Motorola has unveiled the Dext, a new 'social' mobile phone that runs Google's Android operating system
The handset, known as the Cliq in the US, and the Dext in the UK, will enable users to pull in their friends and contacts from sites such as Facebook and Twitter, and get live updates whenever they or their friends update their social media streams.
It has a slide-out Qwerty keyboard and a touch-screen, along with a five-megapixel camera, GPS for turn-by-turn directions, high-speed internet access and a full web browser. Users will also be able to downloads hundreds of programs and applications on the handset from Google's Android Marketplace.
Motorola has struggled in recent years to compete with the likes of Nokia and Sony Ericsson, and its last must-have handset was the Razr, launched in 2005. The Dext is one of the most sophisticated devices Motorola has ever produced and will go head-to-head with Apple's iPhone and the Palm Pre.
Key to the Dext is its new user interface, Motoblur, which builds on the existing features of Google's Android operating system to provide an always-on connection to a host of social-networking sites, as well as emails, photos and other content, directly from the phone's home screen.
“Motoblur helps us to create phones that are instinctive, social and connected,” said Ralf Gerbershagen, vice president and general manager for Motorola. “Today’s mobile phone needs to be more than just smart. It needs to be social. The Dext is such a phone, offering the ability to funnel your entire social life into a single stream.”
Gerbershagen said that the Dext would be the first in a line of Android-powered handsets that Motorola would be producing in the next year. "I would say that Motoblur is the next-generation user interface," he said. "It's specifically targeted to people who are already in social networking at the moment."
He defended Motorola's decision to combine a touch-screen interface with a slide-out keyboard. "We believe that in the future, with these social networking and messaging services growing in popularity, people will be demanding phones with a keyboard.
"This is probably not a make or break handset, but it's a very important first step for us in to the smartphone market."
The Dext will go on sale in the UK next month, and will be available exclusively from Orange, with the device available for free on many tariffs.
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