Dell is getting ready now on entering the smartphone market. According to WSJ, a dedicated group of engineers is producing prototypes built on Google’s Android operating system and Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Mobile software.

Dell is focusing on so-called smartphones, higher-end devices that include features like Web browsing and email. One model includes a touchscreen but no physical keyboard, like Apple Inc.’s iPhone. Another is a slider-style phone with a keypad and that slides from beneath the screen, one person familiar with the devices said.

Dell hasn’t finalized its plans and may still abandon the effort, which would pit it against such powerhouses as Apple and Research In Motion Ltd. A Dell spokesman said the company hasn’t disclosed plans to offer phones, adding: “We haven’t committed to anything.”

AlleyInsider wrote that Dell is supposedly calling its phone “MePhone” (perhaps its code name?) and it’ll go on sale on Sept. 9 — 9/9/09.

[via Atmasphere]