Motorola did indeed have some exciting Android-related news to share at its San Francisco event on Sept. 10.
The company introduced the Cliq, an Android-running slider smartphone
that will be exclusive to the T-Mobile network, as well as MotoBlur, a
syncing solution that will debut on the Cliq.
MotoBlur can sync contacts, social messaging posts and messages,
photos, e-mails and more from sources such as Facebook, MySpace,
Twitter, Gmail, LastFM and personal and work e-mail accounts and post
it all to a user’s home screen. Content is fed to the screen in
streams, and when a contact calls, or is reached out to, his or her
status and profile picture appears on the screen.
“With MotoBlur, we are differentiating the Android experience for
consumers by delivering a unique mobile device experience designed
around the way people interact today,” said Sanjay Jha, co-CEO of Motorola, in a statement. “MotoBlur, which will be available on our first Android-powered device
and on multiple Android devices in our upcoming portfolio, helps us to
create phones that are instinctive, social and smart.”
MotoBlur contacts, log-in information, customizations and messages are
backed up to a local MotoBlur server, so lost or stolen devices can be
wiped and the data restored on another phone. Using the Cliq’s
integrated A-GPS, lost or stolen phones can also be located from the
online user’s portal.
And still another sync feature is Motorola Media Link, which enables
users to sync their phone, PC and the Web, as well as transfer photos,
videos and music.
As for the well-stocked Cliq, it runs Android 1.5 and features a
3.1-inch full-touch screen with a resolution of 320 by 480 pixels, plus
a slide-out, four-row qwerty keyboard.
Cliq features a full HTML browser with 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity,
Bluetooth 2.1 is included, and so is a 5-megapixel camera with
auto-focus, Instant Video playback and DVD quality. There’s a music
player, a 3.5mm headset jack and dual microphones with
noise-cancellation technology.
Push e-mail and POP3/IMAP, such as Gmail and Yahoo, as well as MMS and
SMS are supported. The Cliq measures 4.49 by 2.28 by 0.61 inches and
weighs 5.7 ounces.
It will be available in the United States during the fourth quarter, exclusively from T-Mobile.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The Cliq's version of Bluetooth has been corrected to 2.1.