Are you absolutely sure that such an app doesn't already exist? Search rotation lock in market and you'll see loads.
If you haven't written any Java, it's going to be a pretty steep learning curve. Seriously.
There's not really point much point downloading the Android SDK until you at least have some understanding of Java syntax.
The next step would be downloading the SDK, compiling some sample applications and learning about Android's core classes.
I can't see it being too difficult a problem to solve unless Dell's Android implementation has broken APIs in a big way. But try every app in the market first.