The Motorola Cliq is now available in wide release on the T-Mobile network.
While existing T-Mobile customers gained access to the Cliq on Oct. 19, the general public can begin purchasing the Motorola phone as of Nov. 2.
T-Mobile was the first U.S. carrier to offer a smartphone with Google’s Android mobile operating system, and with the Cliq it adds still another Android device to its roster, which now includes the HTC G1, the MyTouch, the Samsung Behold II and a 3G Fender Limited Edition version of the MyTouch, which features a guitarlike wood grain finish and was introduced with T-Mobile’s holiday lineup.
For a look at the Motorola Cliq, click here.
The Cliq is the first Android phone to use MotoBlur, and it is the only device to feature MotoBlur this holiday season, according to T-Mobile. MotoBlur is socially geared technology that integrates and syncs contact information and communications.
In a statement on the Cliq’s release, T-Mobile described MotoBlur: “Updates to contacts, posts, messages, photos and more are streamed together and synced from sources including Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Gmail, work and personal e-mail, and automatically delivered to the home screen of the Cliq in easy-to-view streams.”
In addition to MotoBlur, T-Mobile launched a T-Mobile Motorola Cliq Challenge, encouraging students, alumni, fans and faculty of four-year colleges and universities to create the largest Facebook fan club for their schools. To the winning school will go considerable spoils, courtesy of T-Mobile.
“The college or university with the highest number of votes in its clique by Nov. 30 will be awarded with an exclusive, free concert by the multiplatinum rock band Weezer, who release their new album, Raditude, tomorrow,” T-Mobile said in a statement. T-Mobile will also give the winning school $1 for every vote, up to $25,000, for “college enrichment.”
The Cliq features a 3.1-inch touch screen, a slide-out QWERTY keypad, a full HTML browser, a 5-megapixel auto-focus camera with video capture, a music player, a 2GB MicroSD card and access to Wi-Fi connectivity in addition to T-Mobile’s 3G network. It supports multiple e-mail sources, including Exchange, and is integrated with Google applications such as voice-activated Google Search, as well as Google Maps, YouTube and Picasa.
The Cliq is available in either Titanium or Winter White for $199 with a two-year T-Mobile contract.