The Streak, Dell's first tablet, came to America this summer after a European launch.
But is it really a tablet? With a five-inch touchscreen, the Streak is more like an oversized smartphone than a true iPad rival. It can make phone calls, but reviewers have complained that the device's size makes it awkward to hold to the ear.
The Streak comes loaded with a fast processor, GPS and a 5-megapixel camera with dual-LED flash. Users can connect to the Internet over 3G or Wi-Fi.
The Streak was one of the first Android tablets to hit the market, and it paid a price for being early: The gadget launched on Android 1.6 (known as "Donut"), several iterations behind the current state-of-the-art Android 2.2 ("Froyo"). And Google has warned that even its most recent Android operating system isn't optimized yet for anything but smartphones.
Dell founder Michael Dell showed off a prototype of a seven-inch tablet recently at Oracle's OpenWorld summit in San Francisco, but details were slim. Currently available for purchase only on Dell's website, the Streak will get more consumer visibility next month when Best Buy begins stocking it in its retail shops.
But Dell's main tablet target looks to be enterprise buyers, not consumers. It recently unveiled a batch of applications for health care providers, including built-in tools and software for working with electronic medical records.
NEXT: Lenovo LePad
