Dell Mobile Connect Marries Your Smartphone To Your PC So You Never Miss A Notification

Do you find yourself splitting your time between your PC and smartphone? Now that smartphones are basically ubiquitous, such a scenario is not uncommon, though it can be inconvenient. To help you utilize both rather than bounce back and forth between the two, Dell is introducing a complete wireless integration solution that it calls Dell Mobile Connect, and it works with both Android and iOS devices.

"By providing Dell Mobile Connect on its PCs Dell would become the first PC manufacturer to provide complete PC-smartphone wireless integration which allows PC users to stay constantly connected from their PCs without missing any phone notification or communication they care about, enjoy the convenience of their keyboard while texting and be more productive with seamless multitasking, hands-free calls and full access to all their mobile apps* right from their PC screen," Dell says.


Dell intends to preload its Mobile Connect software on new consumer and small business PCs. To take advantage of it, users need to download a complementary app on their Android or iOS handset. Once configured, your smartphone and PC will communicate via Bluetooth and WiFi Direct technologies. Dell's pitch is that you can keep your phone in your bag or anywhere within wireless range and never skip a beat—phone notifications will pop up on your PC, provided you want them to. Otherwise, there is a pause feature to prevent being bombarded with messages when one of your friends is in a text-happy mood.


We had an opportunity to try out Dell Mobile Connect ourselves when we met with Dell in New York last month. With an LG V30 smartphone connected to Dell's new XPS 13 (2018 model), we were able to make a hands-free phone call, participate in a Skype call, and fiddle with Google Maps. The takeaway? Literally anything you can do on your phone, you can do on your laptop using the phone, but on the laptop display with keyboard and mouse input. Pretty cool.


Beyond the convenience of getting phone calls and text messages routed to your PC, Dell Mobile Connect also makes it easy to read documents on the go, and transfer photos and other files between your PC and smartphone without hunting for a USB cable. It's also secure.

"Dell Mobile Connect connects your phone and PC via a point-to-point secure connection, without going through the internet or Wi-Fi routers. All your phone data could only be accessed on your paired PC while you are in range," Dell says.

Dell plans to load its Mobile Connect software on all new Inspiron, XPS, Vostro, and Alienware systems going forward. On the mobile side, it works with Android 5 and later (Dell says there is no guarantee it will run on every Android device) and iOS 10 and up.