Dell Mini 5 To Be First In Line Of Tablets [Dell GM Of Tablets Reveals They're Aiming At The iPad, Competitive Prices, Bigger Screens]

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Dell’s head of the tablet business sat down with Wired magazine and revealed that the Dell Mini 5 tablet is just the first in the company’s line of tablets, and he minced no words over admitting that they’re gunning for Apple and the iPad.

Michael Dell first leaked the existence of the Dell Mini 5 at the World Economic Forum in Davos last month. We’ve now learned that the device will be just first in a long product line of tablets from Dell. This is according to the General Manager of the tablet division at Dell, Neeraj Choubey.

Choubey hinted that future products in the Dell Mini line (although, that name is still not official, Wired reported) will have bigger screens, and their prices will be competitive. They’re also in talks with telcoms to offer a 3G internet package, like Apple is offering with AT&T and the iPad. Choubey told Wired that AT&T loves the idea of the iPad because now they’re selling more than one 3G/mobile phone subscription per user.

Choubey says that the Dell Mini 5 will surpass the iPad in a few areas. While the iPad will run at 4:3, the Dell Mini 5 will have a 16:9 aspect ratio, which is the native ratio for widescreen HD video content. A market analyst that Wired talked to said that companies like Archos have offered Dell Mini-like tablets for years, and none of them have sold particularly well.

While the Dell Mini 5 won’t have the back library of iPhone apps like the iPad will, Choubey says they will attempt to get all Android apps to work on the device – so apps out for the Droid, Nexus One and other Android devices will work on the Dell Mini 5. Oh yeah, the Dell Mini 5 will be able to run that pesky Flash, too.

It’s no secret that there isn’t any love lost between Apple and Dell, and now it looks like the two are pairing up to being challenging each other in the tablet market.