Dell’s Mini 3i/Aero smartphone was just the humble beginning of its foray into smartphones. Engadget has learned that Dell is working on three new smartphones for release later this year or early next year. Two are powered by Android and one by Windows Phone 7.
The Dell Lightning looks to be a portrait QWERTY slider powered by a 1GHz QSD8250 Snapdragon processor and Windows Phone 7. It will come with quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE and tri-band (850/1900/2100 or 900/2100/AWS) UMTS/HSDPA connectivity, a 4.1-inch WVGA OLED touchscreen display, 512MB RAM and 1GB ROM, GPS, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, 5MP camera with auto-focus, a microSD card slot, an FM radio, and a 1,400mAh battery.
Dell Lightning
If Android is more your game, the Dell Thunder might be of interest. There are fewer details but it will be powered by Android 2.1 with the Dell Stage user interface and come with HSDPA connectivity (with an LTE model planned as well), a 4.1-inch WVGA OLED screen, Wi-Fi, and an 8MP camera. On the support side, it should come with Swype as the software keyboard, Flash 10.1, and an integrated Hulu application.
Dell Thunder
Last but not least is the Dell Flash. Also powered by a 800Mhz Qualcomm MSM7230 processor and Google Android 2.2 (codename Froyo) with the Dell Stage UI, it will come with quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE and tri-band HSPA connectivity, a 3.5-inch WVGA touchscreen display, 512MB RAM and 512MB ROM, a microSD card slot (supporting cards up to 64GB), A-GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0, a 5MP camera with auto-focus and image stabilization, 3.5mm headphone jack, TV out, and a 1,300mAh battery. Like the Dell Thunder, it will not have a physical keyboard.
Dell Flash
The Dell Lightning and Thunder are scheduled for release in Q4. The Flash is expected to follow in Q1 2011 with both AT&T and worldwide models. LTE versions should then follow in late 2011.
Dell looks like it’s back in the game…