Dell turns low-cost with its 3G ready Android smartphone

Dell seems to be bored of the PC business. Probably that is the reason, the PC maker is all set to explore the 3G boom that has begun in India. Dell's interest in mobiles was seen with the streak tablet which had 3G connectivity and used the Android mobile OS. Dell's recently launched two new smartphones- XCD28 and XCD35 are 3G ready and are based on Google's Android platform.

Take on the price war to win the market is the motto of Android in India and now, with its handshake with Dell, the latter too is toeing the same lines by unveiling its Android-based smartphones. The two models XCD28 and XCD35 entered the Indian market at a dirt price of 10,990 and 16,990, may be they were warned to see Apple iPhone and other smartphones face low-demand due to the price. Dell XCD28 will come with a 3.2 megapixel digital camera and a 2.8-inch LCD touchscreen display. Featuring a 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen display, Dell XCD35 has access to Android Market for applications.

However, if Dell is hoping to play out the smartphone biggies and including the Indian new emerging players like Spice, Micromax with its brand name and the low-priced tag, then it should also be ready to get booed out by the gadget freak. All thanks to their resistive screen, whereby you can't use your fingers to work on the screen rather your only hope would be the stylus. So, lose the stylus and the XCD28 will be just a good-for-nothing answering machine.

Both the phones are powered by Android 2.1 OS and they will support 3G, WiFi and Bluetooth. Dell XCD28 provides full internet browsing, music, photos and features such as location awareness and a media player supporting multiple formats for videos. Supported with an FM Radio and access to Microsoft Email Exchange through Activesync, the phones are equipped with 200MB of internal memory that can be expanded upto 16GB using Micro SD memory cards.

"For more than 25 years, Dell has played a critical role in transforming computing, enabling more affordable and more pervasive access to technology around the world. With today's launch, we extend the same pioneering edge to the smartphones market as starting with the XCD series, we look to offer technology solutions to a much larger audience", said Mahesh Bhalla, General Manager, Consumer & SMB, Dell India.

XCD28 will be available immediately in the market while XCD35 will be available by December 2010.