After five months, Dell Thunder emerges again

The Dell Streak only become available this week, but Android geeks are already foaming at the mouth over the next offering from the PC giant. You may recall that we covered a trio of unannounced Dell smartphones back in April known as the Smoke, Flash, and Thunder. Of the three handsets, the Android 2.1-powered Thunder sounded the most impressive with a 4.1-inch OLED touch display, an 8-megapixel camera, and an "integrated Web video Hulu app." It was due for an October release followed by an LTE version due next year.

Thanks to a couple of anonymous sources, the Thunder resurfaced on Engadget today after more than five months of silence. A handful of images and a very brief video showed us that the prototype phone indeed features an 8-megapixel camera and is on pace for a fourth-quarter release. We also learned that the camera records in 720p HD and the Thunder gets its power from a removable 1,400mAh battery.

Then, just this afternoon, AndroidSpin posted other images that show the phone more clearly and from other angles. To me, these pictures indicate a production-ready design so I'd be surprised if Dell doesn't debut the phone in the coming weeks.

In its short handset history, I've learned that Dell can't keep secrets very long. It took months before the company made any type of formal announcement for the Streak so look for Thunder leaks and rumors to ratchet up a gear.