Tech Olive

In March of last year, Dell discontinued the crazy-thin Adamo XPS laptop, but then brought it back days later. This time, the company has decided to completely oust the entire Adamo lineup. The reason? Too expensive. The Adamo packed a Core 2 Duo processor with a solid state drive and 3G capabilities all inside an aluminum casing that was only 0.65 inches thick and weighed around four pounds. It also started at a steep $2,000.

As far as Dell starting up another ultra-portable laptop line, we can’t say it’s impossible, but hardly unlikely.

via [CNET]

Seriously, Dell? You break our hearts and then say it was all just a big misunderstanding:

When folks discovered we had removed the Adamo XPS from online a couple of weeks ago there was some speculation that we had discontinued the product – this is not the case.  Demand for the Adamo XPS has been strong both online and in retail, where customers are able to see the amazing and award-winning design in person.  To avoid customer issues with longer lead times for online purchases, our intent was to point customers to key retail partners until we were able to build up sufficient supply.

via [Direct2Dell]

Dell’s proudest laptop creation is no more, no longer. The Adamo XPS has been given the axe after only four months of existence. A lot of us our scratching our heads as to why the 0.4-inch thick, flagship notebook from Dell was booted shortly after its launch. It seemed like Dell put a lot of money and energy into marketing this thing. Dell had this to say as to why they ended the notebook’s life:

“It [Adamo XPS] has not been “discontinued” as such, but was meant to be a proof point to Dell’s design and engineer capabilities. Because of this, it was similar to a “limited edition”, and most of the original supply has since been accounted for.”

So, it seems that Dell just wanted to show off their mad skills, but I think I would be more impressed if Dell actually continued with the XPS, showing that they could provide support for the device and continue to improve it.

via [CrunchGear]

Through an FCC filing, Dell will apparently upgrade their Mini 10 netbook to include the Intel WiFi-Link 6250, which has 4G WiMAX and 802.11n on a single chipset. This upgrade will be replacing the current 3G and 802.11g. No other details have been given yet and we’re not sure what other upgrades the Mini 10 will have, but we’ll hopefully find out real soon.

via [Wireless Goodness]

Dell has unveiled a newer version of their Precision M6500. It now can sport dual-core i5 or i7 processors and comes equipped with USB 3.0. The M6500 also houses a 3.2-megapixel webcam, 64GB SSD mini card, 17-inch LED display, 3G modem and Nvidia Quadro graphics.

The dual-core versions are said to be available later this month, but price details have yet to be announced.

via [Electronista]

We’ve been hearing many things about Dell’s Mini 3i smartphone and we were wondering if they were merely just trying out the mobile market, but it looks like they’re going full throttle because they’re creating their own communications group with a former Motorola executive to head it up.

It’ll be interesting to see how they do since they’re starting out awfully late, but then again, HTC came out of no where just recently and are doing fairly well.

via [WSJ]

Dell’s new Adamo XPS, their slimmest laptop, is now on sale on their website starting at $1,799. The base configuration sports a 1.4GHz Core 2 Duo, a 128GB solid state drive, 13.4-inch WLED display, a 2MP camera, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, GS45 integrated graphics, WiFi and a Ethernet via a USB adapter. While the laptop is accepting orders, it’s not shipping until December 22nd.

[Dell]

On the day that Windows 7 hits the store shelves, Dell will be releasing their ultra-thin laptop known as the Adamo XPS. The 0.39-inch laptop will cost $2,000 and will feature a “heat-sensing strip on the lip that, when swiped with a finger, glows white and automatically opens the aluminum lid.” Details are pretty scarce at this point, but we hop to see more within the next few days.

via [Business Week]

Today at FiReGlobal, Dell CEO Michael Dell confirmed that the company would be releasing their own smartphone in 2010. Details are slim at this point, but the Android platform is a possibility as well as AT&T as a carrier. Dell also said that they’re staying open at this point about features and they’ll have to see how the market plays out. More specifically watching what Windows Mobile 7 will do.

via [mocoNews]

With Windows 7 nearing release, it seems everyone is looking forward to it due to its speed and stability advantages over Vista. But Dell says there’s one problem with Windows 7, and it could be a big one.

“If there’s one thing that may influence adoption, make things slower, or cause customers to pause, it’s that generally the average selling price of the operating systems are higher than they were for Vista and XP.” –Darrel Ward, director of product management for Dell’s business client product group.

Ward also mentions that due to tough economic times, it’s “naive” for Microsoft to increase its prices and still see increased sales.

“I can tell you that the licensing tiers at retail are more expensive than they were for Vista,” Ward said.

Ward did note that the momentum behind Windows 7 is much bigger than it was with Vista and driver readiness looks “pretty healthy.”