• August 17, 2009

Dell confirmed Monday that it's working with China Mobile, the country's largest wireless operator, on a new smartphone called the Mini 3i. The announcement, following months of speculation, was made in connection with the launch of the carrier's new Mobile Market online application store offering music, games, videos and other entertainment programs.

The store will support the Dell phone along with 10 other handset models from Nokia, Samsung, HTC and other manufacturers. A Dell China spokesperson declined to provide more details on the Mini 3i, but the device reportedly runs an open operating system based on Google's Android platform.

Rival mobile operator China Unicom has been in talks with Apple to bring the iPhone to China, with speculation online that the device could be introduced there as soon as next month. Apple had reportedly reached a tentative three-year agreement this summer with China Unicom to sell the iPhone in the country, which boasts 700 million cell phone subscribers. --Mark Walsh