The Cliq might be the first Motorola device with Android, but with a 350-person team, it better be good. At least it looks solid on the surface with a custom Android GUI called MOTOBLUR, slide-down keyboard, 5MP camera, 24 FPS video cam, WiFi, 3.5mm headset jack and a screen that better be able to handle a massive amount of info.
The phone’s interface is built around what Motorola is calling “MOTOBLUR.” Think of this as a social media aggregator kind of like Palm’s Synergy. It syncs Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, Picasa and others onto a customizable homescreen that displays info users want from any of the services. Plus, this allows users to interact with their contacts through any of the networks seamlessly. Blur has other tricks too like remote wipe and phone tracking via the Internet along with all the other standard Android goodies like HTML web browser, Gmail, Google Maps, and all the rest.
T-Mobile should have the device sometime in the forth quarter and it will be available in white and titanium. We just don’t know the price yet.
New MOTOBLUR™ solution automatically syncs and streams communications, contacts and content throughout new Motorola devices powered by Android™ beginning in the fourth quarter
September 10, 2009
SAN FRANCISCO – Sept. 10, 2009 – Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) today unveiled the vision behind its Android portfolio with the introduction of MOTOBLUR™. Developed by Motorola, MOTOBLUR is the first and only solution to sync contacts, posts, messages, photos and much more—from sources such as Facebook®, MySpace, Twitter, Gmail™, work and personal e-mail, and LastFM—and automatically deliver it to the home screen. Content is fed into easy-to-manage streams allowing you to spend less time managing your life and more time living it. MOTOBLUR will be available first on Motorola’s new 3G Android-powered device, called Motorola CLIQ™ in the U.S. and Motorola DEXT™ elsewhere around the globe.
Sanjay Jha, co-CEO of Motorola and CEO of Motorola Mobile Devices, announced MOTOBLUR today during a keynote at GigaOM’s Mobilize ‘09 conference.
“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 Jha. “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 leverages Motorola’s experience in mobile Linux and open platforms, and taps in to the broad Android ecosystem. The proprietary solution differentiates Motorola’s product portfolio of Android-powered devices and supplies the power and flexibility to continuously deliver a variety of new and rich consumer experiences across a wide range of devices with multiple carrier partners.
Life: Organized, Streamed and Delivered
With MOTOBLUR, all conversation threads, friend updates, stories, links, photos and more are automatically delivered to live widgets on the home screen. There is no need to open and close different applications or menus. It’s all organized, streamed and delivered throughout the device in unexpected ways:Happenings: View all your social site updates in one spot with the live Happenings application. Every friend feed, status update, wall post, bulletin and photo upload is automatically delivered and ready for immediate reply, any way you like.
Messages: Quickly scroll through the Messages application for a snapshot of current work or personal e-mails, social site messages, and texts, with the ability to respond to any message however you want no matter how it was sent: text, email, IM and more.
Social Status: Blast your status right from the home screen and even save time by updating your status to one or all your social networks at once.
News Feeds: Keep track of your favorite news feeds, sports scores or even celebrity gossip without leaving the home screen.
Calendar: Integrate your work calendar with Google Calendar™ into one Calendar widget that shows the next appointment right from the home screen.
Integrated Contacts with Context
MOTOBLUR keeps track of all contacts so it’s easy to keep up. Contacts are automatically synced to the phone from personal and work e-mail as well as social network accounts, and MOTOBLUR updates any changes friends or contacts make to their information so you don’t have to. When making or receiving a phone call, your friend’s latest profile picture and status is shown on the screen. In the contacts view, see your communication history with each person and their latest social network broadcasts organized in an easy-to-read manner so you’ll always know the latest info about friends and family. Plus, communicate with them anyway you like, directly from their contact information.Backed Up for Peace of Mind
MOTOBLUR is easy to set up and secure, so there is no need to worry about misplacing the phone. All contacts, log-in information, home screen customizations, e-mail and social network messages are backed up on the MOTOBLUR secure server. Lost or stolen phones can be found with integrated A-GPS from the online owner’s portal, and data can even be wiped clean. Simply enter the account username and password on the next MOTOBLUR phone, and all the information will be ready and waiting.Customize with Apps and Widgets
On Motorola CLIQ, mix and match thousands of applications and widgets from MOTOBLUR, Android Market™ or pre-loaded Google™ mobile services. Everything from messages to news feeds to sports scores to the Happenings widget to Google Maps™ can be added to create custom home screens that fit anyone’s multi-faceted life.Delivered on the First Phone with Social Skills
MOTOBLUR will first be available on Motorola’s new Android-powered device, called Motorola CLIQ in the U.S. and Motorola DEXT around the globe. This QWERTY slider comes packed with all the bells and whistles:Never be out of contact with a full HTML browser, 3G speed and Wi-Fi.
Snap photos with the 5 megapixel camera with autofocus; upload photos simply to your favorite photo sharing or social sites.
Play back your favorite YouTube™ videos or capture them and easily upload them for your friends to view.
Use the 3.5 mm headset jack to plug in your own headphones and easily connect to your music, create your own playlist or discover new music by seeing what your friends are listening to on LastFM.
Availability Around the Globe
MOTOBLUR will be available first on select Motorola devices in the fourth quarter with regional carriers worldwide. In the U.S., Motorola CLIQ™ with MOTOBLUR will be available exclusively with T-Mobile USA. Motorola DEXT with MOTOBLUR will be available with Orange in the United Kingdom and France, Telefonica in Spain and America Movil in Latin America.For specific regional availability and pricing, contact your local Motorola representative. To experience MOTOBLUR, please visit www.motorola.com/motoblur. For the latest Motorola Mobile Devices product news and promotions, now you can also find us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
Media: For more information, product specifications and images of CLIQ, please visit Motorola Media Center Fact Sheets. For multimedia assets from the keynote, visit MOTOBLUR Press Kit.
Motorola Media Link Bridges Digital World
Motorola also is making it easier to manage your digital worlds with Motorola Media Link. This desktop experience connects your phone, PC and the web, giving you the ability to manage, secure, share and extend your phone’s media. Transfer and organize media such as photos and videos into albums and sync your iTunes and Windows Media playlists and music. Plus, Motorola Media Link helps you expand your phone with new downloads, applications, ringtones, wallpapers and more—directly from your desktop. Motorola Media Link will be available for multiple Motorola devices including CLIQ and DEXT.
*Disclaimer* – This has nothing to do with the operation of this phone.
I remember all the bad press of the iphone “virtual keyboard” and how you could never get used to typing like that. Well, I for one can make the screen smoke when I type and can type out full sentences faster than some do itap.
The pull out keyboard looks clunky, gets dust between it, and just doesn’t look great design wise.
Sorry, Ill keep my iphone and it’s virtual keyboard, thanks.
Well, as someone who has used just about every handheld platform that’s ever been released, I can say that if you really think an on-screen keyboard can keep up with a hardware keyboard, you are delusional.
But then like some living, breathing caricature of an Apple customer, you don’t really care how well it works, do you? As long as it looks great, design wise of course, and keeps away all that icky dust, then it’s all good, right?
Awesome!The first Motorola device ever with an Android. Looks good. Remote wipe and phone tracking via the Internet is impressive. But we shall wait and see how far the new device competes with the iPhone!
The design looks cool, features meet all the basic expectations. Hope this integration of Motorola and Android would sound great. Android spreads.
You can type faster on the iPhone than “some” people who iTap? That doesn’t seem like much of an accomplishment to me.
I’m with Jason — I can type faster on my iPhone than I ever could with my old Blackberry. Tiny keys are annoying.
@Jason, If you like to type with an onscreen keyboard, they have that too. But for many, a qwerty pull-out keyboard is much more useful and doesn’t require the “getting used” phase :)
This looks pretty sweet. I was planning to get a MyTouch this fall, but I might just wait to see how this feels. I like the idea of a physical keyboard, as long as they can keep it from being too thick like the G1. This phone also has a 5MP camera compared with 3.2MP on the MyTouch, another significant advantage.
I’m planning to use whichever phone with the Google Voice app. I wonder how it will jive with the extra Motorola social features that look like they are tied into the dialer. I also wonder if those features can be turned off so the phone can be used with the default Android interface.
Google Voice is available in the Android Marketplace, so I would think you would be able to run it on this phone (and also any other android-based phone).
that is one fugly phone.
Why do you think it’s “fugly” exactly?
I think it has a pretty clean design, the UI looks good, and I’m digging the physical keyboard!
Is this Motorola’s swan song or Phoenix from the flames?
Phone looks great, UI is well put together, bravo Moto. And thank goodness for the keyboard. I’ve got an iPod Touch and I have to say that as good as the virtual keyboard may be, there is just no comparison to the real thing.
I think my G1 may just “break” around the 4th quarter.
is it really true that no multi-touch screen?! that means no easy zoom-in-out in such tiny screen ….
Doesn’t seem to have a compass. So I guess no AR for Cliq.
It does. See “Sensors” + “Additional Features” (Location Services) on its spec page:
http://developer.motorola.com/products/handsets/cliq/
Looks great. Android is a cool platform. Personally I like it more than iPhone. And I hope there will be more nice devices on Android platform.
I have not used any android phone yet, but this one looks impressive. I hope I will get it soon.
I’m a MAC user, due to my industry, so steering away the iphone isn’t going to happen for me.
However, it’s interesting to watch companies fight for the future of the mobile media world. Apple simply heard the starting gun long before anyone else and vertically integrated.
Content will rule the day though and the studio will have the last say. Although they came late to the game, Hulu will continue to grow. It will be interesting to see what the ultimate studio play is when it comes to cell phone distribution. All cell phones will ultimately becomes mobile media players able to plug into tvs through HDMI most likely. The ipod did this with SD. Again, Apple envisioned the future long before anyone…and everyone else is in their wake.
Im from the Netherlands and still waiting for the launch of the Motorola Cliq. It will probably be available in a fourtnight. However the Dutch version will be white. But I think the Samsung will be the most appealing Android phone up till now (Amoled display, battery, etc).
I’m a webdesigner and love internet and it’s possibilities. And Android/Google will make the future different. Hopefully it will be a better place, but surely it will be fun.
Hope to receive my Galaxy soon. Then I will post my experiences on http://www.Motorola-Cliq.com Also hope to learn a lot here of the Samsung and Android.