AT&T Dell Streak owners in the United States, take heart: your
update to Android 2.2 (Froyo) is “hopefully” arriving in mid-January. For
months, users have questioned when the 5-inch tablet PC, released earlier this
year running Android 1.6, would receive the operating-system upgrade.
“We continue to roll out the over-the-air update to Streak
devices outside the United States since we started the process last month,”
Lionel Menchaca, a spokesperson for Dell, wrote
in a Dec. 9 posting on the Direct2Dell corporate blog. “The reality is that
there are a lot of moving parts in the mobile space. Offering a product like
Streak means working with multiple carriers in multiple regions. Many times
that translates into multiple timetables.”
Those customers who purchased the Streak for $299 through
AT&T can expect to receive that Android 2.2 update within the coming weeks.
Dell first announced the upgrade in mid-November, with a roadmap that saw
unlocked Streaks receiving Android 2.2 after that date. A
Nov. 15 corporate blog post suggested that Streaks locked to a specific carrier
would receive the updates later in December, “as we work with our carrier
partners for technical approval.” A new January target, of course, represents a
slight pushback from that original date.
“Customers in the United States who own AT&T
SIM-locked versions of the phone will hopefully begin seeing the Froyo update
sometime next month,” Menchaca added. “In the meantime, we continue to work
with AT&T to push this through.”
Dell
recently sent eWEEK a Streak installed with Android 2.2, albeit without a
SIM card. The device’s 5-inch screen and 7.7-ounce form-factor may prove a bit
too cumbersome for users in the market for a smartphone, and too small for
those looking for a pure tablet PC. Nonetheless, Android 2.2 runs on the device
with similar smoothness to rival devices, and those who want a smaller
tablet—with the ability to place the occasional phone call—could very well find
the Streak suits their needs. Dell offers the Streak for $550 unlocked.
In a September presentation at Oracle OpenWorld, CEO
Michael Dell offered a sneak peek at a 7-inch tablet PC. That device could
appear on store shelves in 2011, although the Dell remains tight-lipped about
exact release dates and prices. In addition to the tablets themselves, Dell has
suggested his company could also profit from the new market segment’s increased
need for servers and other hardware.
“There has to be servers and storage to support all the data
that is being pulled by users, and this is an exciting opportunity for us,” he
told an audience during a summer conference for financial analysts.
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