Motorola launched its third Android handset at CES and, from the looks of it, has got the whole smartphone thing fairly figured out. This latest device is called the Backflip and, like the company's earlier efforts, is running Google's Android OS.
Like the Motorola Cliq from last year, the new phone will come with the Motoblur service, which aggregates social networking feeds, emails and contacts into the interface. While that previous phone stood out because of the software changes, this new one sets itself apart with an interesting hardware design.
The Motorola Backflip features a full QWERTY keyboard and a touchscreen, similar to the Motorola Droid, also from last year. It uses a surprising, reverse flip motion (hence the name) to reveal the keypad, which can also act as a stand (in case you want to use it as an alarm clock or a tabletop display). They also added a touch panel around the back of the screen (called Backtrack), which you can use to navigate the UI (in case dirtying up the touchscreen doesn't sound like your cup of tea).
Handset features include a 3.1-inch capacitive display with 480 x 320 resolution, a 5.0 megapixel camera module (with flash and autofocus), 2GB of onboard storage, stereo Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. It comes with support for quad-band GSM (850/900/1800/1900) and tri-band 3G (850/1900/2100). It will ship with Android 1.5, but will be updated with 2.1 at a later time.
North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia will all get the Motorola Backflip in the first quarter of 2010. Neither official pricing nor carriers have been disclosed.
[via Gizmag]
