Rumors of Dell playing a role in the smartphone industry have been around for what seems like ages, but each time the fire dies down, another can of lighter fluid emerges to get us all wondering again. In a recent interview with Om Malik, the bigwig had more than a few interesting things to say on the computing industry as a whole. Still, what intrigued us wasn't the talk about being a founder or changing up Dell's game in order to rebound -- no, it was Michael's remarks on the handset sector. When asked if there was a "desire" on its part to work with Android or Symbian, Mr. Dell stated that the company "is kind of working on that," although it wasn't ready to "publicly disclose" plans. Granted, he also asked us "not to expect anything anytime soon" when referring to a phone, but would you really expect any CEO with a trick up his / her sleeve to say anything different?

We don't know too much about the clip you're about to watch, but we can tell you this: someone has apparently gone and gotten Android up and running on a Nokia N95, and they've captured it on the lowest quality video we've ever seen. It's unclear whether this is natively installed or not, but it seems to be getting data (as you can see Google Maps doing its thing). The dialer is also brought up and appears to make a call -- but it's pretty hard to know if that's just a demo of the app or if this guy actually has a semi-functional Android device. Check the video after the break and judge for yourself.

[Thanks, John]

Numerically, it's just a smidgen of an update, but for OS 4.5 users everywhere, we know you're craving the very latest point release. Apparently RIM wasn't too happy about the download links finding their way out onto the world wide intarnetz, but if you've got an 8100, 8300, 8700 or 8800 handset, we'd highly recommend firing up Google and doing a bit of sleuthing.

Not too much news on the BREW front of late, but this one's pretty big. Just this week, Qualcomm and Adobe jointly announced Flash support for the BREW Mobile Platform. Reportedly, the software will "fully integrate and deliver Adobe Flash technology to mass market handset devices," and it'll also enable Flash developers to "create standalone applications that integrate mobile device functionality with web content and services." Beyond that, there's just a bunch of back-patting going on in the release, but if you're into that kind of thing, feel free to make you way down to the read link.

[Via PhoneScoop]

Now, we know the official story on the CeBIT Meizu shutdown was related to MP3 codec licensing, and not the M8's iPhone-like UI. Still, it does seem strangely fortuitous that more pictures of the phone's interface have just appeared that seem to showcase a move away from Apple's familiar look. The Chinese site CNMO has new shots of the device's music player, which now appears to incorporate song info, EQ display, lyrics, and volume / tracking controls all on one screen. The pictures also show a couple of different music browsing options, both in landscape and portrait mode. Is this a signal that the company is putting some distance between the M8 and the iPhone? Only time will tell.

[Via PMP Today]

If you've seen our shots of Samsung's Armani redo, the F480, you might have noticed it's running a new OS. The UI -- called TouchWiz -- is based off of the company's Croix interface (which apparently was rushed out to compete with the iPhone), and will be used on all of the upcoming finger-touch phones from the manufacturer. The cats over at Phone Scoop had a chance to go one-on-one with TouchWiz at Mobile World Congress, and they've put together a pretty informative video that shows off the UI doing its thing. The inclusion of a new widget system, expanded menu options, and overall speed bump make this OS a notable step up from Samsung's previous offering. Take a look at the video after the break to see the system getting all funky-fresh.

[Thanks, Martijn]

Palm Infocenter is reporting that the codename being thrown around internally in reference to its Linux based next-gen operating system is "Nova." The phrase "no va" in Spanish literally translates to "not going," but wait -- it gets better: we're also hearing that Nova is being tested on the Zeppelin device, a type of airship with a reputation for crashing and burning back in the day. Now look, we'd love to see Palm pull out of its tailspin just as much as the next guy and wow us with some hot, new software on top of hot, new hardware, but this naming convention isn't doing it any favors, now is it?

We've just gotten out of a meeting with Thomas Eriksson, co-founder and CTO of Neonode, and we've learned some very exciting information about the company's newest, as-yet-unannounced phones. We were shown designs of the mobile-maker's next lineup of devices, including an iPhone-esque model called "Earth" which has been confirmed for production (though Thomas insisted that some features and design would change, of course). The phone will feature a 2.9-inch, true 16:9 ratio infrared touchscreen (an updated version of the Neonode N2's touch surface), HSPA connectivity, and will operate on five separate frequency bands (a first as far as we can tell), allowing 3G use in both Europe and the US. However, the most interesting thing that we were shown was a live prototype of the company's latest OS, which blows the doors off of previous iterations. The new interface is a much more robust platform, featuring a homescreen made up of a number of small widget-like icons, all updating live with things like RSS feeds, phone logs, weather, and mail. The UI is still meant to be operated via one hand, though Thomas confirmed that the device would sport a virtual QWERTY keyboard, and would deliver more PIM / smartphone features than we've seen from them in the past. The design of the interface is still being tweaked, but it looks very contemporary to current and future phone OSs we've been seeing, with lots of nice shading and alpha layers. From the little we peeped, this platform could be a contender if handled correctly -- Thomas told us that Neonode had plans underway to partner with carriers in the US, so stay tuned to this space for more info.

There just wouldn't be balance in the world if a select few didn't come out and starkly disagree with the obvious, right? Somehow, a number of analysts have managed to overlook the smorgasbord of hints, clues and signs that Google is indeed working up some form of software (or hardware) for the mobile realm, and moreover, they're speaking out to denounce the possibility. Specifically, Ken Dulaney, an analyst at Gartner, made himself a target by stating that "building an OS is the dumbest thing [Google] could do," and he even led us to believe that he's a developer in a parallel universe by announcing that "cellular telephone code is probably the hardest code to write per line of code for anything." Still, we're beyond the point of wanting Google to come out of the woodwork and say something, but considering the numerous reports claiming that the search giant is indeed in talks with select carriers, it's hard impossible to believe that there's nothing going on behind the scenes.

We have it on good authority that Google is well on its way to crafting a mobile operating system (yeah, for real), a brainchild of its Android acquisition in 2005. When we say "well on its way," we mean we're to the point now where they're officially -- on some level, anyway -- shopping it around to ODMs, looking for the right guys to go big with this thing. Read all about it on Engadget!

That sound you're hearing is the collective sigh from everyone patiently waiting for Palm to actually get its act together and unveil its depressingly overdue Linux mobile OS. Yet again, it seems we've been fooled into believing that Palm actually had its ducks in a proverbial row, as BrightHand is now reporting that Palm CEO Ed Colligan recently announced on a conference call that "products based on the new Linux-based platform won't be available until some time next year." Interestingly enough, Colligan also insinuated that the firm would "continue to use Windows Mobile and Garnet OS / Palm OS II for the foreseeable future." Wait, they can actually see some light at the end of this perpetually growing tunnel? We sure as hell can't.

Billed as "the latest evolution of the highest-volume mobile-development platform available," Nokia used this week's JavaOne shindig to launch its Series 40 5th Edition operation system for mass-market handsets. While not technically a smartphone platform (unlike its big sib S60), Series 40 is about as open as a dumbphone platform can get -- and 5th Edition is making it even more open with a wide variety of new Java-based APIs. Though there are apparently some UI enhancements in store that promise to yield "richer multimedia applications," Nokia's pretty vague about what exactly the user will see in 5th Edition, concentrating instead on the benefits to developers and carriers. Most notably, the Bluetooth OBEX profile is now supported in Java apps, Flash Lite 2.1 gets Nokia's blessing, and the Advanced Media Supplements standard offers up 3D sound. No word on when 5th Edition might be hitting handsets, but a new suite of tools to harness the new goodies will be available to devs starting next month.

While having a flavor of Linux on one's smartphone isn't unheard of, it could become at least somewhat more popular now that a common variety is scheduled to make its mobile debut. After years of Linux-on-a-handset talk from just about every direction imaginable, the developers of Ubuntu are hoping to "extend its open-source software development to handheld internet-enabled devices." Reportedly dubbed the Ubuntu Mobile and Embedded project, the operating system could be headed to your mobile device thanks to a collaborative effort between Ubuntu programmers and Intel, which shouldn't come as any surprise considering its recent infatuation with the open-sourced OS. Of course, Ubuntu is a surefire candidate for OS of the month given all the press its meandered into of late, but developers did note that designing a mobile GUI and configuring the power management capabilities would be quite a challenge. The best part, however, is how quickly the mobile rendition will be rolled out, as we can all mark our calendars for a simultaneous release with Ubuntu 7.10 this October.

If you've been staring longingly at that poor, disabled push-to-talk button on the side of your Cingular-branded Hermes, wondering just when -- if ever -- you'd be able to annoy friends and family alike with Nextel-like ease, it seems your time has nearly come. Sources tell us that a firmware update will grace the 8525 on or around April 25 (yes, of 2007), bringing an enabled PTT button, AT&T branding to match the BlackJack's, and a mixed bag of fixes for bugs in the current firmware. The same source is telling us to expect our Windows Mobile 6 upgrade come Q3 of this year, so if the April 25 date holds up, we'd say that bodes well.

[Thanks, anonymous tipster]

The world's most popular smartphone platform, Symbian, is taking a step forward this week with the announcement of version 9.5. Nine and a half versions sounds like a lot, and, well, it is -- but when you consider that Symbian has its roots in Psion's ages-old EPOC, it's pretty darned plausible to think that they've come this far. New features are very multimedia-centric, reflecting the reality that modern phones are becoming true multimedia convergence devices; the camera subsystem alone accounts for 35 new goodies including orientation tilt sensor support, autofocus spots, and red-eye reduction. No word on when Symbian's largest clients -- Nokia's S60 and Sony Ericsson's UIQ -- will integrate the latest version, but we think it's pretty safe to say that they will.