Dell Streak 7 Android tablet on sale for £299

Dell has added to its tablet portfolio with a 7in Android device, as the firm looks to get the jump on the business-oriented BlackBerry PlayBook.

The Streak 7 comes with a WVGA capacitive multi-touch display made from Corning Gorilla Glass and sports a 800 x 480 resolution.

Dell ships the 453g tablet with a 1GHz dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 processor, 16GB of internal memory and SD, MMC and SDHC memory card support.

Other key hardware features include Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, a 5-megapixel camera on the rear and a front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera to allow for conference calling.

Despite the device being preloaded with the now dated Android 2.2 Froyo operating system, useful applications are still present. The virtual keyboard messaging app Swype is pre-loaded, as is support for Adobe Flash Player 10.1 and Microsoft Exchange.

The 3G models will also support text messaging and multimedia messaging, but will not allow voice calling like the original Dell Streak.

Dell confirmed to V3.co.uk that the device will be upgradable over the air, but it is unknown which version of Android will be issued.

"The new Dell Streak 7 is based on the Android 2.2 platform, and has been designed to accommodate an upgrade. However, Google has yet to announce the hardware requirements for Honeycomb, so we cannot confirm if we'll offer an upgrade at this time," Dell said in a statement.

"We want to ensure our customers receive an experience that's been optimally tested and provides a great out-of-box experience. We'll share further details about any upgrade plans once they're available."

This has echoes of the original 5in Dell Streak, which was shipped with soon-to-be outdated Android 1.6 software. Users had to wait three months for the 2.1 update to be rolled out to their devices.

The uncertainty around the Honeycomb upgrade for the Streak 7 could put off potential users, who may opt to invest in the forthcoming Motorola Xoom or Samsung 8.9in Galaxy Tab Honeycomb devices instead.

The Dell Streak 7 Wi-Fi model is available now from the Dell web site priced at £299. The 3G model is due to launch later this spring, with pricing still to be confirmed.