Dell Thunder prototype storms into view, chums it up with Android
Here we go, again! Hot on the heels of Dell's 10-month exercise of either attention to detail or product launch futility with the Dell Streak, which finally culminates with US orders beginning today, comes the company's latest Android device, the Thunder. First seen back in April as merely a rendering, it now appears as if the Thunder will become an actual product, only your guess is as good as mine as to when that will actually happen.
Engadget has received a set of pictures and a short video showing off the sleek Thunder, which looks to come with the now-standard set of features found on the latest Android smartphones of the day. The capacitive AMOLED screen of around 4 inches looks to have a resolution of 800×480, but the tightly-packed icon grid suggests it could be higher. The prototype is also running standard Android 2.1 instead of borrowing the Streak's custom UI, and the camera has been upped to 8MP with LED flash and 720p video recording. Processing is most likely handled by a 1GHz Snapdragon, and 802.11bgn along with Bluetooth 2.1+EDR combine with the quad-band cellular hardware to provide connectivity.
I hate to keep beating a dead horse, but hopefully Dell can actually follow through with the Thunder and the other devices that were leaked back in April, and I mean both with the actual hardware being available and the Android version being up to date. The way it has handled the Streak has left a bitter taste for many potential customers, including myself, so if Dell spins its wheels until June 2011, it may as well just sit the smartphone business out and stick to computers. My expectations are low this time around, until Dell can prove otherwise.
