LAS VEGAS – Motorola launched its third Android smartphone, an attractive, compact device with some surprising hardware innovations and a user interface that aggregates social networking feeds, e-mail and contacts.

The phone called Backflip has a 3.1-inch touchscreen, a QWERTY physical keyboard that opens up in an unexpected way, a touch-sensitive navigation panel on the back and a nifty mode that allows it to be positioned on the tabletop to act like an alarm clock.

The device is expected to hit the market in the first quarter of the year, but the company did not disclose pricing or a telecom partner for the device.

"This is a phone with a great keyboard, a big screen and integration with social networking," says Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha.

Since Google debuted the open source Android operating system in October 2008, Android devices have flooded the market. More than 10 Android handsets are currently available with more waiting to burst into the spotlight. AT&T announced Wednesday that it will offer five new Android smartphones this year. On Tuesday, Google introduced its own Android handset, the HTC designed Nexus One running the latest version of the Android OS, Android 2.1

Motorola is trying to stay a step ahead, says Ross Rubin, an analyst with The NPD Group. "We have seen a lot of Android models appear quickly on the market," he says. "So it's starting to become more important for manufacturers to differentiate themselves."

An eye-catching phone

Like the Motorola Droid, the Backflip has a physical keyboard and a touchscreen. But Motorola seems to have listened to complaints about the Droid's difficult-to-use keypad.

The Backflip's keypad feels solid and has generously spaced buttons that ensure you don't end up hitting the wrong keys. The keyboard also opens up differently.

"Most people are used to a forward flipping keyboard or an upward slider," says Paul Nicholson, global marketing director for Motorola. "The Backflip's keyboard opens up in the reverse direction."

That allows the phone to fold up and sit on a tabletop like a horizontally placed picture frame. In that mode, the Backflip displays a clock, turning it into a bedside timepiece.

Another interesting innovation is a 1-inch touch-sensitive swatch on the back of the phone. That trackpad supports gestures such as swipe and double-tap. So users can browse the internet or flip through the device's seven home screens by touching the back of the phone.

The idea works well enough, and it won't be long before other handset manufacturers offer the feature.

Beyond that, the Backflip has all the usual features – Wi-Fi connectivity, 3G, a 5-megapixel camera and a video recorder.

Motorola did not disclose what kind of processor is powering the phone. With the 1-GHz Snapdragon processor (included in the Google Nexus One) setting the standard for speed, much will depend on how powerful the innards of the Backflip turn out to be.

Chanelling the Cliq

When it comes to the user interface, the Backflip is identical to Motorola's first Android phone, the Cliq. The Backflip has Motorola's custom skin called MotoBlur that combines information from social networking feeds such as Twitter and Facebook with e-mail contacts and the phone address book. It also offers free online backup of the data on the device and a find-my-phone service for lost devices.

Models of the Backflip at the Motorola event were running Android 1.6, but the company says it hasn't decided which version it will ultimately ship with.

Overall, the Backflip is a gorgeous piece of hardware and cements Motorola's position as a handset manufacturer that can create phones strong enough to stand out from the clutter.

Though Motorola hasn't announced the pricing for the Backflip, NPD's Rubin says it could cost about the same as a Cliq – $100 with a two-year contract. And being a GSM phone, it is likely this device could end up on AT&T.

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