Dell's first cellphone prototypes said to "lack differentiation"
Remember when AT&T's Ralph de la Vega got caught up in the middle of mixed words over a supposed Dell smartphone at MWC? Turns out, maybe that cat has seen a cellular prototype from the labs of Round Rock, but given his displeasure with it, he brushed it off as no huge deal. A fresh report from Barron's asserts that Dell actually has shown off both WinMo and Android-powered handsets to an undisclosed amount of mobile carriers, but essentially, everyone met them with a gigantic "meh" and simply stated that the attempts "lacked differentiation." That said, it seems that Dell's not being deterred by the naysayers, and it has even led some analysts to guess that the company may pick up one of those other struggling cellphone makers in order to get some of that "differentiating" juice. It strikes us sort of funny, though -- since when did differentiation really matter to carriers?[Via mocoNews]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
SoCoolCurt (PSN: KillaKornbread - XBL: SoCoolCurt) @ Mar 21st 2009 11:39AM
im not sure if they are talking about no differentiation in specs between the devices or the actual look of the phones, but im guessing they are talking about the latter. now days, you have to make a nice looking phone, especially if you want to directly compete with the iPhone. it has to look good and have a hell of a lot of features too. and from judging from Dell's PC's, their computer's designs have never struck me as anything more than functional, unlike HP's who excel on function and looks. pick it up Dell.
carcomptoy @ Mar 21st 2009 2:03PM
Why don't they use some of the Adamo team to help with the design. That would be an awesome phone if it was along those lines. Even the Studio ones are okay. Just not the Inspiron or Vostro or especially Latitude. Please.
Mobile Enthusiast @ Mar 21st 2009 11:54PM
You guys are comparing their desktops to mobiles... tsk tsk. Think the Axim X5, X3, or X5V, or at the very least the Ditty, all of Dells mobile devices that shared some form of 15 min of fame (the Ditty not as much so).
Ironically, most of their Axim PDAs were designed by HTC if I recall correctly (as were iPaqs of the time). If Dell is trying to showcase a Dell branded HTC Diamond, I could see where this story is coming from with the carriers.
SoCoolCurt (PSN: KillaKornbread - XBL: SoCoolCurt) @ Mar 22nd 2009 12:26AM
well i didn't mean directly compare a desktop to a smartphone, just the general type of designs that are green lighted out of that company. for example, your telling me you can't look at a Dodge car and know who it's made by without seeing a Dodge logo? there are certain design elements that tend to stay pretty steady throughout companies.
and even comparing it to the Dell's Axim line, they weren't the best looking thing in the world to me either. Dell's products just seem to look clunky and cheap to me. i remember a girl i knew had a Dell DJ MP3 player, and compared to other MP3 players of the time, it was big and clunky.
sorry for the wall of text but just thought i need to clarify that i feel that in general, not much eye candy comes off of Dell's assembly line. they always function just as good as any other competing product (which is technically the most important thing), but they aren't much to look at, and looks are very important in the smartphone game now as companies try to rope in new audiences.
No Duh @ Mar 22nd 2009 12:15AM
Does this news come as a surprise to anyone since Dell hired Motorola's former (fired) president of their mobile division?
Andrew @ Mar 23rd 2009 12:59AM
acquire Palm plz
johnny_come_lately @ Mar 23rd 2009 6:58AM
Dell has been making me-too pc for decades so that shouldn't surprise anyone. It is long overdue for Michael Dell to shutdown his headquarter and return money back to the shareholders!