China Mobile soon will become the first mobile operator to sell the Mini 3i, a new multi-touch smartphone from Dell. The Mini 3i will begin arriving through China Mobile’s authorized stores by the end of this month, with Dell direct to follow.

The Mini 3i runs China Mobile’s OPhone open source platform and includes preloaded 139Mail e-mail, Fetion chat and digital maps for navigation. It includes a 3.5-inch screen for a better photo viewing experience and a 3-megapixel camera.

The product is the result of a year-long development collaboration between Dell and China Mobile. According to a press release, China Mobile teamed with Dell earlier this year to develop the Dell Mini 10 netbook with embedded 3G.