The end of the line for Dell

[Radimus]

http://techcrunch.com/2012/03/29/del...rtphone-sales/

I’d wager that only a few of you will remember that Dell sold their own smartphones, and even fewer of you still have ever actually owned one.

It should come as no surprise then that Dell, who entered the smartphone market less than two years ago, has announced that they have ceased sales of their last remaining smartphone lines: the Android-powered Venue and the Venue Pro Windows Phone. With those product lines getting the axe, Dell has (for now) put an end to their struggling smartphone business here in the States.

None of Dell’s smartphones managed to gain critical mass in the U.S. market, thanks in part to hardware and software issues that plagued the likes of the Streak 5 and the Venue Pro. They haven’t given up the smartphone ghost completely though, as they’ll continue to sell their devices outside of the United States. Their focus now, according to PC World, has shifted toward “emerging markets and higher-margin products.”

The smartphone game can be a very tough one to crack — consumers, fans, zealots, and certainly us tech writers, demand continuous improvement from the companies that make our hardware. Make them bigger, thinner, faster, better looking, and do it several times a year. Those are tall orders even for entrenched players like HTC and Motorola, so for a company like Dell whose primary focus remains in PC hardware and software solutions the odds of building and maintaining a considerable stake in the smartphone market were against them from the beginning.

HP has learned that lesson all too well — after having spent an inordinate sum of money to throw their hat into the smartphone and tablet ring with webOS, they pulled the plug in what seems like record time. It takes more than cash and manpower to produce a hit, and in the end neither HP or Dell hit upon that crucial formula.

Right now though, Dell’s future in mobile remains hazy. A Dell spokesperson confirmed that the company has plans to push out new mobile products later this year, though he refused to comment on what exactly those devices are (my money is on a slew of Windows 8 tabs with some funky form factors). It’s very possible that Dell intends to dust themselves off and jump back into the ring, but they’ll need a brand new strategy if they want to start playing with the big boys any time soon.

[doubledown]

I'm not surprised. Loved my streak, but I'm looking forward to getting a new phone.

[diagoro]

Dell doesn't have the will or heart for this business. I have my own personal issues with my Streak, though it's probably due mostly to ATT and my decision to run the official rom (thus, being stuck with 2.2). But I will say that without the Streak, there's a good chance the Note would not have been released.....at least not now.

Thanks Dell for a small amount of forward thinking......

[jokaman_03]

hopefully they regroup and return to mobile devices. they took some lumps but if they do return to the mobile scene I hope they do alot better with support and marketing and availability

[ecgar]

Hi, everyone!
Peace and blessings.

I made a fair research before buying my Dell Streak 7 five months ago. I checked consumer satisfaction rate and put some constrains on my research, before deciding which tablet I was going to invest my money. The tablet had to have at least four out of five stars consumer rating, WIFI, 3G/4G mobile connection, GPS, bluetooth, both rear and front camera with good resolutions, at least 16 Gb of internal storage memory, 7 inches screen and to be not too heavy. Eventually, Dell Streak 7 t-mobile 4G ('unlocked', as advertised) came out as the one.
As soon as I received my tablet, I successfully unlocked it with the unlock key provided on a sticker outside the box.
However, upon my enthusiasm as a result of my research (Well, incomplete research, maybe...) I was not aware of what now I understand is the major drawback of this otherwise awesome tablet: the duration of the battery after a single charge.
So far, I have tried setting up everything I know to increase battery duration: I updated Android OS to Honeycomb 3.2 stock as released by Dell on January 2012 (please check my post to find out how I carried it out at: http://www.pocketables.com/2012/01/d...-released.html), changed build.prop, installed all Juice Defender, SetCPU and Super task killer, stopped some applications that constantly seek internet connection, set both speaker sound and mic volumes to off, set screen brightness to minimum, kept all GPS, WIFI, bluetooth, mobile data, synchronization and screen rotation sensor off, and permanently activated plane mode.
In standby mode, this amazing configuration allows a battery drop of 5% in the first 12h. However, if, for instance, I activate WIFI only, battery drops 1% per 1.5 minute! Thus, in a best figure, the battery life will last no longer than 2.5 hours if WIFI is kept on before next charge. I have not tried so far, but I deem that if I turn on GPS and mobile data together, battery will last no longer than one hour without need to recharge!
Does anybody have a better solution?
I am confident now that the battery problem is at the very least related to how drivers manage Dell tablet functions. May be some Streak 7 fan would be interested in making an in-deep analysis of this issue and come with a nice solution.
Quite frankly, I am prone to invest in a well tested and bug free unofficial 3.2 or 4.0 android stock update that actually increases battery life for at least 3 or more times. Am I dreaming? Perhaps not...
Thank you, fellows!

Update June/04: PS.: By the way: yes, I also rooted my tablet just after Honeycomb 3.2 update and before installation of any application that required root access. Peace and blessings.
Update July/25: GPS function activated on the top of WIFI does not impose a significant constraint on battery life span. If an application is not looking for a satellite fix this seems not to be a big deal. Peace and blessings.

[BrandyAdam]

But I will say that without the Streak, there's a good chance the Note would not have been released.....at least not now.