Is Dell Secretly Tinkering With an Android Based Netpad?

YouTube video courtesy of Dell

Dell demonstrated Google Android Cupcake running on a Dell mini 10v netbook last month. So, I wasn’t too surprised to read this bit of speculation in the Wall Street Journal…

Dell Is Working On Pocket Web Gadget

WSJ’s Justin Scheck reports that Dell engineers are working on a pocket-sized Internet device (not a smartphone) that is based on Google’s Android platform currently found on phones like the T-Mobile G1.

Believe it or not, I’ve been watching these Internet tablet devices emerge and disappear for at least 10 years (beginning way back near the end of the Fall Comdex days in Las Vegas). The most recent effort with moderate success has been the Nokia N800/N810 Internet Tablet devices.

I’ve long said that I’d like a device larger than an iPod touch and, perhaps, even approaching the size of the old Apple Newton or the current Amazon Kindle 2 for mobile web browsing around the home or office. It needs to turn on and off instantly and be very responsive. A physical QWERTY keyboard is highly desirable too. Will Dell actually produce an Android-based netpad in the near future?

Join Baratunde Thurston (left), The Onion’s Director of Digital and author of How to Be Black, for an entertaining look at creative social media campaigns in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting February 16. Other speakers include Morin Oluwole (Facebook), Tim Devane (bitly), and SocialTimes' writer Devon Glenn.   Register now.