Dell announces partnership with Telefonica/O2, Mini 5 headed for Europe?
In all the post-launch iPad euphoria during the past week, I'm sure many of you like us here at Pocketables have been wondering when we can expect to see the other highly anticipated tablets join the fray, including the elusive Dell Mini 5 (Streak). Earlier this week, we heard some interesting comments from Dell about how it wants to avoid comparisons, to not chase Apple, and to enter the market when it's ready.
Raising fears that nothing was moving forward behind the scenes, the company has moved to indicate it actually is making preparations by announcing a partnership with Spanish telecom giant Telefonica to bring its new wave of handsets to market. As the parent company of UK mobile provider O2, the deal sounds promising for the prospect of an upcoming European launch for Dell's Mini 3i (aka Aero) and Mini 5 mobile devices.
Further investigation by Pocket-lint gives word that the company isn't planning on launching the Mini 3i outside of the US anytime soon, lending further evidence that we could be seeing the Mini 5 on O2 in the UK in the not too distant future. There still haven't been any new rumors regarding the Mini 5's US launch with the latest information indicating that it may launch with AT&T (who also currently offer the Mini 3i/Aero). Whatever is happening behind the scenes, let's hope Dell and its partners won't keep us waiting too long to find out.
