It hasn't been all that long since we last heard rumors about Dell's supposed plans for a smartphone and already bigwigs at the company are reminding us, that yes, it is indeed building a smartphone.

Ron Garriques, former head of Motorola's Mobile Devices Unit, and current VP of Dell's Consumer Division, yesterday told analysts that the company would "work with the top three to four" carriers "and see what their needs are."

It echoes the words of Michael Dell who in March told attendees at a mobile conference in Japan that the company was exploring smaller screen devices. At the time Dell said, "We don't have any announcements to share today but stay tuned as when we have new news we will share that with you."

Fast forward a couple of months to a June report in the Wall Street Journal which claimed Dell engineers are developing a pocket-sized internet device that will run on Google’s Android operating system. WSJ cited sources that said the device resembled a slightly larger version of Apple's iPod Touch.

However as old as Mr. Garriques words seem, it's interesting to note that the VP said Dell was talking to carriers to "see what their needs are." At the beginning of the year, analysts said that Dell had brought a prototype to carriers but had been turned away because the device was too boring.

A report in the Financial Times says that Garriques also suggested that Dell would try to develop smartphone products for sale in Asia, Europe and the U.S. Read the full report here.

Source : Tom's Hardware US