Dell is planning to flog a touchscreen tablets to consumers some time this year but the outfit said it is not interested in competing with Apple.

Dell will launch a 5-inch tablet in the next three to six months with a yet-to-be-named wireless carrier, which is probably AT&T. Neeraj Choubey, general manager of Dell’s tablet division, said the company deliberately stayed clear of the iPad launch so as not to be too closely associated with the device.

He said that he did not want his tablet to be assocated with Apple's. For a start the Dell gear is half the size. Choubey said he was “underwhelmed” by the iPad: “It was not what I was expecting, it was kind of like the iPod Touch scaled up.”

However Dell's gear is not aimed at the same market as Jobs' Mobs'. It will be the first in a family of tablets, most based on Google’s Android, and some with larger screen sizes. It will double as a smartphone, with users able to select data or voice plans, or both.