Dell’s New 7 and 10 Inch Tablets Leaked

Engadget has a quick little scoop on Dell’s foray into the tablet arena and it’s called the “Dell Streak.” There’s no word yet on a release date, and Dell has actually declined to comment on the official picture. But here are some observations.

Engadget claims that they got a leaked series of images and an official internal Dell announcement regarding the Streak, but what’s more — the aforementioned Dell Mini 5 — will now be called the Streak 5. And what does that mean exactly for the tablets?

It means, unlike HP’s tablet, they’ll be running Android (presumably). That’s an interesting move, because it’s a similar move to Apple — adopting a mobile OS to a more-fully-functional-but-not-quite-desktop-OS experience. Engadget is also saying that the 7-inch tablet is planned for a late 2010 launch with support from AT&T for wireless data. The 10 inch is slated for early 2011.

Since Engadget received seemingly official details, they figured they’d make it official and contact Dell, but Dell declined to comment officially. Instead, they gave the following text-book answer:

“Dell continually develops and tests new products that extend the mobile experience. We have not made any product announcements and do not comment on speculation, rumor or unannounced products.”

But regardless of Dell’s comments, the introduction of a smaller-sized tablet than the 10 inch one might a new trend Dell is jumping on early. There’s already rumors about that there may be an iPad “nano” of sorts, with a 7 inch screen. This blogger personally feels that there’s no need for this intermediate size, but it could be worth noting that this size might be more mobile than a 10 inch tablet, and more easily viewed than a 3-4 inch mobile phone screen. It could find its way into more vertical markets than the larger brother.

By December 2010, prepare for the full force of tablet war mania and hopefully — a better idea of where these soon-to-be ubiquitous devices will find themselves in the channel.

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