Dell Streak Media Round-Up

In anticipation of it's US launch, Dell Streak has received much press coverage in the past 48 hours. Bellow is some of what's being said.

Business Week (article here) writes that the Streak holds up quite well as a handheld entertainment device, but doesn't quite cut it as a phone. The author concludes that, 'in the end, in spite of its unique design and appealing viability as a handheld media device, the Streak feels too much like last year's Android device.' The author says the price point will be essential to knowing whether or not to recommend the device.

CNET (article here) has a generally undecided opinion on the Streak. If it comes down to a battle of the Streak vs the iPad, the author writes 'the iPad makes a better map, better photo frame, better video player, better Web browser, and better repository for all things "app" with a seemingly limitless number of home screen pages.' Nonetheless, the author concedes that 'you can't fit an iPad in your pocket, or pop in your own SIM card, or shoot 640x480 video, or even take a crummy portrait on a front-facing camera. There's a lot going for the Streak, and it's safe to say Dell has created the best Android-based tablet we've seen so far.' The author concludes that he's waiting for more information on pricing and availability before making an overall decision, but warns that it's not a 'screaming deal' if the device retails at the rumoured price of $500.

USA Today (article here)--America's most largely circulated publication--gives the Streak 2½ stars out of 4. The author praises the device for being attractive and sturdy, having a five-inch touch-screen for videos, its maps, its navigation and browsing, and its front and rear cameras. However, the author dislikes the Streaks mediocre performance as a phone, its older version of Android OS, and its overall sluggish feel.

Dell Advertorial in Grazia

A new Dell advertorial appears on page 59 of Grazia's July issue. The feature promotes Dell's Inspiron Mini 10 as the magazine's 'favourite fashion accessory.' Grazia also totes that the netbook, which is customized in the shade of OPI's Rosy Future nail colour, is 'perfect for blogging from Fashion Week.' The Inspiron Mini 10 is listed with a £320 price point.

HP Patents Tablet Name

CNET reports that HP has been granted a Patent for the name 'PalmPad' early last week by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The move suggests that HP is developing a tablet device.

While HP hasn't released specific details on the PalmPad, the patent application confirms that the device encompasses 'computers, computer hardware, computer software, computer peripherals, portable computers, handheld and mobile computers, PDAs, electronic notepads, and mobile digital electronic devices.'

Earlier this year, HP halted development of the Windows 7 Slate (pictured above), and subsequently cancelled development of a planned Android-based tablet.

Read the whole article here.

Metro: 'iPhone 4 is Apple's Vista'

An article on page 16 of today's Metro compares the iPhone 4's 'death grip problem' to the disastrous 2007 launch of Window's glitch-ridden Vista operating system. The article quotes a senior Microsoft executive who ridicules the iPhone, and assures that Windows' upcoming iPhone rival--creatively named 'Windows Phone 7'--will work no matter how one chooses to hold it.

Apple's shares have dropped about £6.5billion in lieu of rumours that the iPhone 4 may be recalled. A recall would cost Apple £1.5billion.

Click the photo (above) to read the whole article.

Dell Streak in Wired

The Streak was featured in Wired's Gadet Lab section of their website. The review offers many colourful photographs and lays out all of the gadget's specifications with generally positive conclusions.

Overall, the Streak is an exciting, well-engineered device that should appeal to consumers who want to supersize their phone. But that also means its unlikely to have Apple or iPad fans quaking. The Streak seems like a tablet for a very different audience than the iPad.

Read the whole review here.

Dell Inspiron 15R Laptop Commercial

Dell's new Inspiron 15R laptop commercial is now available to watch. 'Pack less with a laptop that packs more' is the ads message, as it prompts parents to lighten their children's rucksacks by replacing unnecessary books and supplies with a laptop.

The ad cites the Inspiron 15R's Intel Core i3 Processor and $499.99 price point.

Apple Store opens in Shanghai

CNN reports that a new Apple Store opened in Shanghai, China over the weekend. And while this 295th store is now the largest in Asia, the location was barely big enough to hold the masses that flocked to see this Shanghai first.

A second Shanghai Apple Store is under construction in Hong Kong Plaza and is rumored to be opening later this summer. A possible third Shanghai store is also tentatively set to follow.

Read the full article here.

Best Buy to Sponsor O2 Arena

Best Buy have just signed a 5 year sponsorship deal with the O2 Arena where they will see benefits across the arena and indigO2 - their 2,300 capacity venue. As part of the deal Best Buy customers will get opportunities to upgrade tickets and receive VIP passes to gigs and events. To mark the deal a series of gigs will take place at the indigO2 under the heading.. 'Best Buy Presents...' To read the full article click here.

HP in iGIZMO

A colourful video advertisement for HP's TouchSmart computer features on page 18 of the online tech magazine iGIZMO.

The copy reads: 'Feel the power of entertainment/Enjoy finger-tapping touchscreen computing in the home with the HP TouchSmart/Connect to your PC like never before with the HP TouchSmart, a sleek all-in-one touchscreen computer that opens up the world of entertainment to your fingertips. Get to the point with applications and widgets built to take advantage of your index finger. Flick, pinch and slide your way around on the multi-touch screen and enjoy games, browsing, photos, or sit back and enjoy movies in high-definition anywhere in the home.'

The ad also allows for an interactive 360 degree view of the TouchSmart.

Click here to view the ad.

Tech in Style: Asus' Bound-In Insert

Asus has placed bound-in, high quality inserts in T3 and PC Pro. Flip through the insert's 16 pages bellow, or click here for a larger version.

T3 Reports on Unlocked Streak

T3 writes that the Dell Streak can now be bought SIM-free from Dell's website for £449, giving users the freedom to choose their own network. The phone is described as carbon-black with a 16GB MicroSD storage card. The article also praises Dell's free shipping.

The Streak was previously offered by O2 for £399.

Read the whole article here.

Dell Streak on Sky News

Sky News spoke with Mat Finch to learn more about the Dell Streak.

Watch the video here.

Dell in What Laptop

A Dell laptop featured on the cover of What Laptop's August issue Buyer's Guide, located on page 99 of the magazine. Within the Guide, Dell's Inspiron 1564 (£587 price point) was reccomended as a great home office computer, and the Alienware M17x (£3,369 price point) was reccomended as a great gamer's computer.

A number of Dell laptops' specifications were also listed in the buyers guide, including the Inspiron Mini 10, Inspiron 1564, Latitude E6400 XFR, Latitude Z600, Studio 1557, Studio 1747, Vostro V13, Vostro 3500, and Inspiron 15R.

Jobs on iPhone: 'You're holding it wrong'

CNN reports that Apple CEO Steve Jobs has finally responded to critics who have complained that holding the iPhone around its metal edges hampers reception.

His response? 'Just avoid holding it in that way,' the CEO bluntly advised in an e-mail he wrote directly in response to a consumer's questions.

An official statement made later by Apple offered a more poignant explanation. 'Gripping any mobile phone will result in some attenuation of its antenna performance, with certain places being worse than others depending on the placement of the antennas,' explained Apple in their written statement.

The iPhone's new sleek design is achieved in part by snaking the antenna through a metal band around the phone's edges--a design which makes it particularly easy to cover the phone's antenna while holding it.

Apple has advised users to avoid gripping the phone on its lower left corner in a way that covers both sides of the black strip in the metal band, or simply to place a case over the phone, which equally solves the problem.

Read the whole article here.

TechRadar covers Inspiron R launch

Patrick Goss of TechRadar writes about Dell's new Inspiron R laptops. Goss quotes Glen Robson, Dell's VP of product marketing, saying, 'The Inspiron R takes the rock solid Inspiron line and amps up the cool factor with a sexy and practical machine for entertainment, and social networking along with all the usual home, school and work functions . . . This is a laptop that families will love and youths will ask for.'

The article details the laptop's specs, and says that the most basic version of the product retails for £459.

Read the full article here.

MediaCom Cross deal Partnership: Dell, Microsoft, and Intel

Bellow are slides pertaining to a project MediaCom France has helped put together. The project links Dell, Microsoft, and Intel. (Click the slides to magnify).

iPhone in Europe: Low Penetration, Enormous Impact

A press release from comScore offers some illuminating insight into the iPhone's impact on Europe. Though the iPhone represents only 4% of the mobile market in the EU5 (U.K., France, Germany, Spain, Italy), it has nonetheless'facilitated fundamental change in mobile user behaviour and ignited fierce competition among device operating system providers,' comScore reports. iPhone users, for example, consume significantly larger amounts of mobile media than other mobile users: 94% use mobile media, 87% use applications, and 85% browse the mobile internet. Though they represent only 4% of the European market, iPhone users encompass 12% of all mobile media users.

Jeremy Copp, Vice President Mobile Europe comScore, explains the practical effect this influence has had on the market and on developers:

'To date the iPhone has had a disproportionate impact on the European mobile market considering its relatively modest installed base of around 10 million. It has catalysed the consumption of mobile media and opened the eyes of brands to mobile as an engaging marketing medium. However, it has also prompted other device manufacturers and OS vendors to elevate their game so the poster-child of the smartphone generation now faces serious competition.'

Toshiba Portégé R700 in ShortList

Today's ShortList includes a full page feature on Toshbia's Portégé R700 in its Must-Own Gadget section. The page praises the laptop's 'impressive 13in screen and processor more than capable of matching bigger machines' performance.' The laptop is marked with a £599 price point.

Dell Streak Coverage

The Dell Streak has garnered reviews and spotlights in a handful of publications.

The Guardian (article here) provides a comprehensive overview of the Streak and also links to a Dell YouTube video about the phone. While largely objective, the article does question how much demand there is for a phone that's neither a traditional smartphone nor a larger-screen tablet.

Wired (article here) writes that the Streak is the iPad's first real competitor, and says that Dell's decision to price the device on par with an entry level iPad is 'a bold move.'

PC World (article here) agrees that the Streak could be a formidable competitor to the iPad, particularly among business people. The article also claims, however, that the Streak is not a tablet device at all, but rather only a smartphone.

T3 (article here) has a quick mention of the Streak in it's weekly tech roundup section, and says that 'the 5-inch device combines the best of both allowing users to make calls and access a host of entertainment tools.'

Stuff (article here) offers a generally positive review of the Streak, but concludes that the phone's 'identity crisis' may limit its appeal.

Retailers post profit despite recession, says Telegraph

James Hall of the Telegraph reports that, despite the recession, several of the UK's largest electronics retailers are expected to post a profit this year. DSG International--owner of Currys and PCWorld--is expected to report tomorrow an underlying full year pre-tax profit between £80m to £90m, up from last year's figure of £50.5m. Moreover, Kesa--owner of Comet electrical stores--is expected to post a pre-tax profit of £76m, a vast improvement over their previous year's loss of £81.8m.

The article also mentions possible dark clouds on the horizon for electronics retailers, citing VAT increases in the Government Budget and competition from US retailer Best Buy as potential obstacles in the year to come.

Read the whole article at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/7840779/Comet-and-Currys-ride-out-recession-in-profit.html

Dell and OPI on Vogue website

Vogue spotlighted Dell and OPI's recent collaboration on their website's homepage. The alliance--which the article praises for targeting women--allows ladies to customise their Dell laptops to match one of OPI's statement nail polish colours. The editorial mentions Dell's Studio 15, Studio 17, and Inspiron Mini laptops, and offers a price point of £249.

Read more at: http://www.vogue.co.uk/beauty/news/100610-dell-laptop-opi-nails-colour-custom.aspx

Dell Studio featured in Sport Magazine

Sport featured Dell's World Cup themed Studio this morning on page 66 of their 'Extra Time Gadgets' section. The write-up presents a £479 price point, and mentions the laptop's '17-inch glossy display and backlit keyboard.'

Samsung to launch tablet

Samsung is set to release a tablet of its own, with a US launch date of July. The tablet, called 'Galaxy Tape,' has a 7-inch OLED screen, a 1.2 GHz processor, and 16 GB of internal memory that can be upgraded to 48 GB.

Other details are still unreleased, but a photo of the Galaxy Tape (above)--which was promptly deleted after briefly appearing on Samsung's South African Twitter feed--suggests that the user interface will be similar to Samsung's Galaxy S phone.

Read more: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/06/samsung-enters-tablet-race-with-the-galaxy-tape/

Tech Radar reviews Dell Streak

Chris Smith reviews the Dell Streak on Tech Radar. He praises the 'sleek device' for its functionality and power, writing:

We were impressed with the interface Dell has pasted over the Android 1.6 operating system. It's very logical and allows rapid manoeuvring between the Streak's outstanding feature set . . . Whizzing through menus and working within applications is extremely snappy thanks to the 1GHz processor, which is a match for any smartphone we've seen this year.

While he was disappointed with the 'poor speakers, under-performing music player, distinct lack of a messaging dictionary and lack of Flash support,' Smith still felt 'overwhelmingly positive' towards the Dell Streak.

Read the full article at: http://www.techradar.com/reviews/phones/mobile-phones/dell-streak-694319/review?artc_pg=12

HP partner with Sex and the City 2

HP have partnered with the Sex and the City 2 movie in a bid to target a young, female, fashion-conscious website. The campaign messaging is brand focused and uses awareness media vehicles including a large outdoor site in London's trendy Shoreditch, peak TV, a homepage takeover on vogue.co.uk and colour national press insertions.

This is not the first time HP have tried to engage with this demographic. Last year we saw multiple campaigns pushing their range of laptops designed by the fashion designer Vivienne Tam.

Toshiba Officially sponsor the World Cup

Toshiba are offering purchasers their money back if England win the World Cup. Toshiba products such as laptops with the latest Intel core processors or Toshiba TV's can be purchased from retailers such as Amazon, Argos, Currys and Tesco. Once registering online they are then entitled to their money back- providing England win!

Check out the offer at: www.toshiba.co.uk/england

Best Buy Store to open April 30th

US electronic retailer Best Buy have announced their first store opening will be in Lakeside shopping centre, Thurrock. Opening on April 30th it will be their UK debut, followed by openings in Southampton, Liverpool and Merry Hill in June. In the US Best Buy accounts for a large share of the consumer electronics market so it will be interesting to see its impact on PC World and other UK electronic retailers.

Dell and NME team up to 'Sack The DJ'

Featured above is the 27th March issue of NME which includes the first exposure of the Dell/NME partnership. Prompting the reader to create their own playlist on www.nme.com/dellsackthedj and be in with a chance of flying out to top Club NME's to hear their playlist being played as well as winning themselves a Dell Studio 15.



This is the webpage readers are directed to allowing them to upload their playlists and begin receiving votes from other users. You can find it at: www.nme.com/dellsackthedj

Mail on Sunday report on the Zino

Rob Waugh reports on the Inspiron Zino HD appluding its' modest price tag, 'nippy athlon processor... and high-end graphics card'. He also pitches it to a male audience 'a perfect candidate for the techno-fantasy of the second PC: the one for playing video through your flatscreen, or for storing music'.

National Press Competitor Activity

Telecoms’ companies such as O2 and Vodafone have been in the press this week (Metro 23/03) with tempting offers for free laptops if mobile broadband is purchased. The Vodafone ad pictures a Dell Inspiron Mini 10 as part of the deal whilst the O2 ad offers an Asus 1005H.

T3's March Issue Champions the Adamo

T3’s March Issue included a spread on the Dell Adamo XPS with the above eye catching photography. It got a nice review being described as ‘stunning looking...a major style statement’ a general down point was the price tag- although this did not detract from a glowing report.

Stuff Website Reviews the Latitude XT2 and Adamo XPS

On the 5th March Stuff reviewed both of Dell's high Spec Laptops. The Adamo receiving the following write up...

"It seems a long time ago that Dell was known only for its highly customisable but terminally dull range of business laptops. In recent years it’s splashed out on Alienware, opened the ‘Design Studio’ and, more recently, crafted the rather beautiful premium ‘Adamo’ range.

While the original Adamo was an attack on Apple’s MacBook Air, the Adamo XPS is seemingly more interested in undermining the laws of physics. It's miraculous that Dell has crammed so much technology – or, indeed, any technology – into the Adamo's 9.99mm thin case. "

Outlining the pro's and con's

" Pros A beautiful thing. Quick boot time. Unbelievably bright screen. Powerful enough for HD media. Superb keyboard

Cons Weedy battery life. Lacks connectivity options. A tad extravagant for most"



The Latitude XT2 also received a similar review...

"The XT2 is beautifully light, just over 25mm thick and comes clad in a tasteful brushed finish. It is, not to put too fine a point on it, gorgeous, and not entirely unlike its high-class sister, the Adamo..... Even without that, though, if this was a straight notebook the design alone would put it high on our list of favourites. With the added slate mode and one of the best multitouch screens around it's almost irresistible"

With its pro's and con's alike to the Adamo's

"Pros Responsive screen. Gorgeous design. Ultralight

Cons Poor battery time. Few Windows 7 multitouch apps. Expensive"

Dell's Mini 5 tablet to rival Apple's iPad

Apple announced the launch of their iPad earlier this year to great excitment, so as expected other companies are launching their own tablets to rival Apple. Priya Ganapati from Wired reports on Dell's own 'Mini 5 Tablet'...

"Say the words "tablet computer" and ten quid says it's Apple's iPad that springs to mind. But that doesn't mean other companies aren't busy building their own version of a touch-enabled, multimedia-sporting, slab of portable computing goodness.

Dell's first effort at a tablet will be the Mini 5 (a name that is still in beta) -- a slice of plastic and glass with a 127mm (5-inch) capacitive touchscreen that according to Michael Dell will debut "in a couple of months."

The Mini 5 will house a 5-megapixel camera on the back, a separate front-facing camera (suck it, iPad) that can be used for video conferencing, a standard 3.5mm headphone jack, Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity and a 1GHz Qualcomm processor. The 127mm screen also means it will be closer to the Sony PSP in its form factor than the longer legal notepad design of the iPad."

To see the full article:

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2010-02/25/dell's-mini-5-tablet-hopes-to-stick-it-to-apple's-ipad.aspx

Internet Explorer 8 Adverts

Below are the series of adverts running on UK TV in short bursts often 2 or so in one ad break promoting the new Internet Explorer 8.

PC World - my world is multitasking

Guardian impressed with new Adamo XPS

Guardian technology blogger Jack Schofield, reporting from the CES, is impressed with Dell's Adamo XPS. Here's just some of the reasons...

- Nice unlocking system (you can just stroke the lid to open it)
- When opened, it sits at an angle which makes for better typing
- The motherboard and drive sit behind the screen, as opposed to under the keyboard. This means you can fit ports AND have a thin keyboard
- It looks original and stylish (hurray!)

Down points from Mr Schofield...

- Expensive (£1,750 RRP)
- Quite heavy (1.44kg)
- You can get laptops that are just as good with better battery life for a fraction of the price

Acer to launch new netbook with Google Chrome OS

Acer are to launch a new netbook using Google Chrome as an operating system. Chairman JT Wang says that Acer will be the first manufacturer to launch with a Google Chrome OS system, with an aim to release in November of this year.

http://www.mobilecomputermag.co.uk/news/091202/acer-to-launch-first-google-chrome-os-netbook-in-2010

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31021_3-10408031-260.html