The latest buzz online is that Dell is planning to unveil a tablet PC, possibly using the gala Consumer Electronics Shows in Las Vegas next month for its debut. The details provided by gadget site Pocket-lint are a little bare, but the technology zeitgeist is tablet-obsessed at the moment, so the rumor is raising plenty of eyebrows.

The device is supposed to sport a 5-inch screen (not exactly tablet-esque dimensions) and run on Google’s Android platform. The report said the gadget will be introduced in the U.K. next year.

Dell declined to comment.

Dell recently announced its entry into the smartphone market with its Mini 3 smartphone in China and Brazil. It has also formed a new business unit to focus on developing mobile and communications devices of “various screen sizes,” including mobile Internet devices (or MIDs), as a spokesman said last week.

Of course, the world is patiently awaiting the arrival of Apple’s never-confirmed-but-presumably-game-chan ging tablet, which many expect to see next year.

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