tag = "Motorola"

In the UK, where it is called Dext, the phone is going to be launched today. Things appear to be going swimmingly.

However across the pond, Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha said his outfit is in talks with large carriers other than its initial partner T-Mobile USA to sell the gadget, which it calls Cliq in the US. Jha said he is "fairly hopeful we will begin to engage with all the US operators."

While T-Mobile will carry the Cliq in the US it had been thought that this would be an exclusive deal, perhaps with more cash subsidising the gadget.

Now it seems that relationship has either changed or other US telecoms are knocking on Motorola's door wanting a piece of the action.

This can't be much to do with hype. There has been little said in the press about what the phone can do other than basics and the fact that the Android operating system offers social notworking functions.

A key feature of the Cliq or Dext is social networking software dubbed "Motoblur," which syncs a user's phone contacts, emails, posts, feeds and photos from a wide range of messaging and social notworking services such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and Gmail

“The social fanatic’s dream.”

That’s the tag-line for the Cliq, a new smartphone built by Motorola – and T-Mobile is hoping it will be enough to pry a swath of young consumers away from their iPhones. In a statement timed to coincide with the release of the Cliq, Motorola said that the phone pulls data from “Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Gmail, work and personal email,” and “automatically delivered to the home screen of the Cliq in easy-to-view streams.”

The key selling point here is accessibility. With an iPhone, for instance, a Twitter application would remain separate from the MySpace application; the Facebook app would not be integrated with email. The Cliq, which is powered by Google’s Android operating system, uses platform called Motoblur, which Motorola is billing as a social networking “solution.” Feeds from various sites are integrated on the Cliq interface, which could make sorting updates and photos and emails a little easier.

Motorola has become the butt of many mobile phone industry jokes over the last few years. Not since the RAZR (now available in 18 different versions) has the company seen success with a handset. But at the launch event for the DEXT, something was different - journalists were heard saying that they haven't been this excited about a handset from Motorola in years.

So what's changed? The same thing that changed HTC and is currently changing Samsung - Android. Google's free mobile operating system is enlivening a whole raft of phone manufacturers that have always made great hardware but struggled with user interface design. But how does the DEXT stack up against the G1, Magic, Hero and Galaxy i7500? Read on to find out.

Motorola's hopes of a glorious comeback in the mobile market are resting on a new mobile from the company - the Android-powered Dext with the new MotoBlur overlay.

The idea is simple - take the open source benefits of Android and bring a number of social networking sites together into one widget-filled home screen, placed under the hood of a fairly decent hardware spec list.

Motorola today introduced the Cliq, the company’s first phone based on the Android mobile operating system. The device will have a custom interface called Moto Blur that will bring together e-mail messages, text messages, Facebook and Twitter feeds, and photos into a single interface.

The phone has a touch screen and a physical slide-out keyboard, a 5-megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, 3G connectivity, the ability to shoot video at 24 frames per second, a standard headphone jack and GPS capability. The phone will be available on T-Mobile’s network in the fourth quarter. Motorola officials did not disclose the price for the phone and would not let any attendees at the Mobilize conference, where they announced the phone, examine it closely.

“This is the first phone with social skills,” said Cole Brodman, chief technology officer at T-Mobile. “Cliq and Moto Blur is the start of the next chapter of Android and shows significance of the platform.”

The phone will also be available internationally under the name Moto Dext.

Motorola Inc. unveiled Thursday a new mobile phone built around social networking tools, introducing the first handset in a fresh portfolio of devices on which the company has staked its turnaround efforts.

Co-chief executive Sanjay Jha has developed a line-up of phones powered by Google's Android software. He is hoping that the new devices, most of which will be launched next year, will get Motorola back into the mobile-phone game after the company has spent years unsuccessfully trying to match competitors such as Apple and Research In Motion.

It’s pretty fair to say that Motorola has one very specific demographic in mind with its new Karma QA1: socially connected teenagers.

Launching on June 28th, the Motorola Karma QA1 is all about keeping you connected on the go by any means necessary, and doing it at a price that won’t send parents in to a tizzy over buying it for their youngsters. Priced at $79.99 on contract after a $50 mail-in rebate, the QA1 may not be an iPhone, but it is certainly going to give teens the features they want.

Motorola, Inc. today introduced Motorola Evoke™ QA4, a socially-inclined device with a 2.8" full touch-screen that keeps you constantly connected. Evoke supports different messaging styles with a full touch-screen QWERTY keyboard and slide out traditional keypad. Customize the home screen content with integrated widgets and personalized RSS feeds(1), and use the full HTML browser(1) to share pictures, videos and more online.

A few weeks ago we found out that Motorola (NYSE: MOT) was looking to boost the number of people working on an Android phone. According to a new Motorola job posting, it is working on a “new Android Social Networking SmartPhone.” Cue dramatic music.

An eagle-eyed reader of The Android Guys blog spotted this job posting and saw fit to e-mail it on Over The Air’s favorite blog concerning all things Android. It reads:

It's no secret that Motorola's beefing up its Android staff in preparation to launch some actual hardware, but it is kinda interesting to hear them phrase it as a "social networking" device. In all likelihood, that's little more than a catchphrase for a hip-looking QWERTY device these days, but if that means they're funneling tens upon tens of people into the best mobile MySpace app the world has ever seen, we're going to lose our sanity.