Dell in talks with Google over Chrome OS

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Dell Inc (DELL.O) is in talks with Google Inc (GOOG.O) over the use of the Chrome operating system on its laptops, a top company executive said on Monday.

"We have to have a point of view on the industry and technology direction two years, three years down the road, so we continuously work with Google on this," Amit Midha, Dell's president for Greater China and South Asia told Reuters in an interview.

"There are going to be unique innovations coming up in the marketplace in two, three years, with a new form of computing, we want to be on that forefront ... So with Chrome or Android or anything like that we want to be one of the leaders," Midha said, adding that there were no firm announcements to be made but talks were underway.

Google has said it expects to release its Chrome computer operating system in the "late fall" as it aims a competitive strike at rival Microsoft's (MSFT.O) Windows.

Midha said Dell would release a new smartphone for the China market in coming months that would run on the TD-SCDMA network, China's homegrown third-generation mobile network.

The new smartphone would be released with China Mobile (0941.HK) and would be a full-featured smartphone with an inbuilt television tuner, he said.

Dell entered the smartphone market late last year with the release of Mini 3 in China.

Midha said he hoped Dell's tablet computer, Streak, which would be released in the United States in July, would launch in China by the end of the year, but he stressed that there was no firm date.

(Reporting by Melanie Lee; Editing by Chris Lewis)