This year is the year of the tablet, but some tablets are going to outshine others. Dell is hoping that their Android-powered Dell Mini 5 will be one of the brighter stars in the fast-growing tablet space, and they’ve got good reason – the Mini 5 will apparently boast cellular connectivity on AT&T’s network and will fully support Android apps from the Android Market. New information from Dell’s general manager of tablets, Neeraj Choubey, confirms prior speculation that the second biggest wireless carrier in the US will be serving data to the Mini 5. That’s big news, since Apple is also lined up to connect their iPad tablet to AT&T’s network.
It’s not clear if AT&T will offer the Dell Mini 5 on a subsidized basis, or if Dell will offer their tablet with a discount unlimited data plan similar to what Apple will offer with the iPad. What is clear, is that Dell’s tablet will feature a front-facing video camera and allow two-way video calls over the infamous 3G network. We’ll have to wait and see if Big Blue can handle iPhone data traffic, iPad traffic, as well as traffic from the Mini 5 without taking an elephant-sized crap on itself.
Android OS will be running the show, but Dell has customized the Mini 5 with a custom Android user interface, and will likely support Adobe’s Flash technology. It’ll also hit market with a 5-megapixel camera, giving the underdog tablet a couple legs up on the camera-lacking and Flash-less Apple iPad. We’re not even going to talk about how the iPad won’t be able to multi-task – something Android does with ease. Let’s just hope it doesn’t cost a stack of greenbacks.
With CTIA just around the corner, it’s possible that we’ll get more solid launch information in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!
[Via: LaptopMag]