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It's official. Dell is back in the mobile device market...almost.

A few days ago, the Internet was full of reports that Dell would launch the mini3i this week. Turns out the rumors were only partially true. The smartphone made an appearance, but it wasn't a full-blown coming out party.

This week Dell presented the mini3i with development partner China Mobile at an event. Speaking with PC Mag, a Dell spokesperson called the mini3i a 'proof of concept' phone, however.

The entry-level smartphone lacks 3G and Wi-Fi wireless. It runs a proprietary interface developed by the Chinese carrier. Called the Open Mobile System, the interface runs on top of Google's Android platform.

Dell's mini3i prototype also sports GPS, a 3.2 megapixel camera, a microSD slot and a 3.5-inch touch display that runs at a 360 x 640-pixel resolution.

See here for additional specs of the mini3i and pictures.

This isn't quite what we expected when rumors started circulating about Dell's entry into the smartphone market. It's a start though. Perhaps Dell needs a little more time to get its feet wet before jumping fully into the smartphone market. It better jump soon or that particular pool, which is already crowded enough, won't have any more room for Dell to join in the fun.

A couple of months ago, we may have gotten a first look at a Dell Android-run model, as an image (via Brighthand) of a handset (one that looks a lot like Palm's Pre model, at least in shape) was making the rounds through the Internet rumor mill. The picture included a Dell logo right on the front of a device running Google's Android platform.

The company's founder and CEO, Michael Dell, all but confirmed Dell's smartphone plans a little early than that:

"Well, if [Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo] says that the telephone is the future of computing, then, you know, we're in the computer business, so I guess we must be in the phone business," according to Dell, in an interview with Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association, at a luncheon hosted by the Northern Virginia Technology Council in February.

Back in March, an analyst reported that Dell's smartphone plans hit a snag. According to Shaw Wu, a research analyst at Kaufman Bros., both Windows Mobile and Android-run smartphone prototypes failed to wow carriers.

For those who can't remember that far back, Dell was once a top tier Windows Mobile PDA vendor. It gave up that position when it discontinued the Axim series for good in the spring of 2007