Dell Sets Streak SIM-Free In UK

Dell has announced it is making its latest Streak tablet device available unlocked and SIM-free in the UK for £449.

The move comes barely three weeks after the PC maker launched its Android-based tablet in the UK on a variety of contract tariffs, available from O2 and Carphone Warehouse, starting at £25 a month.

Still more affordable than iPad

But this new SIM-free offer means even eager pay-as-you-go customers could have bought the device direct from Dell Europe without network lock-in for a mere £50 more, interest-free until 2011. This brings the Dell device more into line with the pricing of Apple’s iPad.

Dell’s iPad rival has a 5-inch (12.7 cm) WVGA (800 x 400) multi-touch display, powered by the latest ARM based 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and running Google’s Android mobile operating system platform with a proprietary Dell-designed user interface.

It also features a 5 megapixel autofocus digital camera with dual LED flash and webcam, as well as an accessible MicroSD memory card for future storage expansion (which are features Apple’s iPad lacks).

IDC analyst, Susan Kevorkian, predicted strong consumer demand for such media tablets from consumers at the time the Dell Streak was launched, “strongly driven by the number and variety of compatible third-party apps for content and services”.