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All posts tagged "streak"


Thursday, November 11, 2010

Dell Goes Streaking With Rogers

Posted by Hooch Tan in "Laptop Thoughts News" @ 02:00 PM

http://en.community.dell.com/dell-b...unications.aspx

"With this rollout, Canada joins the UK, the United States, Australia and India to become the most recent country where we've officially launched it. What’s a Dell Streak? This unique pocket tablet offers some of the best on-the-go entertainment, navigation and social connectivity in a pocket friendly size."

For those of you who looking for some tablet love but do not want to go with an iPad, there are plenty of options, among which, the Streak seems to be gaining a lot of attention. The good? It offers a lot of tablet-like goodness. The bad? It is an interesting size which might not suit a lot of people. It is also curiously sticking with Android 1.6. The worst? It is only available through Rogers in Canada. I will not object to Rogers as a provider, though like any provider in Canada, I have heard numerous complaints, but it would have been nice to see it available through other providers as well. Still, with the holidays soon approaching, I expect that I will be seeing quite a few of these around town. Of course, one does not really need an excuse to get a new toy, right?


Tuesday, August 17, 2010

An Early Review of the Dell Streak

Posted by Michael Knutson in "Dell Streak" @ 09:30 PM

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/re...l_streak_review

"The Dell Streak is born into a hardware environment that desperately needs an Android-based tablet-or any kick-ass tablet that doesn't run Apple's "stop it now before it borgs the free world" iOS. Our current tally shows no fewer than 30 touch-operated tablets that could be launching in the next six months, and the majority of this freshman class of iPad killers will probably be running Google's mobile operating system."

This review rates the Streak as an average tablet, but as a pretty darned good (if huge) Smartphone. Simply holding the Streak up to an ear takes the author (and me) back to the early days of mobile phone bricks - it's really big. Using it as a tablet, some of the oft-described software quirkiness makes for a less than stellar experience, for example, web browsing on this 5-inch screen using the smallish on-screen keyboard. On the plus side, comparing the Streak to some typical Smartphones, its feature-set scores well.

I thought about getting a Streak, but rumors of upcoming models with larger screens (also from Dell) have convinced me to wait. That, and the fact that I need a tablet computer that runs Excel and Word ... meaning Windows in some flavor.


Friday, August 13, 2010

Dell Streak Arrives ...

Posted by Michael Knutson in "Dell Streak" @ 08:00 AM

http://www.dell.com/content/product...429498-RX82P-v1

"We fit the whole world into a 5-inch screen. Introducing the Dell Streak. The perfectly-sized, go-anywhere entertainment, social connection and navigation device."

The ordering process is open today for "pre-registered" users, and begins tomorrow (14-Aug-2010) for everyone else. Prices start at $299.99 USD with AT&T two-year contract activation, or $549.99 USD without a contract and without accessories. The Streak can be purchased without a contract. The voice plans start at $39.99 USD monthly for 450 "w/Rollover" minutes, the data plans start at $15.00 USD monthly for 200MB of data, and the 2GB plan will cost $25.00 USD monthly. No unlimited data plans are available on new contracts.

Reviews on Dell's site are mostly from UK users, but are generally positive. Plusses include Web browsing, the high quantity and quality of Android apps and screen size and clarity; minuses mostly surround battery life, the old Android version (1.6), and speaker quality. There are also lots of comments about this device being perfect in size between an iPhone and an iPad, and lots of comments from "switchers." Can't wait for some more local reviews to start appearing!


Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Dell Streak Priority Pre-Sale Ordering Begins August 12, 2010

Posted by Michael Knutson in "Dell Streak" @ 02:00 PM

http://www.dell.com/mobile

"Orders for the Dell Streak Tablet open up for U.S. priority pre-sale registrants at www.dell.com/mobile this Thursday, August 12. General availability follows a day later at www.dell.com/mobile. The Dell Streak is available for $299.99 with new two-year AT&T contract†, and $549.99 without. Customers who purchase the Streak, and signed up during the pre-sale program, will receive a free second-day shipping upgrade. Customers who redeem their pre-sale coupon can purchase a Plantronics Bluetooth earpiece for 99 cents while supplies last."

image credit: erictric.com

Delayed a couple weeks in the USA, ordering for the Dell Streak opens on August 12, 2010 for priority pre-sale registrants (click here to pre-register), giving you a 24-hour head-start on the general public. Lots of buzz about this 5-inch tablet -- shipping with Android 1.6 but expected to be upgradeable to Android 2.1 -- coming in the near future. Let the competition begin!


Thursday, July 22, 2010

A Winning Streak for Dell?

Posted by Michael Knutson in "Dell Laptops & Netbooks" @ 07:00 PM

http://blog.laptopmag.com/can-dell-...on-a-hot-streak

"How does a PC maker entering the smart phone space for the first time make a splash? Make a device so large other people can't help but ask "What the heck is that?" To be fair, Dell positions its new 5-inch Streak as a tablet that happens to make calls. But that hasn't stopped people from comparing it to a waffle or a Pop Tart (it's bigger than the latter) while holding it up to their head. The good news is that the Streak is a well-designed slate, complete with a front-facing camera for video calls, and it's the first Android tablet that can access the Android Market."

This tablet is definitely an enigma. It's getting lots of press, despite the fact that it's coming to market being powered by an old version of Android, and has hardware that is not yet being fully utilized or exploited. As an integral part of Dell's future mobile strategy, one can only hope that updates will be fast and furious, and that content will be available for the 5-inch screen. If not, it may unfortunately end up as more of a blur than a streak.


Yet Another Dell Streak Review

Posted by Chris Gohlke in "Dell Streak" @ 04:30 AM

http://www.laptopmag.com/review/cel...eak.aspx?page=1

"Ultimately, the Streak is a niche device that does some things well. We especially like it as a navigator, and it's a good web surfing companion. It has also has the potential to be a great video player--if Dell makes it easier to transfer content or gets a premium content parter in place. We like the Streak, but we wouldn't pay much more for this hybrid than a high-end Android phone until Dell works out some of the bugs and upgrades to a newer version of the OS."

I'm surprised a lot of the reviewers are not finding issue with the relatively low resolution (800 x 480) for the large screen. From what I've read, a lot of the OS components are scaled down to a lower resolution so that you get more stuff on the screen, but I kind of think that is cheating. Something everyone seems to agree on though is that it is an awful shame to have Cupcake rather than a more recent build of Android on such a unique device.

Tags: dell, slate, streak

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Dell's Giant Streak TabletPhone ...

Posted by Michael Knutson in "Dell Laptops & Netbooks" @ 03:30 PM

http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/20/...-the-new-world/

"If you've been following the ongoing saga of Dell's Streak, you've probably already read our review of O2 UK's version -- thing is, the British perspective can be very different from the Yankee one (we didn't see eye-to-eye during the War of 1812, for instance). To that end, we wanted to circle back now that the gargantuan Android beast is finally coming close to a US release and get another quick take."

Thinking back to the days when I had a Nokia N810 Tablet, I really wished that it had phone capabilities. Dell's Streak is an Android 1.6 TabletPhone with an 800x480 5-inch screen, and is only 10mm thick. It supports quad-band EDGE, and 3G for AT&T, Rogers, Bell and Telus. T-Mobile 3G? Sorry. EDGE only. This giant has 2GB internal storage, comes bundled with a 16GB MicroSDHC card, and is powered by a Snapdragon 1GHz processor.

Is this perhaps "The One" that we've been awaiting? Unfortunately, early reviews point to No. Android is three versions behind, and Dell's customizations and tweaks don't make up the difference. Some annoyances? The home screen is landscape only. No dedicated hardware search button. Notifications no longer via down-swipe. No Android multitouch, although Dell has added some customizations to the UI. Unimpressive virtual keyboard. No trashcan on the home screen. The screen ripples when pressed moderately hard, indicating some stress on the glass. Camera and video mediocre, sound quality also mediocre. And, a proprietary connector/charger rather than microUSB.

Great potential, but the target market (power users and road warriors) probably won't like Dell's design decisions. Here's hoping that the hacker community makes a nice, clean Android 2.2 build available for this monster - the sooner the better.


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