Dell confirmed at an analyst presentation that it is working with several operators to launch a range of smartphones, with the company's consumer division boss Ronald Garriques suggesting that netbooks may also be on the agenda.

This appears to confirm previous reports that Dell is planning to use Android as the OS for its smartphone range, as Google's platform can also be used for netbooks.

Meanwhile, Digitimes reports that Acer will launch four smartphones in the fourth quarter of this year: one based on Android and three based on Windows Mobile.

Neither company's mobile ambitions come as a surprise, but it remains to be seen whether they will take the purely hardware focus that their backgrounds may hint at, or if they'll place an equal emphasis on content and apps, as the likes of Apple, Nokia and Sony Ericsson are doing.

Of course, focusing more on hardware may help Dell and Acer to get carrier deals, if they're happy to leave the content side of things to the operators.