see what Dell is going to offer.

      Dell is first and foremost a business supplier - and with Blackberry falling due to reliability issues, and with Windows CE growth slowing down, and with Corporate IT's distaste for employees with iPhones, Dell has a great opportunity to land on top.
    4. Re:bombing? by INeededALogin · · Score: 1

      After releasing 6 PDA models they have the knowledge and experience to easily do this.

      You are assuming that the knowledge and experience hasn't been lost. If companies get out of a market or bomb in a market, the team is usually not kept together. Most likely, the teams that created the handsets in the past are either not with the company any longer or are in different groups. Every company I have worked at that got rid of a product from its portfolio was totally unprepared to do anything with the market a few months later. I am not saying that Dell can't do, just saying that it would not find it easy to just simply start another attempt and learn from all its past mistakes.

    5. Re:bombing? by p0tat03 · · Score: 5, Informative

      Mod parent up. This is something that people in the tech field gloss over FAR too often. When it comes down to cell phones, laptops, and all of these consumer electronics, the feature sets of each device is all about the same (bluetooth, WiFi, yadi yada, it's all there)... The only thing that the user interacts with that is DIFFERENT is the UI. The UI *is* the device. It is why Apple has succeeded, and why Motorola is desperate to rid itself of its mobile division.

    6. Re:bombing? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The device is a touchscreen. The interface is what's on the screen.

    7. Re:bombing? by llZENll · · Score: 1

      "The interface is the device."

      In the end it is, but it is far easier than the hardware. I agree the inteface/OS is probably the most important thing in any phone next to the connection stability, but any piece of software can be easily copied by even the smallest team. Copying the entire iPhone OS experience would be trivial when done on top of Windows Mobile, a single person has already copied much of the functionality. Creating a solid piece of hardware and in mass quantities is much harder IMO.

    8. Re:bombing? by mdwh2 · · Score: 1

      It is why Apple has succeeded, and why Motorola is desperate to rid itself of its mobile division.

      So what are the sales figures? Anywhere near 50 million yet?

    9. Re:bombing? by p0tat03 · · Score: 1

      Right, whereas the iPhone is still getting more popular... the KRZR is a flop, so is the RAZR2... Nobody said Motorola wasn't successful before, but they've expended all of their successes by failing to keep up with the competition.

    10. Re:bombing? by mdwh2 · · Score: 1

      The implication in the post I replied to was that Apple had succeeded where no other phone company has, not simply who is currently popular[*]. Even if the claims about Motorola right now are true, they nonetheless have succeeded too. For all we now, Apple might hit these same issues that Motorola supposedly faces.

      [*] Well, are there some market share stats for 2007 then, anyway?

  14. iPhone killer? by mecenday · · Score: 1

    Ummm... to be an "iPhone Killer" don't you need to have. like a similar featureset and formfactor. This looks like a run of the mill cellphone with some decent gaming which makes it an NGage killer at best. It seems to be for a different market altogether. It doesn't have any sort of qwerty input or touchscreen.

    Why bother to mention the iPhone at all in this story? "Alienware Planning Android Cellphone" seems like enough.

    --
    Tautologies, they are what they are.
  15. I thought Android is a platform by bogaboga · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Indeed, Android is a platform. Just googled it up and came up with this link: http://code.google.com/android/. It says in part...

    "The Open Handset Alliance, a group of more than 30 technology and mobile companies, is developing Android: the first complete, open, and free mobile platform."

    But the title suggests that there is an Android phone which will be killed! Android is a platform just like Linux, and Alienware's device will be based on the Android platform. so to me, this development will perpetuate Android instead of killing it.

    It's like saying..."Bogaboga Systems is gonna come up with a Linux killer which will be based on Linux!" This does not make much sense to me.

    1. Re:I thought Android is a platform by Zach978 · · Score: 1

      Am I missing something, seems like it's saying that the Android phone is could kill the iPhone??

      --

      "I told you a million times not to exaggerate!"
    2. Re:I thought Android is a platform by bhassel · · Score: 1

      I think the title was meant to read as Android-based "iPhone Killer", not an "Android iPhone"-killer.

    3. Re:I thought Android is a platform by smoker2 · · Score: 1

      Reading comprehension skills = -1
      The title says it correctly. AFAIK, the iphone doesn't use Android, so to take your point of view would be foolish. If there was an article that said "Ford plans 500bhp Ferrari killer" would you take that to mean that the ford was designed to kill 500bhp ferraris or that it had 500bhp that made it the ferrari killer ?
      Or "NASA plans 21st moon shot" would of course mean that NASA are planning to go to the 21st moon !

    4. Re:I thought Android is a platform by Anpheus · · Score: 2, Informative

      You parsed the adjectives wrong: [[[[Alienware] Planning] Android] [iPhone Killer]]. Last two words are a noun phrase, Android is used as an adjective describing said noun phrase, and then you have the verb and subject.

      Easy mistake to make but you shouldn't be modded insightful for pointing out the grammatical reason the title sucks. Then again, given when you posted, you would have gotten modded redundant for calling out the Editor for calling a fictional and unsubstantiated device with crappy drawings an "iPhone Killer."

    5. Re:I thought Android is a platform by bogaboga · · Score: 1

      Agreed. I wonder whether the editor could have re-phrased the title to avoid confusion. What about inserting the word "based" after the word Android? I think this is part of good editing skills.

  16. iPhone killer by ptomblin · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'm hoping for an "iPhone done right", and this aint it. By "iPhone done right", what I'm looking for is something that will replace my Treo and my iPod. I definitely like the real keyboard on the Treo - the touch keyboard on my wife's iPod Touch sucks. I also like the fact that the Treo has cut and paste, so I can trim down the quoted part of email. And it's compatible with my Palm apps. But the iPhone is multi-tasking, has a much better web browser, and would mean I don't have to carry around a separate iPod. If something could combine the virtues of both, I'd be right there in line.

    --
    The next Cmdr Taco duplicate will be ready soon, but subscribers can beat the rush and see it early!
    1. Re:iPhone killer by mlk · · Score: 1

      A Windows Mobile device, such as the HTC TyTN II.

      Chuck Opera on it and you have a good web browser. Windows Media Player for your MP3 & videos.

      Don't have your Palm apps, but I would guess most would have WM versions.

      --
      Wow, I should not post when knackered.
    2. Re:iPhone killer by ptomblin · · Score: 1

      Can you sync to a Windows Mobile device with a Macintosh?

      And no, the most important Palm app I need is http://lauriedavis9.tripod.com/copilot/
      which isn't ported to Windows Mobile.

      --
      The next Cmdr Taco duplicate will be ready soon, but subscribers can beat the rush and see it early!
    3. Re:iPhone killer by mdwh2 · · Score: 1

      Interestingly you should mention this, I just read it on Wikipedia too:

      I also like the fact that the Treo has cut and paste, so I can trim down the quoted part of email.

      My cheap ordinary phone does this, something which I'd consider to be a standard part of UI functionality - does it really not do this, or am I misunderstanding, I wonder. Then again, my cheap ordinary phone does basic features like 3G, video recording and MMS...

      An "iphone done right" as you describe it would be good. But beware of the battery life - there is an advantage to having separate devices.

  17. where is the innovation? by sheehaje · · Score: 1

    Just looking at the "Pictures", I don't see where the innovation is. It is a regular phone dressed in a skin. The iPhone on the other hand did introduce the world to some new ideas. The way the touch screen works on the iPhone, and automatic roatation on the screen are just a couple of the innovations. Not to mention a brand new operating system for a phone. What is Alienware introducing to the world other than a skin? I see a joystick, but these have been available for a while for most PDA type phones.

    I really think they need to re-think their strategy here. Unless they are going after the 12-year old crowd with this, I don't see many people carrying this thing around.

  18. Where's the KISS?? by lazyeye · · Score: 1

    If for nothing more, the iPhone takes the cake for simplicity in design. This concept of the Alienware phone is garish, if anything. I don't think this would be good for Google if Android were running on this monstrosity. Hopefully, if they do decide to come out with an Android-based phone, Alienware will keep the design simple without losing their signature look.

    1. Re:Where's the KISS?? by jrothwell97 · · Score: 1

      This is exactly the problem with companies trying to make their machines 'cool'. They seem to think that by making it look like something from Star Trek it's automatically going to be cool. The reason iPods, iMacs and iPhones are so pretty is because of their simplicity. Plate of glass, wide screen, aluminium backplate. That's all. No delta badges. No flares.

      The proliferation of black plastic computer casing (the new beige, in a way) needs to stop, too. That's awful.

      --
      Those using pirated Tinysoft signatures(TM) are a real threat to society and should all be thrown in jail.
    2. Re:Where's the KISS?? by TheRaven64 · · Score: 2, Insightful
      It's exactly the reason that so many 'iPod killers' have failed. You start with the iPod and say to an engineer 'make a better one of these,' so the engineer goes away, lists all of the features that iPod doesn't have, and starts adding them. Along the way, marketing gets involved, and adds a few more features (which probably don't integrate well with the existing ones).

      After a year or so, they come up with something that is bigger than the iPod, but has a load more features. They ramp up the hype machine and tell everyone about all of the great features it has. Consumers then go into a shop and look for a device with a nice form factor which has the one feature they actually want - the ability to play music - and buy an iPod. Yet another company fails to kill the iPod.

      If you want to kill the iPhone, start with the form factor. Design goal number one should be to make something that fits better in the hand than the iPhone. Then take a look at all of the features in all of the smartphones out there, and rank them by utility. Start at the top of the list (presumably 'making voice calls') and keep adding them until just before your user interface starts to get cluttered. Then stop.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
  19. Touch sensitive keypad! by Aaron+Isotton · · Score: 3, Funny

    Oh my god! It even has a touch sensitive keypad! Now that's unheard of!

    1. Re:Touch sensitive keypad! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Now, see, a touch insensitive keypad would be really revolutionary. It would make jokes at inappropriate times, sort of imply that you're fat in an offhand kind of way, and flirt with other people even though it should know damned well you've a crush on it.

  20. fugly by ZipprHead · · Score: 3, Insightful

    How is something this ugly going to be an Iphone killer?

    1. Re:fugly by bazorg · · Score: 1

      it can be used as a hammer.

    2. Re:fugly by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Every iPhone owner would instantly get a heart attack after tking a peak at the monster.

  21. This will destroy the iphone... by malevolentjelly · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...in the market of "13 year old boy's imaginations".

    I was thinking maybe they should add something that looks like a jet intake, a sub-woofer, some neon underglow, flame stickers on the side, and maybe some spinnaz.

    I am pre-emptively naming it the Dell Alienware AREA 51 EXXTREME XENOMORPH. Its default ring tone would be "Crawling in my skin" by Linkin Park. I hope it has Myspace Mobile.

  22. It will never work by Cannelloni · · Score: 1

    Why? Because Dell and Alienware don't know the difference between their own rears ends and good industrial and GUI design. They would have to use someone else's crappy operating system and UI, and it would be just another stupid Windows handheld device. No go.

    --
    Beauty is in the beholder of the eye.
  23. NEVER by EddyPearson · · Score: 1

    There is no way you could convince me to buy one of those gothic nightmareish designs.

    Christ, its like a 7 year old designed it...

    --
    You feel sleepy. Close your eyes. The opinions stated above are yours. You cannot imagine why you ever felt otherwise.
    1. Re:NEVER by DragonTHC · · Score: 1

      completely agreed.

      They were cool-looking like 5 years ago when everyone had beige boxen.

      My cases have been lian-li since 2000 and I haven't looked back.

      --
      They're using their grammar skills there.
  24. Written by a Monkey by whisper_jeff · · Score: 0

    Mention "iPhone" in an article - even one that looks like it was written by a drunken monkey - and you can get on Slashdot. I love Apple. I want an iPhone (waiting for the Canadian market to pull their heads out of their butts...). But, seriously, this article isn't about the iPhone so why does it get mentioned in the subject? (I know the answer to that - it's a rhetorical question) Not to mention, this article looks like it was written by someone in 8th grade. Or is english this guy's second language?

    No, I'm not new around here. Yes, I'm being an elitist tit this morning. But, seriously....

  25. Ugly by kurtis25 · · Score: 1

    I wouldn't carry that thing around. I like the idea of the slide open changing the screen contents. But the Iphone has a nice big screen, any killer will have to find a way to have a big screen or someway of compensating.

  26. it's a killer alright, a revenue killer by wardk · · Score: 1

    an iPhone killer?

    they should aim lower, like maybe a fischer-price phone killer?

  27. no such thing as an Android iPhone by lethe1001 · · Score: 1

    iPhones run OSX, not Android. "Alienware Planning Android iPhone-Killer", maybe?

  28. Cheap looking POS, kids first phone or MP3 player by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This looks like a cheap POS, look at how much space is wasted by that grill. There's absolutely NO way this is an iPhone killer, this looks more like some kids first phone that they are going to glue plastic beads to or put .25 cent vending machine stickers on. There's no QWERTY keyboard, and the screen on the phone uses no more than 1/3rd of the phone's realestate. No one is going to be sending e-mail back and forth on it, no one is going to be texting with this thing, and enterprise corporations arent going to buy batches of 30,000 of these to hand out to their sales staff. I can see it being used as a MP3 player, but at best I see this being marketed as a kids first phone.

  29. Bleah by Quiet_Desperation · · Score: 2, Interesting

    So nearly half of its structure is junky looking "futuristic" plastic just for looks?

    If they got rid of hat and just put the keyboard there, they wouldn't need a failure prone moving slider part.

  30. wow by colinstu · · Score: 1

    can someone give me a fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck ugly?

  31. Ugly to the Bone by BrendaEM · · Score: 1

    That could be the ugliest phone I have ever seen.

    --
    https://www.youtube.com/c/BrendaEM
  32. It's almost perfect by spintriae · · Score: 2, Funny

    All it needs is a Flowmaster.

  33. No, it's the Dethphone from Metalocalyplse by Dr.+Spork · · Score: 1

    And free minutes will start at 11pm. It's brutal.

  34. revisionist history by Scudsucker · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The ipod wasn't the mp3 player to beat for years...

    Uh, no - the iPod was the player to beat the day it was announced. It was the first player to use 5 gigabyte 1.8" hard drives while everything else used tiny amounts of flash memory or used big and heavy desktop hard drives. It also used a 400 Mpbs Firewire interface while everything else used 11 Mbps Usb 1.1 or even parallel. Combine that with a good interface and good integration and you had a product that was far ahead of the competition.

    Now everything uses USB 2.0 and the same storage media, so there is little difference in the physical size/capacity anymore, but that wasn't the case to begin with.

    1. Re:revisionist history by Tony+Hoyle · · Score: 1

      It also cost about $1000, worked only with Macbooks which were far more niche than they are today (hell, back then the average person on the street hadn't even heard of apple).. itunes was little more than a list of music - no store or anything like that. Truly, they sucked compared to the $100 mp3 players of the time.. and capacity didn't make up for it. I only ever saw one of them in the wild.. and it was 2 years after that before I heard the ipod name again.

      Only a true fanboy would believe that the other mp3 (and minidisc, which was huge back then) manufacturers even gave a shit about the ipod back then, let alone thought it was the thing to beat.

    2. Re:revisionist history by MightyYar · · Score: 1

      I *think* that you are joking, but it's hard to tell. The iPod cost $400, not $1000 - and even back then, Apple was one of the most recognized brands in the world. iPods completely dominated the market as soon as they were released for Windows. The only thing even close was the jukebox, and it used a full-sized laptop hard drive. The $100 players of the day could only hold a few songs, so most people carried around CD players.

      Toshiba (the Zune's forefather) would have been some good competition if they hadn't hobbled their unit so badly with encryption, which made it transfer songs at USB 1.1 speeds even though it supported USB 2.0.

      --
      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
    3. Re:revisionist history by Graymalkin · · Score: 1

      The iPod was only $399 when it was released in October of 2001. While they initially only worked with Macs support for Windows was added in July of 2002 through MusicMatch Jukebox. The flash based players of the time were only slightly cheaper than the iPod's initial $399 price and held an order of magnitude fewer songs. It's a bit of revisionist history to suggest that the iPod didn't gain a lot of attention right out of the box. The iPod sold more than a quarter million units in its first year and nabbed about 7.1% of the PMP market after only six months. That's 0% to 7% in six months. To suggest the iPod wasn't a big deal is kind of silly. I know you're trolling but try to sound believable.

      --
      I'm a loner Dottie, a Rebel.
    4. Re:revisionist history by that+this+is+not+und · · Score: 1

      But, the day the iPod was released, nobody but a few Apple customers had firewire built into their system. Few people knew or had interest in a portable MP3 player. And as was said, 'having a good interface' isn't particularly compelling if you need to use a relatively obscure niche PC platform to load music into it.

  35. Fan Art by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    HEEELLOO!

    This is fan art. Not a design of an actual phone. In fact, there's no hint whatsoever that Alienware is designing phone, just an author claiming "Dell not cool, Alienware cool" several dozen times with a claim that they should make the phone.

    I'll go back to my Blue Peter project now...

  36. how about.... by the+cdrive · · Score: 1

    how about a phone....that makes phone calls. Maybe bluetooth for syncing. And battery life would be good to..like a week between charges. I don't need my cell phone to play mp3s...I need it to make phone calls. I don't mind my razor v3. It tends to be battery hungry, but it's slim and has decent sound and quality. How about something that just makes damn phone calls?

    1. Re:how about.... by History's+Coming+To · · Score: 1

      I just bought one. A base level Nokia, pay as you talk, network free so I can use any SIM. Cost me £30, I got it because the charger for my old phone died and this was a cheaper option than a new charger. I can make calls, send texts, hell it even stores phone numbers for me.

      Internet? I've got a computer for that, and I don't ever need to access the internet that desperately.

      You know what? I sometimes go outside without my phone too!!!!

      --
      Please consider this account deleted, I just can't be bothered with the spam anymore.
  37. Trendiest?!? by rockhome · · Score: 1

    Alienware is "the trendiest tech company in the world" according to the article.

    Would someone care to explain how this is so? I would say that Apple takes that title.
    Though, if not Apple, certainly not a company that very few people have heard of. What
    percentage of the PC buying market really knows who Alienware is. I work for a tech
    company and would bet less than half of the people there would be familiar with the name.

  38. Alienware doesn't "innovate" by Kalewa · · Score: 1
    I think it's important to keep in mind that Alienware doesn't have the capability to actually create new products. Their computers are just standard components in a gaudy case, and even the much-touted curved display was created by a company in California (for NEC), and relabeled with an Alienware badge.

    If they were to release an Android phone they would need to wait for someone else to do so first, then slap their (according to this article, hideous) chunk of custom plastic on the front.

  39. ET even thinks its teh ghey by corifornia2 · · Score: 0

    I heard it comes with a free punch in the neck for being a fucking idiot and buying it in the first place.

  40. Ironically... by Dizigel · · Score: 1

    ...this cell phone/tech blog has pretty much guaranteed that Dell WILL NOT use the Alienware branding to release an Android-based cell phone. In fact, I think that Dell/Alienware could claim that the article damages their brand. It is clearly misleading given many of the responses here.

  41. But by Mateo_LeFou · · Score: 1

    But it only takes one of those things to destroy the Cybermen

    --
    My turnips listen for the soft cry of your love
  42. Rest easy, Apple by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This "killer" is double-ugly. I could care less what software it's running.

  43. Vain geek by SpaghettiPattern · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I'm a geek and a vain one at that. I would actually buy one of these. (Provided they work OK and the material used isn't too shabby and bla bla bla.)

    My vanity makes me wear suits and occasionally I spout heaps of crap. So the normal ones think one of them.

    But I'm not. I can actually code and I like fscking with people's brain.

    Screw the iPhone. Show -but bot flaunt- this thing. Wait until someone puts in the remark and think of a way to fsck the brain -you can do the thinking before.

    Norm: That's an interesting phone.
    Geek: Yeah, you could learn one or two things from it.

    Norm: Kool gadget.
    Geek: 20 degrees Celcius is indeed lower than 37

    Etc, etc...

    --

    I hadn't the slightest objection to his spending his time planning massacres for the bourgeoisie... (P.G. Wodehouse)
  44. Missing Sync by Shawn+Parr · · Score: 1

    Can you sync to a Windows Mobile device with a Macintosh?

    Yes, you can use Missing Sync for Windows Mobile. They also make MS for Palm OS and for iPhone. Why would you want it for Palm OS or iPhone? Because they do some things that both of those can't do natively with their sync software.

    I started using MS for Palm OS when Tiger came out since MS fully used Apple's Sync Services and you could sync Address Book groups and iCal calendars which would then show up as categories on the Palm apps databases. It also allows integration with iTunes and iPhoto if you are into that sort of thing, and is fully compatible with any 3rd party conduits that work with Palm's Hotsync Manager software. Plus it is updated regularly (unlike Palm's), is well integrated into the Mac OS and software (unlike Palm's), and is a bit more stable. It also allows for conduit profiles so you can easily change what/how you sync from time to time.

    Of course I have not used it as much since getting my iPhone, as I'm still waiting until the end of this month to see what changes with the SDK release. But with my Palm TX and T|C it was a godsend to have Missing Sync. And I have no affiliation with them except having used their software.

  45. yuck by nguy · · Score: 1

    I wouldn't buy that phone even if they put iPhone software on it and made it all open source. That's one ugly phone.

    There will be iPhone killers based on Android: high resolution touch screen phones with a sleek, clean design. I doubt they'll be coming from Dell or Alienware.

  46. Don't you miss... by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

    Don't you miss the copy and paste functionality, the large, easy to install software selection, and all the other stuff the Treo offers that the iPhone doesn't? I'm a longtime Treo user and when I saw the iPhone's hardware specs I was really excited, especially with Palm's recent lack of innovation (as in mostly cranking out lower-priced, miniaturized versions of the 650). Then I saw that is was just a glorified smartphone/digital media player running crippleware (although a very good digital media player), and not a true PDA phone, and was really let down. If I were to replace my Treo with an iPhone, it would need to be able to do everything a Treo can, and I'd want full control over the software - if I want to risk making my phone unstable or otherwise defile Jobs' "artwork" I should be able to.

    --
    "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
  47. Linux by Melvinator · · Score: 1

    mmm...But does this penis phone run linux?

  48. You've Got to Be Kidding. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is obviously a joke, and not even a convincing one. I can't believe you folks are taking this seriously.

  49. Windows Mobile by lilfields · · Score: 1

    The GUI I've seen on the base Andriod models look horrible, if they wanted to compete with the "pretty" iPhone they'd more than likely run with Windows Mobile...which is an excellent platform that already integrates with a vast number of programs. Android sounds promising but as of right now it's not what I would call stylish, which is what Alienware shoots for (whether you agree that they meet that goal or not [I'd say their laptops are pretty hot myself])

  50. with all this talk of open architecture by justIshmael · · Score: 1

    i feel forced to ask: whatever happened to verizon's publication of their new 'open' standards? wasn't that supposed to happen around now?

    --
    angel headed hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connexion to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night