Dell praises Windows Phone 7, down on Android

Application developers are telling Dell that it is easier to develop for Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 platform than for Google's Android operating system, according to CEO Michael Dell. The Dell chief also said the company will release a "significant number" of tablet products next year.

Dell Venue Pro for T-MobileDell made the comments at a forum at the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, according to Reuters. Despite his contention that Android's open source is a more difficult to work with, Dell seemed to praise Android's remarkable growth.

"What's interesting about the smartphone space is how it's changing into a more open-modular system," he said. "It's staggering that Android has now surpassed Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in terms of originations, and this is happening at a much, much faster rate than what folks had envisioned."

AT&T Mobility (NYSE:T) launched Dell's first Android-powered smartphone, the Aero, in the U.S. market in August. However, the launch came roughly five months after AT&T first announced its support for the phone, which runs on Android 1.5, a much older version of the platform, and sports a custom user interface from Dell. T-Mobile USA will launch the Venue Pro, Dell's first Windows Phone device, later this quarter.

Dell did not reveal specifics of the company's tablet plans, but said there is "lots of debate about the size of the market, who's buying these devices, and those questions always emerge when there's a new form factor." In September, Dell said the company will release a 7-inch tablet to complement its 5-inch Streak device.

For more:
- see this Reuters article

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