The thinnest 15-inch laptop “on the planet” is coming tomorrow, costing a measly $999, according to the Wall Street Journal. In a profile of Dell’s recent history and forthcoming plans in the consumer electronics market, the financial paper twice makes reference to an ultrathin, $999 laptop that is set to launch on Tuesday of this week. Pairing that intel with the abundance of leaks surrounding the slinky 15.6-inch XPS 15z — including a Michael Dell tweet promising it’s “coming soon” — leads us to the conclusion that we’ve finally gotten ahold of the price and date for Dell’s next big thing. Interestingly enough, the WSJ article goes on to say that Dell had canned a similar set of slim laptops earlier in the year, which might give us greater hope for the quality of the 15z — it survived where others didn’t.

Other disclosures in the piece include a quote from Michael Dell, saying that he “didn’t completely see” the tablet boom coming, which might explain why sales of his company’s Streak tablets have been low enough to be described as “immaterial.” There’s also a discussion of the abortive Zing music service and related MP3 players that never were, but you’ll have to hit the source link to learn more about them.

Dell XPS 15z coming tomorrow for $999? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 May 2011 06:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

Dell always told us the Streak was a tablet and not a phone, so it makes perfect sense to see Android’s latest version, the tablet-friendly Honeycomb, ported over to its 5-inch slate. As usual with these builds, we’re still at a very early stage, with the chap responsible for the hack noting that “no way is this close to release,” but it’s still rather exciting to see that brand new interface freshening up familiar pieces of kit. And hey, it’s not like Dell itself is going to be delivering Android 3.0 anytime soon either, right? Click the source link to keep yourself updated on how this community port progresses.

Update: Looks like DJ_Steve got his hands on the build and made a quick video — check it out after the break.

[Thanks, Chris]

Continue reading Dell Streak gets Honeycomb SDK port, starting to look like a real tablet (update: video)

Dell Streak gets Honeycomb SDK port, starting to look like a real tablet (update: video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Feb 2011 15:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

Let’s be honest, the original Dell Streak had a bit of an identity crisis. The 5-inch device wasn’t sure if it belonged in the tablet or smartphone world, and ultimately it was targeted at a pretty niche user. But its larger brother, the Streak 7, is more self-aware. It’s a honest-to-goodness tablet meant for doing all those tablet-y things — surfing the web, reading e-books, watching video and more. Sure, the Streak 7 may just look like an enlarged version of the 5-inch version, but they differ in more than just screen size: the 7 packs a powerful 1GHz dual-core Tegra T20 processor, 1.3 megapixel front facing camera, 5 megapixel lens on the rear, T-Mobile “4G” HSPA+ connectivity, and 16GB of internal memory. The tablet runs Android 2.2 with Dell’s Stage UI for now, but Dell promises an upgrade to Honeycomb once it’s ready. It sounds like one of the more well-rounded 7-inch tablets on the market right now and at just $200 on contract at T-Mobile (it’s $450 without), it’s actually quite well priced. However, there are quite a few things that are going to keep 7-inch tablet seekers from forking over the cash. What are those? We’ll tell all in our full review — read on for more!

Continue reading Dell Streak 7 review

Dell Streak 7 review originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 31 Jan 2011 21:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

Good news: Dell’s unlocked Streak has just plunged down the pricing charts with a neat $180 discount taking it to a palatable $400 level. Bad news: you won’t get yours shipped until the 10th of January, according to Round Rock’s web outlet. Android 2.2 won’t come preloaded, you’ll have to snag the OTA update, though you do get a wide palette of colors to choose from, including black, noir, nero, preto, and schwarz — pick wisely!

[Thanks, Xelaenil]

Dell lowers Streak price to $400, but will make you wait until January to get it originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Dec 2010 10:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

Seems like Best Buy has developed something of a taste for snow-white exclusives, as it’s now become the first retailer to offer up Dell’s 5-inch Streak tabletphone with an alabaster case. We’re hearing the only way to grab the new palette option is to go down to your nearest Best Buy store, though online reservation and payment is also available. Not every store has them just yet, so checking ahead of time might also be advisable. Skip past the break to see the new Streak’s front end — it actually retains a lot of the black bezel of its noir family mate.

Continue reading Dell Streak busts out a white back for Best Buy exclusive

Dell Streak busts out a white back for Best Buy exclusive originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Nov 2010 08:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

Looks like Japan’s not the only one that’ll have Froyo on a five-inch tabletphone this year — Dell’s official Facebook account confirms that Android 2.2 will be rolling out to the Dell Streak starting this very month. That date’s just for the UK, mind you, as Dell plans to stagger the release from country to country for that winsome Stage UI. That said, if you’re a particularly astute diner you may be able to get your sweet spoonful sooner than some, as just last evening Dell directed a number of Streak owners to the website pictured above. While that “Continue with Update” button reportedly didn’t work and the website has since been pulled, it seems that Dell’s considering the idea of letting users directly download Android 2.2 themselves. See what that update might include in our gallery below.

[Thanks, Naz]

Dell Streak Android 2.2 update imminent in UK, other territories on the way originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 13 Nov 2010 15:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink