I wasn’t too kind to the Flipout when we first covered it here, and I can’t say that the official announcement has done much to change my mind.

If it weren’t for the strange form factor (why can’t Motorola just stick to what we know works?), the phone would be another mid to low-range Android handset. For those of you in the States that think it’s hip to be square (see what I did there?), you’re going to have to wait a bit before you can get your hands on this perplexing device as it’s slated to hit Europe first – apparently by the end of Q2 2010 (seeing as how it’s June already, the launch should be imminent).

Flipout’s bucking of the norm doesn’t stop with the form factor though, as it also offers an ‘enhanced Motoblur’ experience on top its Android 2.1 core. What exactly makes this version of Motoblur ‘enhanced’? Well, according to the press release:

  • Happenings and Messages widgets – filter by social networking account, by contact(s) or by contact group to only see the information you want
  • Screen customization – move and resize preloaded widgets on up to seven home screens
  • Battery Manager – manage battery consumption by operating in one of three performance modes
  • Data Manager – monitor data usage from the home screen to better manage pay-as-you-go and limited data plans
  • Personal and Corporate e-mail – pushed directly to the device
  • Re-tweet capabilities

While the phone’s specs suit the target demographic (tweens?), you’ll want to look elsewhere if you’re in need of a powerful Android device:

  • Talk and Standby Time: 275mins / 377 hrs WCDMA, 357mins / 365 hrs GSM
  • Bands/Modes: WCDMA 900/2100, GSM 850/900/1800/1900, HSDPA 7.2 Mbps (Category 7/8) EDGE Class 12, GPRS Class 12, HSUPA 2.0 Mbps, eCompass/aGPS, Version 2.1+EDR
  • Weight: 120g
  • Dimensions: 67.00 x 67.00 x 17.00 mm
  • Size: 76 cc
  • OS: Android 2.1
  • Battery: 1170 mAh
  • Connectivity: 3.5mm headset jack, USB 2.0 HS, Wi-Fi, NGP
  • Display: 2.8 inch display 320 x 240 pixels, QVGA TFT
  • Messaging/Web/Apps: MMS, SMS, Email (Corporate Sync, POP3, IMAP, Push Email), Instant Messaging
  • Audio: FM Radio Receive, AAC, AAC+, AAC+ Enhanced, AMR NB, MP3, WMA v9
  • Video: Capture/Playback/Streaming, H.264, MPEG4, WMV v9
  • Camera: 3 megapixel, digital zoom, fixed-focus
  • Browser: Android HTML WebKit, Adobe® Flash® enabled
  • Memory: 512MB internal memory with removable 2GB Micro SD card (included); supports up to 32GB MicroSD (optional)
  • Form Factor: Rotator QWERTY
  • Antenna: Internal
  • Address Book/Calendar: MOTOBLUR aggregates Facebook®, MySpace, TwitterTM and GmailTM; Syncs and merges your work contacts, email and calendar
    Location Services: aGPS (assisted), eCompass

You may have noticed that the browser apparently includes Adobe Flash. I haven’t been able to find out if this is the full Flash that’s available for Android 2.2 or Flash Lite. Personally, I’m assuming it’s going to be Flash Lite, as 2.1 is supposedly missing some of the framework that Flash relies on that is built in to 2.2

It’s also worth noting that, though the phone is launching in Europe to start, it was originally rumored to launch on ATT here in the States, and if you look at the 3G bands up there, it’s definitely ATT compatible, so I’d assume ATT users in the US will be able to pick this up by the end of the year.

[EMBED_YT]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F66Tx1l_ykU

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[EMBED_YT]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFBWoyijzwc

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Source: Motorola

Via: Engadget