OK, Dell Streak fans, this is your chance to speak up. No one? OK. After Dell stopped selling the Streak 7 tablet, essentially giving up on the Android tablet scene in America, many believe that it’s preparing to transition to Windows tablets. A new 10-inch Windows 7 slate is already coming, and Windows 8 tablets should be available in late 2012 or 2013. Dell didn’t confirm any definite plans. But either way, Lenovo appears ready and willing to become the PC manufacturer with the greatest presence in the Android tablet world.
“Our tablet strategy today is an Android operating system,” said a North American Lenovo executive in an interview with CRN, backing up the evidence of recent leaks. Lenovo’s S-series tablets and an upcoming quad-core monster labelled the LePad K2 are poised to launch in the first half of 2012, giving Lenovo one of the widest Android tablet lines this side of Samsung. It will also be one of just two PC manufacturers with a solid Android ARM-based tablet presence, sharing the stage with Acer.
Dell isn’t necessarily out of the game – there’s no confirmation that they’re done with Android. But given the vicious competition in the tablet space overall, it could be that the company is just looking to focus on its more traditional strength, a la HP. Dell still has some pretty strong showings for Android smartphones, though they only seem interested in the Chinese market at the moment. Is anyone really broken up about Dell’s probable exit from mobile tablets? Sound off in the comments.
It’s actually kind of a shame. I played with the Dell Streak 5 and thought it was really nice. Oh well, I’m not a tablet guy and I’ll be digging into some ICS soon.
Smart move by Lenovo (and Samsung) because oversized smartphones clearly have a market. Dell was just too stupid to market to it. Look at what Samsung does with the Galaxy Note: they go on a WORLD TOUR to promote the phone. That’s a way to do it! What does Dell do? They quietly added the Streak 5 to their website when ever it became available in a certain country. No ads, no world tour, no nothing. And then they say it wasn’t worth it. LOL. How stupid must a company be. Anyways, I got my beloved Dell Streak 5 and Streak 7 really cheap on eBay and Amazon and unlocked it afterwards for use on Vodafone. I used:
Streak 5 unlock:
http://download.cnet.com/Dell-Streak-Unlocker/3000-2056_4-75446016.html?tag=mncol;1
Streak 7 unlock:
http://www.unlockstreak.com/products/unlock-dell-streak-7