Dell Streak launches exclusively on O2

The Streak costs £399 on a pay-as-you-go deal from O2

The Android-powered Dell Streak has gone on sale in the UK exclusively through mobile operator O2.

The tablet, which doubles as a smartphone, is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon chipset and 1GHz processor, and will support the Adobe Flash 10.1 upgrade on Android 2.2.

It comes with a 5in WVGA (800 x 480) screen with multi-touch capabilities, a 5-megapixel camera and 16GB of MicroSD storage, upgradable to 32GB.

The Streak ships with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and 3G, and offers access to Google Maps with turn-by-turn navigation, street and satellite views, as well as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

Francisco Jeronimo, research manager for European mobile devices at analyst firm IDC, said that the release of the Streak is a good move for Dell and will help to bridge the gap between smartphones and netbooks.

"Being first to market is always important. Dell was having problems breaking into the smartphone market, but the Streak should help the manufacturer to establish itself in this sector," he said.

"It is likely that we will see a number of tablets coming out this year. They will no doubt be useful to businesses, and it won't be surprising if many enterprises invest in such products."

Dell's Streak comes to market at a time when the iPad is proving extremely popular. However, Jeronimo argued that the Streak is more portable and is more likely to be used on the move, while the iPad is bigger and will be used by consumers primarily at home.

Prices from O2 vary from free on a monthly contract, to £399 for the Pay & Go option.