Dell is trying to give itself a green makeover to not only help the environment and give it more of a green reputation, but to save money as well by reducing the amount of packaging it uses. Dell has announced that it is now using renewable bamboo packaging for some of its products.

The bamboo is being used instead of paper, foam, and corrugated packaging. The first computers to get the new packaging from Dell will be the Inspiron Mini 10 and Mini 10v. The renewable bamboo will replace foams to cradle the netbooks inside the box. The new outer box is also made of 25% post-consumer recycled materials.

Dell reports that it is using bamboo because it grows fast, up to 24 inches per day. Bamboo is very strong and it is easy on the environment. Anyone who has ever had bamboo in their yard can tell you it grows like a weed. The bamboo is sourced in China, but far from the habitat of those bamboo-eating pandas China is famous for.

Sprint will be offering a subsidized version of the Dell Mini 10 today, where this little netbook will boast an internal EVDO Revision A modem for 3G access wherever you are, freeing you from being overly reliant on the availability of Wi-Fi networks wherever you are. Otherwise, everything else within ought to remain the same including an Intel Atom 1.33GHz processor, 1GB RAM, a 160GB hard drive and Windows XP Home. Sprint will offer the Dell Mini 10 for $200, where it will also come with a 2-year agreement with a $60 monthly data plan and after a $100 mail-in rebate.

Dell is now the world’s number three computer maker after falling behind Acer in the latest shipment numbers for the last quarter. Dell announced a new notebook is now available in Australia today called the Inspiron 13z. We expect an announcement for the machine here in America soon.

The 13z is an attractive little machine with a 13.3-inch HD WLED screen with a resolution of 1366 x 768. The machine has a variety of CPU options ranging from the Pentium dual-core SU4200 up to the Intel Core 2 Duo SU9400. The machine runs Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit.

RAM options range from 2GB up to 4GB and the machine can be fitted with NVIDIA GeForce G105M graphics and comes stock with Intel GMA X4500MHD graphics. Storage options range from 160GB up to 500GB and the machine has an integrated optical drive. Wi-Fi is built-in and Bluetooth is optional. Pricing for the machine is AU$1,199 amounting to about $1,100 here in America.

Dell CEO Michael Dell has been saying that his company will be trotting its Ophone-based mini 3i Android-powered smartphone out to consumers in the US. Dell says the device will hit in early 2010. Today we get word that Android may not be the only OS that Dell uses in its US-bound smartphones.

MocoNews reports that Dell talked about subjects other than smartphones too. According to Dell unless people are concerned with power or price notebooks are where most computer sales are made. Dell also says he doesn’t see the netbook getting very big. I wonder if he has read the latest sales reports.

Perhaps that netbook bit is just wishful thinking on his part. Dell figures netbooks will level off at 12 to 15% of the computer market and doesn’t see it getting any higher than that. Talking about smartphones, Dell said, “There are some other open platforms that are emerging that are similar to other businesses we participate in.”