Dell and Baidu unveil the Baidu Yi powered Dell Streak Pro
Chinese search giant Baidu and American IT company Dell have unveiled their new baby – the Dell Streak Pro – a new Android phone with a difference.
As reported in September Dell and Baidu have been busily working on the Streak Pro which runs on a ‘forked’ version of Android called Baidu Yi. Baidu has an 80% share of the search market in China and the new operating system is partly a move to supplant many of Google’s services which would normally run on an Android phone, such as: search, maps, instant messaging, eBook reader and the Android market place.
According to Dell, China has grown to be the world’s largest phone market, with around 900 million users, and China is a key part of their mobile strategy. In the summer they introduced the Dell Streak 10 tablet, which is now followed by the Dell Streak Pro smartphone.
The Dell Streak Pro will provide some neat features, including the popular Ting music service offering 500,000 tracks for free. The smartphone will also come with 100Gb of integrated cloud storage and a system called SmartBox Search which is a universal search service that simultaneously scans the internet, online music services, Apps, phone contacts and text messages; all from the homescreen.
The operating system should also be compatibile with most Android Apps which could provide a substantial boost to App developers wanting to reach the lucrative Chinese market.
On the physical side, the phone is 10.25 millimetres thick, comes with a 1.5GHz Qualcomm processor and Super AMOLED, 4.3 inch, 960 x 540 screen which incorporates Gorilla Glass for scratch and damaged resistance.
Dell has some strong competition in China as the top vendors include Nokia, Samsung and Apple, however Dell’s president of Greater China, Michael Yang, commented that the American company had partnered with Baidu to offer a handset that would perfectly fit Chinese consumer’s needs.
Dell and Baidu have not announced an official release date, however the smartphone is expected before the Chinese New Year, which falls on 23rd January 2012, and will be available on China’s Unicom network. Pricing is still unknown.
