First Pictures of Alienware Android Cell Phone
Google and Dell are on the point of launching a new mobile phone to run on the Android operating system, probably at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona that's going on at the moment. Dell have tried to enter the mobile phone market once …
Context & Ripple Effects
Two weeks after MarketingWeek tipped Google and Dell working on an iPhone rival, leaked photographs of an Alienware-branded handset have surfaced just as the 3GSM World Congress opens in Barcelona — the venue where a reveal was said to be likely.
The rumor matters because Dell's earlier push into mobile phones came to nothing (a confirmed fact from the reporting), so an Android-based entry would mark a second attempt, this time riding Google's open platform rather than going it alone. Nothing is settled: every relationship in play here carries a rumored status, with no confirmation from either company.
First-order effects
- A Dell-branded Android handset at 3GSM would put a major PC maker back in the handset market where its previous attempt failed, directly against the iPhone that reset expectations in 2007.
Second-order effects
- Using the Alienware sub-brand would let Dell test whether a gaming-focused identity travels to phones without staking the corporate name — while giving Google's young Android platform a hardware ally among traditional computer vendors rather than incumbent phone manufacturers.
Third-order effects
- If PC makers keep probing handsets through Android-style open platforms, the industry's dividing line shifts from who builds the device to who owns the operating system — hardware brands become interchangeable shells over licensed software.
The trend: Consumer computing is drifting toward platform-licensed hardware, with PC manufacturers testing whether their desktop brands can survive on someone else's mobile OS.