Update: Dell has finally admitted that it's developing mobile devices for China Mobile.

Dell's Andrew Bowins told Reuters that his company is "developing products that will work on China Mobile's network but declined comment on the type of devices or the timing"

The Mini3i runs the Android-based Open Mobile System (OMS), and according to the report, was shown at China Mobile's event for its new application platform.

The write-up goes on to say that two volume adjustment keys and a mini USB port are on the left side of the capacitive touchscreen, which has a resolution of 360 by 640. The back of the phone has a large Dell logo, Micro SD card slot, and 3.2Mp camera with what looks an LED light.

Still no word on an official release date, but if you're China, it looks like you won't have to wait long. [Mobile-163 (translated) via Cloned in China via Engadget]

Apparently the "Ophone" moniker is part of a wider initiative by Chine Mobile, which is using it as an umbrella brand for its blossoming Android line, which will share the company's customized, China-centric Android modifications. HTC is expected to join in with their own Ophone as well, which could help explain where the hell the HTC Click came from all the sudden.

But back to the mini3i: What will it look like? The device pictured above was briefly assumed to be Dell's first Android phone a few months back—a rumor that was quickly shot down by the WSJ, who said, with similarly questionable sourcing, that the device was actually an Android PMP. But here we are, with no new info on this alleged PMP and a straight confirmation of an Android phone from a reputable Chinese news source. Just sayin'! [163 via Mobilecrunch]

It has apps that you would (hopefully) expect from an Android smartphone, such as weather, calendar and it even has push notification. Changing panels seems to be a visual feast with its cube-like interface. There's also on-screen widgets. Considering its other specs, I think I'll ask my friend to pick one up when he's in China. Um, do you think my lack of knowledge of Chinese would be a problem?

[modmyGPhone]

Rounded square icons against a black background? It's like they're not even trying to differentiate themselves. Also iPhone like - you slide your finger across the screen to move to the next page of apps.

As a play on their name, the pointer icon is in the shape of an "o." Cute, though it looks like there might be some freezing problems in the initial OS build - check out that shadow in the bottom left corner.

There's an included tab for a customizable list that will give you quick access to your favorite programs. It kind of looks like the iPhone's iTunes page to me.

And this is what it looks like when you bring up the call screen. The numerals are nice, big and bold.

Quite honestly, I'm hoping this doesn't turn out to be the oPhone's final OS design. I was looking forward to getting something that had iPhone-like capabilities, but better—not something that's just more of the same (with a few added specs tacked on). If I wanted an iPhone copycat, I'd just buy a Meizu. [I love oPhone]

The OPhone is roughly 1mm bigger than the original iPhone in all dimensions, measuring in at 115.84x61.57x12.03mm. Besides the volume rocker, the OPhone also has its microSD slot on the left side. According to the China bloggers, it'll support microSD cards of up to 16GB.

The phone from the other side. This is supposed to be a dedicated camera button, which I guess makes the OPhone more comfortable to take landscape photos with.

Here's the butt of all three phones. As you can see, the OPhone's placed its headphone jack on its bottom. Also residing down there is the microUSB slot for charging and PC synchronizing. I wonder if that placement choice will render it incompatible with certain speaker docking systems.

On the backside is a removable battery, as well as a flash for the 5MP camera— two things it has on the iPhone. Assuming everything works like it's supposed to, this will be a serious contender to the iPhone and other smartphones. Guess we'll see Q1 next year. Merry Christmas from here in Asia! [Sina Blog]

We knew Lenovo was planning on bringing out one of the first Chinese Android pieces, we just didn't know it would look this nice; we've only this one shot to go on, but already I'm loving those polka dot send/end/clear buttons. And another thing worth noting is that from this single shot, it doesn't look like the OPhone includes a hardware QWERTY, meaning aside from chinese character stylus entry, the China Mobile folks may have taken some steps forward in developing a software touch keyboard for Android.

Unfortunately, importing this thing will be an impossibility, since it runs on China's own proprietary TD-SCDMA 3G network and will likely feature a customized version of Android that incorporates China Mobile's own homegrown apps and services. Still, it's a good carrot to dangle in front of HTC's nose. [ModMyGphone]

Breaking paradigms? That's about the only truth about the oPhone, a goofy phantasyFone that's sure to blow all those other boomerang-shaped cellphones out of the water. If they'd just equip the thing with 3G connectivity rather than the iPhone designers' choice of the woefully slow EDGE network, many people would like it better than the iPhone, no matter how crazy and unusable it is. – Charlie White

The Windows Mobile oPhone Video [InsideMicrosoft]