Drake Martinet

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D8 Tech Demo: Dell Streak Mini-Tablet

The Streak tablet marks Dell’s entry into a market dominated by Apple (AAPL). Dell, a company that made its name perfecting the “just in time” production model, hopes that now is the right moment to introduce an Android-based device.

Dell (DELL) took a three-bears approach to design, with the Streak fitting between smartphones and iPad-sized tablets.

Dell describes the Streak as both compact and spacious, with a five-inch touchscreen. It will have access to the full suite of Android apps and is billed as a device for gaming, music, connecting with people and even making voice calls.

Here’s the video of the demo, and the liveblog following that.

2:33 pm: Ron Garriques takes the stage to showcase the Dell Streak, a five-inch Wi-Fi, 3G, Bluetooth mini-tablet.

He first shows a video from a projector via a dock that ships with the device.

2:35 pm: Kara asks the size question.

Garriques answers that the device has to be large enough to experience the Internet, but small enough to fit in your top pocket.

He says he has given up the phone entirely in favor of his Streak.

2:36 pm: Garriques says that the five-inch screen is 100 percent larger than the average smartphone screen.

2:37 pm: Kara asks what Dell is calling it. Garriques says he doesn’t call it a phone or tablet.

He says that in Europe, the device is free with a two-year contract, adding that carriers around the world are looking for device partners who can “delight customers.”

Walt asks about the age range for target customers. Garriques’ reply: Nine to 94.

2:40 pm: The Streak will appear in the U.S. toward the end of July and cost about $500 at Dell.com, unlocked.

Garriques says you can store hundreds of movies on the device, but won’t give a hard answer on storage numbers. He mentions that it has both a back- and front-facing camera.

Garriques leaves the stage and D8 goes on a coffee break. Guests at D8 will be able to handle the device at a demo station.

A note about our coverage: This liveblog is not an official transcript of the conversation that occurred onstage. Rather, it is a compilation of quotes, paraphrased statements and ad-lib observations written and posted to the Web as quickly as possible. It is not intended as a transcript and should not be interpreted as one.

Dell Demo Photos

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Bigger than a phone, smaller than an iPad: the Dell Streak.


comments so far. Add yours.

  • momo30

    This mini tablet does what already touch screen smartphones do, which are internet browsing and media streaming.
    I don't think this product will fit between the iPad and the iPhone which they are going after. In addition the Dell guy had really hard time to answer all the questions about the capacity and the exact price of this product.

  • jtdaman

    Exactly what I'm looking for.

  • RichardL

    I love the 4.3″ screen on my HTC EVO. I'm finding I prefer it to my iPad because it's always with me. Where did I leave the iPad? I don't remember. I think it's in the kitchen.

    The Dell Streak is not a crazy idea. It's better equipped than an iPad: 2 cameras, 3G, Wifi, HDMI. (It probably even has USB!)

    There's a lot to be said for a smartphone/tablet mini that you can actually read, that fits in your pocket, and runs the whole internet.

    p.s. Why so mean?

  • Rick Dominick

    Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg looked like rude idiots in this. They took numerous cheap shots to belittle the device, Garriques, and Dell. I thought it was great that several negative assumptions Mossberg made about the device turned out to be incorrect – for example, that the dock would be sold separately. Kara wants to eat it? Whatever, I guess she just wanted to make it look silly. I thought “journalists” were supposed to be impartial. But if your last name is “Jobs,” you get the opposite treatment. To his discredit, Garriques didn't seem very confident, nor did he handle the questions particularly well. Maybe he was being overly polite. There were several opportunities for jibes at Apple that he passed on.

  • Rick Dominick

    Did my comment get deleted?!

  • latitude20

    It seems to me there is an anti Dell bias in the tech community as displayed by Mossberg and the woman. I understand this as my last experience with a Dell laptop was horrible due to hardware issues. However I think Dell has hit the sweet spot with this 'phone' and I am seriously thinking of giving them another chance and getting it.

    The ideal mobile computer is the one that has the largest screen that can fit in your pocket and is a phone. Screen size is king but anything that cannot fit in my pocket is not a mobile device to me. I am not going to carry around a tablet in my hand everywhere I go. I am not going to own a phone and a tablet much less carry both around. I think the tech reviewers have fallen in love with tablets in particular the ipad but I see them as silly products.

    Of course the bigger the screen size the better but as I say if I can't put it in my pocket it is not mobile (unless I was a woman and carried a purse.) Then at home I have a great mac notebook which does much more than an ipad. Do people really want to hold a computer in their hand anyway at home? Not me.

    Mossberg and the woman seem incredulous that someone would hold the Streak up to their head as a phone. Why? At my work I use the same land line phone I have used all my life and the portion I pick up and talk and listen with is bigger than the Streak. There doesn't seem anything strange about it and in fact I think the sound quality is better because you actually talk into the mouthpiece.

    My concerns with the Streak are the hardware build quality and the old Android version it uses. If it stops working for some reason due to no fault of mine what do I have to do? Send it in for repairs and be without it until it is repaired and shipped back? Apple just gives you another phone right there at the store when there is some defect in the hardware. And I know they say that they will update to Android 2.2 as soon as they can but you never know.

    If Apple was making a phone this size then I would stay with them and this is the problem with Apple- not enough choices. I can't understand why Apple doesn't see that a bigger screen is better. If they did and Mossberg was standing there with Jobs holding it to his head I bet he wouldn't all it a waffle. I bet he would be gushing and giddy over breakthrough in size the genius it took foresee the future of mobile devices.

  • http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/6IARER67M77XYXJTBCOMQ2OCEY X-Man

    The Streak is better than any other smartphone out there because of it's screen size and format which allows you to view a web page in just about it's full width. That's a big big difference. All you do is scroll up and down no side to side or zooming in needed in most cases. That's not the case even with the new HTC. Seems like 5″ in a 16×9 format might be just the perfect size. Anything bigger you wouldn't want to carry with you everywhere or use as a phone.

  • billy_punk

    walt is such a f**king idiot, apple iphone kiss azz fanboy…the last time i looked the freakin iphone is just as large as a waffle when placed next to your ears…he is such a poor journalist…unbiased my azz,

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