What! Dell is gearing up to launch a smart phone? Is the report true or a rumor? These are the questions that tech industry watchers are fervently asking. Well, only Dell can answer these questions rightly.

But, there certainly is a rumor in the market that Round Rock, Texas-based tech giant Dell is all set to release a smart phone. According to the rumor, Dell is planning for a smart phone to compete with Apple's iPhone.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Dell is preparing for a new series of smart phones featuring Android and Windows Mobile platforms, and it could unveil its smart phone at the GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next month. The WSJ Report said, "They produced prototypes built on Google Inc.'s Android operating system and Microsoft's Windows Mobile software."

According to the WSJ report, Dell’s engineers had been working on the smart phone, which could be a touchscreen-based model or a slider phone, for more than a year. Like Apple’s iPhone, Dell’s phone could have a touchscreen with no physical keyboard, or it could have keypad sliding from beneath the screen. For its phone, Dell has recently hired two former Motorola engineers.

However, Dell neither accepted nor rejected the report. Yet, the company did not offer any committing comment. "We haven't committed to anything," a Dell spokesman told the Journal. That means, Dell hasn't yet finalized its plans; it could still give up its plan to bring out its smart phone.  Nevertheless, we should not forget that where there is smoke, there is possibility of fire!