AT&T confirms Dell's smartphone - but Dell doesn't

Don't you hate when someone else steals your thunder on a big announcement?

That's what happened today when AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph De La Vega reportedly let slip that Dell is entering the smartphone business - news that has been swirling around the rumor mill for some time but has yet to be confirmed by Dell.

Now, De La Vega is saying that he was misquoted about what he said during a panel at Mobile World Congress - but it's hard to backpedal when it's a direct quote. To be exact, the quote being published on a number of blogs is: "Dell announced they're entering the smart phone market." And the bloggers are following with language such as "That's a quote."

For the record, Dell says there has been no announcement about entry into the smartphone business and it is not confirming one way or the other.

Last month, the Wall Street Journal cited unnamed sources who said that Dell was preparing to enter the increasingly crowded smartphone business, The report said that a team of engineers in Chicago have developed prototypes that work on Windows Mobile and Google’s Android operating system.