Rumor Mill: Is Dell set to announce a phone for China?

Dell will announce the launch of a mobile phone for the Chinese market within the next few days, according to the blog TechCrunch. The report said the phone was "iPhone-like," has a touchscreen and does not have a physical keyboard.

Dell spokesman Matthew Parretta declined to comment on the report.

The item is the latest in speculation over a possible Dell smartphone.

In July, Dell hinted at such a move without concrete confirmation; Ronald Garriques, president of Dell's consumer division and former chief of Motorola's cell phone efforts, said at the time that the company would work with the top three to four wireless carriers and see what their needs are. Garriques did not specify whether that meant the top three or four operators in the United States or in the world.

Further, Collins Stewart analyst Ashok Kumar told the Financial Times that he thought Dell would soon release a smartphone in China running on Google's Android platform. And in April, Reuters reported that Dell was going to release a smartphone in China by the end of 2009. The report said that Dell had partnered on the handset's design with Chi Mei Communications, a unit of Taiwanese electronics company Hon Hai.

For more:
- see this TechCrunch post

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