Just in time for the holidays, Dell goes OPI.

Okay, so Della was a disaster, igniting a social media firestorm last spring. But all those “Lollipop, Lollipop” colors popping off the assembly line clearly struck a merry chord with consumers. That’s why just in time for the holidays, Dell Mini, Inspiron and Studio laptops will be available in colors including “I’m Not Really a Waitress,” “Strawberry Margarita” and “Kyoto Pearl.” Twenty-six new colors will be added to the current Dell Design Studio palette along with a variety of patterns beginning next month. They’ll include not just 20 classic OPI colours but also six holiday-themed shades such as “Dear Santa,” “Merry Midnight” and “Smitten with Mittens.” Seasonal shades will vary, and availability in other countries will follow the palette’s US introduction. Select OPI colours will also be available at many retailers. Maybe we’ll paint our fingers and toes to match when we go Christmas shopping.

“Beautiful nails really are the ultimate accessory to any look,” said Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, OPI Executive Vice President & Artistic Director. “And now, with Dell laptops that coordinate with OPI Nail Lacquers, you can match your nails to your emails!”

So it looks like I’m finally going to get some competition for my neon green Macbook. Years ago at CES I discovered the wonders of a site called colorware and very promptly colorized my iPod in Berkeley gold and blue. I loved it so much I graduated to a full colorization — the Minnesota company uses a process similar to colorizing cars — for my laptop. Half the fun is gawking at the glossy lipsticky colors posted on the site. Dell’s brilliance in partnering with OPI is tempting indeed. I wonder if they’ll have my fave “Cajun Shrimp.”

Via the awesome site Springwise.

Seen at CES: Sony’s Stylish Super Light VAIO Notebook.

Sony VAIO's late, great, uber-juicy Picturebooks (the 505, CPG, etc) are now all glitzed up and graduated into the lusciously lightweight P Series Lifestyle notebook.

I drooled over the glossy colors at CES. Since then, I've gotten questions, comments and ahhhhs from my fellow girl-geeks, all of whom are sick of lugging full-size laptops through airport security.

Here’s what Sony’s site has to say:

The world’s lightest1 8″ notebook, the 1.4-pound2 VAIO® P Series Lifestyle PC does more than you could imagine–with impeccable style. Email at the airport, IM from the park, or just show it off when you want some attention. Traveling to a new city? Turn-by-turn GPS navigation will get you there faster. Best of all, it fits right in your purse or jacket pocket.

At around $900, these machines are pricier than comparable notebooks — HP and Dell both have models out — so if you’re simply looking for scaled down size and functionality, the HP/Dells may fit your needs. Plus, my guess is that these VAIOs may suffer from the same defects my other six VAIOs — that is, oddly fragile keys and pieces-parts. Still, these glitches never stopped me. I guess I like a little fashionista along with my functionality.

Social Media for Small Business: Dell’s New Facebook Community.

A couple of years ago when I was covering CES for MediaPost, my prized press pass landed me in the front row for Michael Dell’s keynote speech. As serendipity would have it, Mr. Dell wound up sitting next to me as he waited to take center stage. I couldn’t help but notice how nervous he was. You couldn’t blame him; the company was doing its damnest to recover from Dell Hell.

And recover they did. In his talk, Michael Dell managed to convince this skeptic and former Dell user that his company had turned customer-centric. From Idea Storm to carbon offsetting programs, Dell was power-listening to its users. And today, there’s more proof that this company is really getting it. Here’s the announcement from the WOM website:

Dell has joined with Facebook to launch a community and guide series called ‘Social Media for Small Business’ intended to provide SMB customers with insight on how they can leverage social media to expand their business. The community has been created as a Facebook Page and includes:

• Guides on how to use blogs, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, “crowdsourcing” and other social media channels to cost-effectively reach and serve the “Connected Era;”
• “Screencast” introductions to social-media tools like Technorati, Netvibes and WordPress;
• A discussion board to spark conversation and idea sharing;
• A best-practice forum that features a different SMB weekly;
• SMB deals and news from Dell Small and Medium Business.

 
When I heard about Dell’s latest savvy customer-centric move, I was so impressed, I zipped over to order myself a new Dell desktop and discovered yet another shrewd user-friendly move: Dell offers a downgrade’ to XP on its Vista computers, if the buyer chooses.

Guru’s Note: Kudos to financial innovators like Visa and FiServ for reaching out to customers via social media. It’s way past time for marketers to adopt the ‘share, not sell’ mantra that most of the Web 2.0 world has long accepted. The Visa Business Network has partnered with Facebook, offering a content rich Facebook page for small business plus $100 ad credit to get started. And who couldn’t love them for their Signature VISA VIP Tent (and matching VIP toilets) at the recent Outside Lands Festival in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park?

Fiserv’s MyMoney program, which initially is being sold only to credit unions, lets members of participating institutions view account balances and transaction histories and transfer funds online without leaving their Facebook page. This application is so highly regarded that it won The Banker magazine’s 2008 Retail Award for Online Innovation. Ain’t it grand when our major corporations are doing something for us, the small businesses of the world, rather than whooping it up at the St. Regis Spa, courtesy of our bail-out bucks?