Dell's China Phone Just a 'Proof of Concept'

Dell on Sunday showed a "proof of concept" smart phone at an event sponsored by Chinese wireless carrier China Mobile, Dell spokesman Matt Parretta said.

"The only thing that we're confirming is that we're in product development with China Mobile," he said, "We were there as a development partner for the [Google Android-based] oPhone platform."

Blogs such as Engadget are reporting that the phone is named the "Mini 3i" and has a 2G GSM radio, a 3-megapixel camera, and a 3.5-inch, 360x640 screen. But Parretta said all of those details may still be up for grabs.

"We haven't named any products, and we're not confirming anything [in terms of product details]," he said. "We were there showing a proof of concept."

Although other reports are referring to the event as the phone's "first official appearance," Dell spokeswoman Anne Camden said the company hasn't actually introduced any retail smart phones, even in China.

"It wasn't officially, formally introduced so much as it was waved around," she said.

Dell once made top-notch Windows Mobile PDAs, such as the Editor's Choice Axim X51v in 2005. But they've backed away from the handheld market in the past four years, although rumors keep cropping up that they're about to enter the smart phone market.

For instance, this February AT&T Mobility chief executive Ralph De La Vega said Dell "announced" a smart phone, a statement that Dell denied and AT&T later backpedaled on.

Earlier, in January 2009, The Wall Street Journal reported that Dell was working on something called the "MePhone" that they would introduce in Feburary. That rumor also proved to be false.