Motorola unveiled three new "Motoblur"-enabled Android phones last week and offered the media some coveted hands-on time with each device.
Revealed were the Motorola Dext, Quench and Backflip, each of which share the Motoblur social intelligence application but differ in physical shape, feature-set and mobile carrier.
Motoblur is Motorola's widget based interface that combines various social networking portals such as Facebook MySpace, and Twitter all in one place without the need to log in to each service separately.
Known as the Cliq in the US, the Motorola Dext will be available in Canada exclusively through Bell. Its features include a 5.0 megapixel camera with autofocus and video capture; full HTML Web Browser, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS; a 3.1" HVGA touch screen with 320 x 480 pixels resolution; slide-out QWERTY keyboard; plus the usual Android Apps & Media Player suspects.
The Motorola Quench - or Cliq XT in the US - will be is exclusive to Rogers Wireless and feature the same specs as the Dext minus the slide-out keyboard.
Canada's third major carrier, Telus, is already home of the Motorola Milestone, the first Canadian Android phone, and now adds the Motorola Backflip to its stable (known in the US by the same name). Also sporting most of the same specifications, the Backflip's unique shtick is a reverse-flipping QWERTY keyboard plus "Backtrack," a built-in trackpad.
Expected to hit the Canadian market by May, all three smartphones benefit from Motorola's Motoblur secure server connectivity, fully integrated with GPS tracking from the user's private portal.
Basically, this feature-set means data and contacts will not be lost even if the phone itself is wayward or misplaced. Instead, contacts, login information, home screen customizations, email, social network messages and the like are stored/backed-up on a secure server. If the phone is deemed irrecoverable - like, stolen - users can initiate a remote reset that permanently wipes personal information from the device.
Oddly, all three "new" phones run Android OS 1.5, which the oldest of the Android OS versions available. But with 1.6, 2.0 and 2.1 versions of Android out there, running a clearly dated OS on the brand new phones is causing challenges for developers - not to mention confusion for consumers.
Motorola has not confirmed whether the OS versions of the three Motoblur devices will have future updates. Chances are that updates will be carrier-dependent decisions. In other words, historically speaking, updates are unlikely.
However, more details as well as pricing and contract information is expected soon.
Motoblur is Motorola's widget based interface that combines various social networking portals such as Facebook MySpace, and Twitter all in one place without the need to log in to each service separately.
Known as the Cliq in the US, the Motorola Dext will be available in Canada exclusively through Bell. Its features include a 5.0 megapixel camera with autofocus and video capture; full HTML Web Browser, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS; a 3.1" HVGA touch screen with 320 x 480 pixels resolution; slide-out QWERTY keyboard; plus the usual Android Apps & Media Player suspects.
The Motorola Quench - or Cliq XT in the US - will be is exclusive to Rogers Wireless and feature the same specs as the Dext minus the slide-out keyboard.
Canada's third major carrier, Telus, is already home of the Motorola Milestone, the first Canadian Android phone, and now adds the Motorola Backflip to its stable (known in the US by the same name). Also sporting most of the same specifications, the Backflip's unique shtick is a reverse-flipping QWERTY keyboard plus "Backtrack," a built-in trackpad.
Expected to hit the Canadian market by May, all three smartphones benefit from Motorola's Motoblur secure server connectivity, fully integrated with GPS tracking from the user's private portal.
Basically, this feature-set means data and contacts will not be lost even if the phone itself is wayward or misplaced. Instead, contacts, login information, home screen customizations, email, social network messages and the like are stored/backed-up on a secure server. If the phone is deemed irrecoverable - like, stolen - users can initiate a remote reset that permanently wipes personal information from the device.
Oddly, all three "new" phones run Android OS 1.5, which the oldest of the Android OS versions available. But with 1.6, 2.0 and 2.1 versions of Android out there, running a clearly dated OS on the brand new phones is causing challenges for developers - not to mention confusion for consumers.
Motorola has not confirmed whether the OS versions of the three Motoblur devices will have future updates. Chances are that updates will be carrier-dependent decisions. In other words, historically speaking, updates are unlikely.
However, more details as well as pricing and contract information is expected soon.
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