Dell Inc. will soon introduce a mininotebook computer, people familiar with the matter said, entering into a fast-growing market for inexpensive, no-frills portables that offer Internet capabilities at low prices.
One person familiar with the matter said the new device will likely sell for less than $400. That price range would put the Dell device into competition with products such as the Eee PC from Asustek Computer Inc., which helped define a breed of systems that are sometimes called netbooks.
Dell's product release was described in an email from Box.net, a company that says it will provide online services like photo and document storage that will 'come preinstalled on the Dell Mini,' which Box.net said would be announced Thursday.
Anne Camden, a Dell spokeswoman, confirmed that her company works with Box.net on Web access to online storage.
The people familiar with the new device said it will have a screen size of slightly less than nine inches and will be available with either Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system or a Linux operating system.
Market-research firm Gartner Inc. expects rising sales of low-end mininotebooks and estimated last month that companies would ship 5.2 million of the machines this year, eight million next year and as many as 50 million in 2012. |
