Dell to launch a China-only cell phone

BEIJING, CHINA: Dell will soon launch a China-only cell phone. The Chinese news portal 163.com reported that the  device will be an Android-powered "phone" called the mini3i.

According to the report, the China Mobile, the world’s biggest carrier, will distribute the device and plans to launch it as early as “in the middle of this month” (which could mean any day this week). China Mobile plans to establish Ophone as a new brand and sell a number of devices from different makers under it. Apart from Dell, Lenovo and another Chinese company called Dopod are expected to release Ophones in the next few days.

Tech portal Mobile Crunch reported on Sunday that all Ophones will support TD-SCDMA (Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access), a China-only 3G standard, which means it will be hard to get the Dell Ophone to work outside China.