The bidding war for 3Par ramped up this week when HP raised its offer to $30 per share, a $3 increase over Dell's bid, bringing the bidding to $2 bil

Well, Dell made it out of the gate with one of the first Android-powered tablets and the result is a resounding thud.

The Dell "Streak" offers a 5-inch screen, weighs about 8 ounces and has a 5-megapixel camera. It measures 6 inches by 3 inches, and therein lies its main issue.

What is it?

It's not an iPad, which is clearly like a magazine page. When you hold an iPad, it's not a phone. It's a tablet. It is big. It is not something you'd make a phone call on. It's something you take notes on, or read a book on or look at a photo on.

The Streak is way too big for a phone, but it's a phone. It's too small for a tablet, but it's a tablet. And at $300 (with a two-year cell contract) it is too expensive for everything.

Let's start with the nice parts of the Streak. It is hefty and feels good in your hands. It feels like a tool, not a toy. The keyboard is easy to use and takes advantage of the Android operating system and the large size of the Streak so it is simple and easy to type on.

Then there is Android itself, which is open and full of avid developers making all kinds of new applications for the OS every week. Android is just fun.

And there is the bad news.

Android. Well, Dell has decided to ship the Streak with version 1.6 of Android when the current version is 2.2, which is inexcusable, lazy and stupid. Not version 2.0, not 2.1 or even the new 2.2. The day you open the Streak you will be running an obsolete operating system. Of course, Dell is promising an upgrade to 2.2 this year, but when?