It’s a phone. No, it’s a tablet. No, it’s the Dell Streak. I’ve had one in my hands for a week, and I’m impressed with the form factor. I never realized how much I wanted a slightly-larger display on my smartphone, but now that it’s here there is no way I can go back to a tiny screen.
Below, I answer a few questions I’ve been asked about the Streak recently (or questions I’d like answered if I hadn’t been testing one).
Does it fit in my pocket?
Yes, comfortably. But that really doesn’t matter because it is never in my pocket.
Who needs a new data device?
You do. Is there a reason you can’t get your corporate email on your phone now? Maybe you can, but can you also stream video of product demonstrations to your customers? Can you access your company’s internal sales and data tools when you need them?
One device can’t be great at everything.
Like my manager says (he’s Canadian), “Bob’s your uncle.” If you are like me, you spend most of your time each weekday focused on one thing: work. And this is where a device that is only a phone first fails – I do occasionally need access to my phone, but mostly I need to get things done. Not just read, but interact, organize, browse sophisticated web apps like SFDC. These are things that a Blackberry or iPhone just can’t do.
So how will Dell make this device so much more effective?
We’ve provided the platform, and now our customers are helping us do the rest. There is a lot of internal buzz about creative customer use of the Streak and I look forward to sharing these with you as our customers deploy them. Stepping back, Dell now has a complete range of hardware, software, hosting and consulting services to help customers deploy our products any way they want.
- Scalable and affordable infrastructure: check.
- Connected appliance solutions: check.
- Super thin and secure client: check.
- Extremely mobile devices interacting with your private (or public) cloud . . . check.
Over the coming months, I’ll post updates on some of the more creative uses our OEM customers have come up with for the Streak.
Now ask yourself – will one of these uses be yours? Or your competitor’s?