Motorola Backflip Will Offer Android in an Unusual Shape

Motorola has taken the wraps off the Backflip, an upcoming smartphone that will run Google's Android OS and have an unusual design featuring a flip-around keyboard and a touchpanel behind its 3.1-inch, HVGA screen.

This device will have a landscape-oriented keyboard, but won't be a slider or clamshell. Instead, will have a reverse flip keyboard, so that when this model is closed its keyboard is on the back.

When the keyboard is open, the user is going to have access to a touchpad that is on the back of the display.

Thanks to its design, the Backflip will be able to sit on a desk or table with its screen flipped up at an angle, allowing the user to more easily watch a movie.

Android and More
The Backflip will likely launch with Android 1.5, but but an upgrade to Android 2.1 is coming at some point.

It will have Motorola's Blur software, which gives easy access to consumer and business e-mail accounts, as well as social-networking services like Facebook and Twitter.

The Motorola Backflip will offer mobile broadband, and also include Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

In addition, this smartphone will have a microSD memory card slot, 5 MPx camera, a GPS receiver, and a 3.5mm headset jack.

Coming Soon
Motorola unveiled the Backflip at the Consumer Electronics Show, going on this week in Las Vegas, but it's not debuting today. However, the company did say that the Backflip will debut in the first quarter of this year in N. America, Europe, and Asia. However, the company stopped short of naming any of the carriers that will be offering it.

According to unconfirmed reports, though, this will be AT&T's first Android-based smartphone.

Pricing for the Backflip is not yet known, and will certainly vary between carriers that offer it.

Source: Motorola