Rumors of Dell playing a role in the smartphone industry have been around for what seems like ages, but each time the fire dies down, another can of lighter fluid emerges to get us all wondering again. In a recent interview with Om Malik, the bigwig had more than a few interesting things to say on the computing industry as a whole. Still, what intrigued us wasn't the talk about being a founder or changing up Dell's game in order to rebound -- no, it was Michael's remarks on the handset sector. When asked if there was a "desire" on its part to work with Android or Symbian, Mr. Dell stated that the company "is kind of working on that," although it wasn't ready to "publicly disclose" plans. Granted, he also asked us "not to expect anything anytime soon" when referring to a phone, but would you really expect any CEO with a trick up his / her sleeve to say anything different?

Palm Infocenter is reporting that the codename being thrown around internally in reference to its Linux based next-gen operating system is "Nova." The phrase "no va" in Spanish literally translates to "not going," but wait -- it gets better: we're also hearing that Nova is being tested on the Zeppelin device, a type of airship with a reputation for crashing and burning back in the day. Now look, we'd love to see Palm pull out of its tailspin just as much as the next guy and wow us with some hot, new software on top of hot, new hardware, but this naming convention isn't doing it any favors, now is it?

We've just gotten out of a meeting with Thomas Eriksson, co-founder and CTO of Neonode, and we've learned some very exciting information about the company's newest, as-yet-unannounced phones. We were shown designs of the mobile-maker's next lineup of devices, including an iPhone-esque model called "Earth" which has been confirmed for production (though Thomas insisted that some features and design would change, of course). The phone will feature a 2.9-inch, true 16:9 ratio infrared touchscreen (an updated version of the Neonode N2's touch surface), HSPA connectivity, and will operate on five separate frequency bands (a first as far as we can tell), allowing 3G use in both Europe and the US. However, the most interesting thing that we were shown was a live prototype of the company's latest OS, which blows the doors off of previous iterations. The new interface is a much more robust platform, featuring a homescreen made up of a number of small widget-like icons, all updating live with things like RSS feeds, phone logs, weather, and mail. The UI is still meant to be operated via one hand, though Thomas confirmed that the device would sport a virtual QWERTY keyboard, and would deliver more PIM / smartphone features than we've seen from them in the past. The design of the interface is still being tweaked, but it looks very contemporary to current and future phone OSs we've been seeing, with lots of nice shading and alpha layers. From the little we peeped, this platform could be a contender if handled correctly -- Thomas told us that Neonode had plans underway to partner with carriers in the US, so stay tuned to this space for more info.

There just wouldn't be balance in the world if a select few didn't come out and starkly disagree with the obvious, right? Somehow, a number of analysts have managed to overlook the smorgasbord of hints, clues and signs that Google is indeed working up some form of software (or hardware) for the mobile realm, and moreover, they're speaking out to denounce the possibility. Specifically, Ken Dulaney, an analyst at Gartner, made himself a target by stating that "building an OS is the dumbest thing [Google] could do," and he even led us to believe that he's a developer in a parallel universe by announcing that "cellular telephone code is probably the hardest code to write per line of code for anything." Still, we're beyond the point of wanting Google to come out of the woodwork and say something, but considering the numerous reports claiming that the search giant is indeed in talks with select carriers, it's hard impossible to believe that there's nothing going on behind the scenes.

That sound you're hearing is the collective sigh from everyone patiently waiting for Palm to actually get its act together and unveil its depressingly overdue Linux mobile OS. Yet again, it seems we've been fooled into believing that Palm actually had its ducks in a proverbial row, as BrightHand is now reporting that Palm CEO Ed Colligan recently announced on a conference call that "products based on the new Linux-based platform won't be available until some time next year." Interestingly enough, Colligan also insinuated that the firm would "continue to use Windows Mobile and Garnet OS / Palm OS II for the foreseeable future." Wait, they can actually see some light at the end of this perpetually growing tunnel? We sure as hell can't.

If you've been staring longingly at that poor, disabled push-to-talk button on the side of your Cingular-branded Hermes, wondering just when -- if ever -- you'd be able to annoy friends and family alike with Nextel-like ease, it seems your time has nearly come. Sources tell us that a firmware update will grace the 8525 on or around April 25 (yes, of 2007), bringing an enabled PTT button, AT&T branding to match the BlackJack's, and a mixed bag of fixes for bugs in the current firmware. The same source is telling us to expect our Windows Mobile 6 upgrade come Q3 of this year, so if the April 25 date holds up, we'd say that bodes well.

[Thanks, anonymous tipster]

Managing one smartphone operating system can bring even the most technically competent folks among us to their knees -- but how about two? Intel and NTT DoCoMo have put their noggins together to draw up a standard for dual-booting two platforms on a handset: one of the manufacturer's / carrier's choosing, and another at the user's discretion. Apparently, the standard will ensure that if one OS crashes, the other will still be usable, and calls will be able to be placed and received regardless how badly the user fubars the installation. While we'd like this to ultimately lead to Treo 750s with multiple personality disorder, we suspect the whole initiative will ultimately be restricted to a handful of NTT DoCoMo specials.

[Via The Inquirer and WM247]

Symbian, Windows Mobile, ALP, and NTT DoCoMo's Linux consortium apparently aren't enough, and KDDI's thinking there's room for at least one more mobile platform in the world. The Japanese carrier has rounded up Qualcomm, Sanyo, and Toshiba to get cracking on a brand new OS with initial commercial availability coming toward the end of 2007. The platform, which KDDI would presumably like to eventually drop on most or all of its models, will include the operating system itself plus software for messaging, "wireless applications," and "running cameras." We reckon these folks' efforts would be better spent hooking up with NTT DoCoMo on their platform, but corporate egos being what they are -- well, let's just say we don't see KDDI jumping on that bandwagon any time soon.

[Via The Register]