Dell, the computer and services company which recently announced it will acquire Perot Systems, is also getting into the smartphone market – but using Google’s, not Microsoft’s, software.

The company is understood to be preparing to launch the phone next year on AT&T’s network, which already carries the Apple iPhone.

It will be launching into an increasingly crowded market, presently dominated by Apple and RIM, which makes the BlackBerry. However Google’s Android platform, launched only last year, is making inroads, partly because it carries no licensing costs and can be tweaked by phone makers as they wish.

[via guardian.co.uk]