Dell's Streak tablet PC will receive its Android 2.2 "Froyo" update starting Nov. 15. The Streak's competition includes both the Apple iPad and Samsung Galaxy Tab.
Dell's Streak tablet will receive its long-awaited Android 2.2 (Froyo)
update starting Nov. 15. Although the Streak was one of the first Android
tablets to hit the market, its operating system seemed increasingly outdated in
comparison to rival devices slated to arrive on store shelves.
"An OTA (over-the-air) update will be available to customers who
purchased their Streaks as unlocked units. These units will be upgraded first
because they do not have to go through the carrier approval process,"
reads a Nov. 15 posting on
the
Direct2Dell corporate blog. "The rollout of the upgrade will be
gradual with different regions and versions of Donut and ??½clair updated over
the weeks following November
15, 2010."
Dell Streaks locked to a specific carrier will receive updates later in
December, "as we work with our carrier partners for technical approval."
The blog posting also includes a step-by-step guide to prepare for the
update, including backup of any data on the Streak.
The 5-inch Streak straddles the line between consumer tablet and smartphone.
It retails for $300 with a two-year AT&T contract, and for $550 unlocked.
During a recent Hong Kong event, Dell CEO
Michael Dell hinted that the Streak will be the first of many tablet products.
"We're going to have a significant number of new tablets in the next
year," Dell told a press conference, according to
a Nov. 2 Reuters
report. "There're lots of debate about the size of the market, who's
buying these devices, and those questions always emerge when there's a new form
factor."
Dell had previously unveiled a 7-inch Android tablet Sept. 22 at Oracle
OpenWorld. However, details about that device's cost or release date remain
scarce. Michael Dell's suggestion of a 2011 release date runs contrary to
a
September report in The Wall Street Journal, which indicated the company
would launch the 7-inch Streak within "the next few weeks."
Whether or not the Dell Streak succeeds in the tablet arena, Dell plans to
profit from burgeoning interest in the devices. During a summer conference for
financial analysts, Michael Dell suggested that higher tablet sales would
result in an increased need for Dell's 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 analysts at the event.
However, the Streak also faces a number of robust competitors. In addition
to the Apple iPad, manufacturers such as Samsung and Research In Motion are
working on tablets that will hit the market either later this year or in early
2011.
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