AT&T's first Android phone: A Dell?

Dell has smartphones on the way, but it's not talking about them yet.

In fact, the first Android-powered smartphone on AT&T's network could be coming from Dell, according to reports Wednesday afternoon.

Citing unnamed "people briefed on the plans," The Wall Street Journal today claimed that Dell will have a smartphone on AT&T as early as 2010.

In September, a 3.5" touchscreen Dell smartphone known as the "Mini 3i" was shown running Open Mobile System (OMS), an Android-based operating system central to China Mobile's "OPhone" platform. That platform thus far has been supported by Lenovo and HTC subsidiary Dopod, with many more to come.

The Texas PC company, however, has thus far been hesitant to discuss its movement in the Chinese mobile sector, even though China Mobile has highlighted Dell's participation in the Android-based OPhone project several times.

Dell declined comment today to Betanews and others on its plans for smartphone distribution, domestically or otherwise.