Dell's Product Launch Ho-Hum

Perhaps the best thing that can be said about Dell's glitzy product launch is that the PC maker does not look as fossilized as it has in the past.

The Round Rock, Texas, company gathered the press at New York City's Macy's department store Tuesday morning to introduce what it billed as exciting portable consumer products that deliver a "hi-def" and broadband entertainment experience.

There, to the beat of the throbbing music and rapid-fire video montages that make for a good product launch, Dell executives carried on about a company "in transformation" and trotted out the new consumer tag line: "Yours is here."

And of course, they unveiled a slew of snazzy high-tech goodies.

Anyone expecting the next iPhone, however, was in for a letdown.

Yes, the new line of Inspiron notebooks that come in eight "fabulous" colors (including flamingo pink, espresso brown and sunshine yellow) look pretty cool. And Dell has outfitted the notebooks with various niceties, such as broadband online connectivity options from Verizon , Sprint Nextel or AT&T .

But this is the basic blocking and tackling of competing in the PC business that Dell should have been doing for the past couple of years, not the innovative gambit that Dell investors are hoping will vault the company ahead of the competition.

The role of fashion and personalization in computers is not exactly a revolutionary concept. Apple practically built its business on the notion.