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Rumors abound of Android netbooks

2 comments | 9I like it!
May 7, 2009, 12:11 PM — 

Bsquare, a developer of mobile software, issued a press release yesterday that seemed to imply that Dell was going to release an Android-based netbook. The press release has since been pulled and Dell says the claim was erroneous, but the cat's out of the bag now, and the rumors are flying. Of course, it's an exciting prospect, but Dell isn't ready to 'fess up just yet.

There have been rumors for months that Dell, as well as other PC makers, have been planning Android-based netbooks. A handful of manufacturers, including HP, have actually made some noise about researching the possibility, although the Android netbook just doesn't exist yet. There is however, one confirmed Android network coming out later this year from a Chinese company.

So what's going on with the retracted press release? It's just speculation, but it could be that Bsquare jumped the gun in making information public that Dell wasn't ready to share. Somewhere, in some anxious PR agent's file folder, there may well be some documents that confirm the deal. Bsquare specifically mentioned Dell in the rogue release--and this makes me think that there's something we're not being told yet. It wouldn't be surprising at all if Dell has a secret Android project going on in its skunkworks.

Specifically, the press release said they are announcing that they will be "porting Adobe's Flash Lite 3.17 technology onto Dell Netbooks running Google's Android platform." That sounds pretty definitive to me, even if they did pull the release a day later.

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I like it!
Comments

Hmmmmm!! I was totally Surprised

i think "porting Adobe's Flash Lite 3.17 technology onto Dell
Netbooks running Google's Android platform." I think Dell may not want to share this information in public that's why they are hiding this information.

Flash Game Development  ||  Offshore software development

Netbooks with smartphone electronics

I don't think anyone should be surprised that Dell is working on an Android-based netbook. Virtually all of the PC vendors are.

What I hope is that, when Android-based netbooks emerge, they include smartphone electronics to support cell phone calls, location-based apps, etc. (i.e. functionality you don't & can't get with the current generation of netbooks running a desktop OS). It would be cool to make/receive phone calls with a Bluetooth headset, while the netbook is in my backpack.
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