Hints about Dell Smartphone are building up

umors have been swirling around,  Wired reported the PC maker Dell may be readying its own smartphone, to arrive as early as next month. The announcement is expected the Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona in mid-February 2009.,

"The exact timing of Dell’s launch is not clear but our sources indicate it is closer to reality than before," says Shaw Wu, an analyst with Kaufman Bros. in a research note. "We believe it is likely inevitable that Dell enter the cellphone space given the cannibalization of PCs by smartphones and highly functional mobile devices."

Today, the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) adds more speculation about Dell secret Smartphone by unveiling that Dell has had a group of engineers working on the phones for more than a year from an office in the Chicago area. WSJ quoted sources close to the plans states both prototypes are running  Google Android and Microsoft Windows Mobile OS. From the form factor, there will be  a model with touch screen but no physical keyboard and the other is a slider-style device with a keypad that slides out from under the screen.