Don't hide it. We all share the same moment of reflection accompanying any $500+ smartphone purchase: "Man, I could really use a cheap, new Axim right about now." Say it loud boy, 'cause you might be in luck if DigiTimes' sources are to be believed. According to the Taiwanese rumor rag, Dell is set to "resume its handheld device business" with a focus on Windows Mobile, not Android as previously rumored (though we'd be nuts to rule that out). Sources claim that Foxconn (not Quanta) is preparing to accept handset orders from Dell who is busy organizing its handheld device team under Ron Garriques, the executive VP Michael Dell hired away from Motorola's cellphone division in early 2007. Of course, the industry stood shaking in its Palm OS boots the first time Dell entered the handheld market in 2002 -- a "Palm killer" as Dell's inexpensive and bulky Pocket PCs were then hailed. Now, with Palm all but dead, Dell would enter an entirely different marketplace dominated by premium handsets from the likes of RIM, HTC and that upstart from Cupertino. Following ASUS' resurgent WinMo offerings unveiled at CeBIT and Acer's recent acquisition of E-Ten, we're pretty sure Michael Dell isn't just looking on from Round Rock, fiddling.

As is the custom in these matters, Dell has flatly denied the existence of any product to announce at MWC, and went further on to state that the company doesn't even plan on attending the show. Rumors of a "Gphone" were probably greatly exaggerated to begin with, and now at least the venue has been firmly shot down. That said, there was no explicit denial of an Android-related product (there never is), so the optimistic ones out there can go on hoping for a Dell phone to solve all their problems. Hey, if Garmin can do it, what's stopping them?

[Via Electronista]

Stick this one firmly in the rumor category, since all the verbiage that's been thrown around about this story still traces back to one single source: a slightly ill-informed article done up in MarketingWeek in the UK. The article cites unspecified "senior industry sources," and goes on about how this is Dell and Google working closely together on what is more or less the "Gphone." Since we have no reason to believe Google is going to jeopardize its Android OS by getting extra-friendly with one specific manufacturer, the primary weight we can give to this rumor is that fact that Dell picked up a former Motorola executive, Ron Garriques, to run its Global Consumer Group early last year. Other rumors have cropped up over the years about Dell moving in this direction, so it certainly wouldn't signal the apocalypse if a Dell-branded Android phone does show up at this rumored unveiling at 3GSM, but giving how early on Android is at the moment, we'll believe it when we see it.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]