September 3 - 3:55pm EDT   Dell isn't planning to again produce its own smartphones or similar handheld devices "in the near term," company chief Michael Dell said today at the Citi Technology Conference. The founder of the Texas PC maker shot down rumors of an upcoming return to the field and describes any possible move in the future as the eventual reality of the computing industry rather than a deliberate effort on the part of Dell to compete in the smartphone business. [full story]

March 19 - 9:15am EDT   Dell is resurrecting its handheld business in the wake of Acer's buyout of E-TEN, market contacts have claimed. Although Dell has repeatedly denied smartphone rumors that have surfaced over the past few months, new information suggests the Texas PC maker wants to return to the Windows Mobile device market it abandoned when it cancelled the Axim last year in a bid to prevent Acer from gaining marketshare in that space. Rather than offer strict PDA-only functions, however, the new Dell handhelds would offer both GPS mapping and smartphone features. [full story]

January 31 - 3:10pm EST   Dell today denied claims that it would release a phone developed with Google at next month's Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona. Company spokeswoman Anne Camden explains that Dell neither has any product to announce at the event nor has any plans to attend. The official did not explicitly confirm or deny the possibility of a phone at any point in the future, making any announcement unlikely until considerably later in the year at the earliest. [full story]

January 30 - 1:25pm EST   Both Google and Dell are collaborating on a handset, says a new claim by ad magazine MarketingWeek. Reportedly contacting "senior industry sources," the publication believes that the two firms will announce a phone as soon as the Mobile World Congress show in mid-February. Few details are available of the purported development, though the device would most likely be powered by Google's Linux-based Android mobile operating system and may serve as a vehicle for promoting the software to other handset makers. [full story]