[Robo]

After yesterday's Pixi-palooza, all eyes were on Motorola today, as the struggling handset maker's "Save the Date" keynote at Mobilize was seen as promising a turnaround for the company; if the company was going to put up a fight in the smartphone space, we were going to see it here. Well, we did.

What we saw was MOTOBLUR, a proprietary user interface for Android, like HTC's Sense. In practice, however, the UI was perhaps more similar to Palm's Pre - not only was "multi-threaded multitasking" listed as a defining feature, but the entire thing sounds like a more useful version of Synergy. Motorola has noted that half of all mobile browsing traffic is to social networks; the entire UI has a huge social networking focus, which is perhaps appropriate for a personal communications device. I think it's interesting that there are now so many social networks that we rely on special phones to manage them all; BLUR can, for example, set status updates to Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter all at once. It aggregates contacts and messages and even shows your friends' status updates when they call (along with their picture, of course). The home screen looks very widgety, very web 2.0.

The first phone running BLUR is the CLIQ, for T-Mobile USA. (It will also be available as the DEXT for Orange, Telefonica, and America Movil.) Unlike HTC's more recent Android phones, the CLIQ features a large, four-row keyboard with a generous d-pad (no trackball bullshit) - T-Mobile views the CLIQ as the continuation of their SideKick and G1 tradition, noting that T-Mobile USA users text more than any other carrier's customers do, around the world. The screen is a large capacitive touch affair (is it odd that the world is treating that as a foregone conclusion at this point?). On the back is a 5 MP camera, continuing T-Mobile's strong camera tradition as well. The CLIQ will be available "in time for the holidays," and there's no word on price - but expect a large marketing campaign, with the T-MOTO partnership already touting the phone as "the first phone with social skills."

Android represents a major commitment for Motorola, with the company promising another phone announcement (likely for Verizon) in mere weeks and talking up BLUR as taking the company into 2010 and beyond. But - like Palm, earlier this year - they needed to do something big. JUIX wasn't it. MAGX wasn't it. They needed a smarter platform, and Android makes for a more solid foundation than WinMo ever was.

I've said it before, but this is what Android was more or less always "meant" to be - the basis for other UIs, like Sense and BLUR, more than any single platform. Little green robo-dude aside, most customers won't ever know that they're using an Android phone - Android will just provide the underlying system and the application platform, so customers will probably end up viewing it merely as a shared "Android Market." Other companies have put their own UI "layers" onto WinMo before, but if you're going to go through the trouble of making your own UI, why pay for WinMo (which doesn't even support capacitive touch)? And why make your customers wonder WTF is going on when two clicks takes them to ugly old WinMo, all of a sudden, when you can "skin" the entirety of Android - even rewrite the contacts systems to do cool things, like BLUR does?

At the end of the day, I think there will be Apple, RIM, and everybody else. And "everybody else" will be powered by Android, giving Sense and BLUR users the benefit of a much larger application platform than would ever be developed for each platform individually.

Link

[alcimedes]

I actually think that RIM is working their way out of the picture if they're not careful.

Their OS/app stores don't really seem to be pacing very well relative to what the market is clamoring for.

They remind me of Palm. They got big enough they assumed a position of dominance in the smart phone world, then Apple shows up and everyone wants an iPhone.

Still not a huge problem, the iPhone isn't a 'work' phone and is only available through ATT, so it *can't* be a real competitor.

But what does RIM do? Not that much.

Fast forward two years, Google backed Android hits the market and although it's moving slower than the iPhone did, I think they're going to start picking up more steam.

More carriers, wide open app. store (which developers like) and more of a 'business' feel than Apple. I mean, it's Google. They're ubiquitous with success in a lot of people's minds. Will be interesting to see how the next year plays out.

[Bryson]

Am I the only one that thinks the BLUR interface looks like a real dogs dinner?

[Robo]

Originally Posted by alcimedes I actually think that RIM is working their way out of the picture if they're not careful. Their OS/app stores don't really seem to be pacing very well relative to what the market is clamoring for.

That's what worries me about RIM. They're the industry darling right now, every carrier wants an exclusive BlackBerry and they've obviously been very successful over the last few years, even with competition with the iPhone...but they really do need to make a big leap forward with their OS and BB OS 5.0 just isn't it (as I've lamented before). They've also made a lot of very similar devices over the last year, with the 8900 and Bold and Tour and now the 9700. I think they might "baby step" themselves to oblivion. I think a lot rides on the touchscreen-plus-QWERTY "Magnum," which should hit early next year...but even that looks like it might just be an incremental improvement.

I mean, they have to be working on something, right? I can't believe they're just twiddling their thumbs, but a lot of people seem to be worried about their future. If I were them, I'd hold a press event to let us know how what they're cooking, stat.

I'm just happy for Motorola. They needed a "hero device" almost as much as Palm did, and it looks like they've got it, in the CLIQ. Between webOS, Maemo, and now BLUR, 2009 seems to be shaping up to be the year of comebacks. If only things seemed as bright for WinMo 6.5...

[Robo]

Originally Posted by Bryson Am I the only one that thinks the BLUR interface looks like a real dogs dinner?

Well, it's widget-based, so it's never going to look, y'know, like an iPhone. But the upside of that is that it does provide a ton of info at once. Adding, removing, and moving widgets seems easy enough, and it handles multiple pages with aplomb (even on the old-ish MSM7201a). It's one of the better widget-based UIs I've seen.

But the real draw is the BLUR "service," with the aggregated contacts and all. And everything is backed up to the BLUR servers (BLURvers?), so if your phone is stolen you can remote wipe all of your embarrassing personal info from it and then restore it all to the new (BLUR-branded, of course) phone you buy.

I can't help but feel that, as marketable as BLUR is, the CLIQ hardware itself is pretty standard fare; it's probably the best QWERTY Android set yet, but that's not saying much. People expect more flair from Motorola's 4LTR devices...on the CLIQ the logo on the back lights up (a la MacBook), which is a unique touch, but it's one of the only ones. From leaked pictures, the Verizon BLUR handsets should do much better in that regard.

[Partial]

I like the way it looks a lot.

[Robo]

Originally Posted by Partial I like the way it looks a lot.

Engadget's hands-on impressions of the hardware were also very positive, saying it feels "absolutely fantastic," "like it's fashioned from a block of solid metal," and calling the keyboard "truly stellar." (Gizmodo notes that it's thinner than most QWERTY sliders, and they've been raving all day about the proper d-pad's implications for gaming.) So while the design could use a little more flash (and a camera flash, amirite?), it does seem to be, on reflection, worthy of the 4LTR designation. With a glass capacitive screen and "rock-solid" build, the hardware should impress those who pick it up, even if it has a little trouble getting their attention in the first place.

[chucker]

It looks rather cluttered.

[Robo]

Originally Posted by chucker It looks rather cluttered.

It's as cluttered as users want it to be, so you know what that means...

[torifile]

Robo, I almost posted a tl;dr on your first post, but you're a good writer so it's more like a tl;ra (too long; read anyway)

Do you write for one of those gadget blogs? You should. You're approximately 1000 times better than most of the writers on any of those weblogs inc./gawker sites.

[Robo]

Originally Posted by torifile Robo, I almost posted a tl;dr on your first post, but you're a good writer so it's more like a tl;ra (too long; read anyway)

I tried to keep it short, I promise! I knew lots of people would tl;dr it, but I didn't want to cut anything.

Thanks for reading and posting a reply! And no, I don't write for any gadget sites. I probably should, though, huh? Then I could get paid for writing all the stuff that I write here anyway, hahaha. And people would actually read it maybe, and I'd get to play with unreleased gadgets and stuff.

Whenever there's a job opening at Weblogs or Gawker they always ask for experience. Think I could use AppleNova?

[scratt]

You should do something like DF, and use AppleNova as a springboard IMO.

I'd read a column by you with my coffee each morning. In fact I've used a few posts by you to jump me to stuff which is relevant to my projects and I had not picked up elsewhere....

I'm bored of Gruber these days. We need a new "fireball".

[curiousuburb]

Cliq comes of Age... if you're under 30.

Originally Posted by NYT The phone, called the Cliq, is meant for young people obsessed with social networks. Instead of the traditional menu of features, the Cliq’s home screen is an ever-changing mosaic of e-mail, Twitter tweets and status updates, superimposed over photos of the people sending those messages. “It’s alive,” said Sanjay Jha, the co-chief executive of Motorola, who was hired a year ago from Qualcomm to revive its cellphone business. “Think of it like the text bubbles in cartoons, with new information pushed to you all the time.” ... continues ...

So Moto is trying to go niche, and this is market segment Y or Z?
IIRC there are toddler and granny phone niches already (big buttons, GPS).

As for OMGCartoonBubbles! *poke* interface... maybe I doubled my estimated market age.

/backsaway

Tangentially, I think WinMo is toast. Yeah, they've got a rev overdue soon, but Moto is only one manufacturer that formerly slapped a new UI on WinMo but are now just dumping them for Android.

[Brad]

Originally Posted by Curiousuburb As for OMGCartoonBubbles! *poke* interface... maybe I doubled my estimated market age.

*points at even cartoonier iChat and iPhone message bubbles*

[Robo]

Originally Posted by Brad *points at even cartoonier iChat and iPhone message bubbles*

Yeah...speech balloons are just a web 2.0 "thing," like reflections. Just look at all the logos that have speech balloons (including BLUR's). Speech balloons are the new "squishy globe."

And again, all those home screen widgets are optional. Motorola shows them off in all the press shots, to convey BLUR's social networking focus, but you can have just the weather or just a search box or just a bunch of icons if you want. Even totally ignoring those exclusive "social" widgets, you're still left with a phone with unique contact aggregation, phone location, and remote wipe and backup features, and more RAM and better build quality than the G1, in a thinner package (with a real headphone jack, huzzah!).

I'm not saying widgets are the answer (though they're certainly a trend, and I don't deny that "snackable" information does make sense on a handset), but I do wish the iPhone's home screen was more useful. I think it's kind of odd that I actually have to open up a weather app just to see the weather, for example. Even just displaying the current weather on the weather icon would be an improvement.

[chucker]

Originally Posted by Brad *points at even cartoonier iChat and iPhone message bubbles*

Cartoonier, yes, but Apple would never make an interface as busy as that.

[addison]

Looks surprisingly high quality especially for Moto which is good to see. We'll have to wait and see how reliable it is. Their last couple of smartphones have been pretty bad. They will be releasing a similar version on Verizon next month I think. Has a little more adult styling and a four row keyboard. They need a hit.

[Robo]

Originally Posted by AWM Looks surprisingly high quality especially for Moto which is good to see. We'll have to wait and see how reliable it is. Their last couple of smartphones have been pretty bad. They will be releasing a similar version on Verizon next month I think. Has a little more adult styling and a four row keyboard. They need a hit.

Yeah - Motorola obviously only announced T-Mobile's CLIQ, since T-Mobile was, well, presenting with them. But they fairly obviously hinted that we'd see another Android/BLUR announcement within just a couple weeks - perhaps at a Verizon "Next Phones Now"-style event, alongside the Storm 9550 and the Chocolate Touch?

The Verizon version, codenamed Sholes (or Shules), does indeed look higher-end, with a 3.7-inch (!!!) screen. There was another, even sexier Motorola Android phone pegged for Verizon, the Calgary (which packs a RAZR-style electroluminescent QWERTY) but I'm thinking it might have been canned, like so many of Motorola's would-be smartphones over the last year (Flash, Inferno, Alexander...). I hope it's still in the cards, but it was apparently supposed to be Motorola's first Android device...

Sholes/Shules:



This is not the final design - those who saw early Morrison (CLIQ) prototypes know it looked...uglier.

Calgary:



(leaked December 16, 2008! )

[addison]

I think this might be closer to the final design.



Looks better. And don't expect the BL40 as the Chocolate Touch. The word is that it didn't do well in focus groups and they will end up going with another LG phone they submitted which looks like a lot of other devices. Sorry folks!!

[Robo]

Yeah, that render is more "final" (note the logos, and the CLIQ-matching button icons), but I wanted to post a photo. (I'm guessing that blank key in the corner of the keyboard will end up being a search key - I don't know if Google mandates those or not, but all new Android devices seem to have them. I think it's interesting that both the CLIQ and the Sholes have four-row keyboards, but the Sholes uses the top row as a dedicated number row and the CLIQ uses the bottom row as a space bar and function key row. I prefer the CLIQ's keyboard, to be honest; I really don't like it when the space bar is shoved between letters like that.)

Oh, I haven't been expecting the BL40, even though (focus groups be damned) everybody is going to be disappointed when that's not Verizon's Chocolate Touch - and they get this ugly thing instead. (To be honest, I'd guess the actual reasons for not carrying a CDMA BL40 has less to do with focus groups - everybody in the real world seems to love it -and more to do with the cost of the BL40; Verizon's Chocolate Touch will likely be positioned somewhat downmarket, like a Dare 2. I'm sure Verizon wants to keep on plugging the Storm 9550 as their high-end full-touch phone, but let's be real - they could use all the high-profile devices they could get.)

[addison]

The CLIQ keyboard looks like it may be more comfortable but I like the numbers on top. Also, the CLIQ has the D-pad on the left while the Shoales has it on the right. Makes no difference to me but some may differ.

The Chocolate Touch you linked to is probably going to be the Dare replacement. It's about the size of the Versa and supposedly looks better in person. It has some kind of design on the back and there are different color ones available. Some think it's targeted towards females like the Juke or Venus but who knows. I wouldn't rule out the BL40 completely. It's still possible it will show up. It hasn't been released anywhere that I know of so there is still time.

[Robo]

Originally Posted by AWM I wouldn't rule out the BL40 completely. It's still possible it will show up. It hasn't been released anywhere that I know of so there is still time.

I certainly hope we get some form of the BL40, and that phone I linked to is just the "Double Dare" or something. We have enough phones with 3-3.5" HVGA touchscreens...and let's be real, the BL40 would do much better as a "flagship" holiday phone than that other thing would. Verizon should dump that other thing in Q1 as a lower-end touch option, a Dare 2. (Ever notice how Verizon only starts numbering their phone "sequels" when they're no longer the high-end hotness? Chocolate 3 is to Venus as enV 2 is to Voyager, as enV 3 is to enV Touch, as Dare 2 is to Chocolate Touch...?)

As for the BL40 launch, it's launching in the middle of September (so, any day now) in Europe, and in October "elsewhere." Everything seems to be suggesting an October launch for the Sholes and Storm 9550, too, but Telus is also rumored to be getting a (CDMA!) BL40, so that "elsewhere" need not mean the United States. Still, if they're making a CDMA BL40 for Canada...

I really do hope Verizon has a big "Next Phones Now" launch, like they did in 2007. Last year they put all their eggs in the Storm basket, which would have been better if the Storm didn't have so many problems (at launch). While I don't think a refined Storm will succeed in getting a lot of attention by itself (you only get one chance to make a first impression!), as part of an event with a bunch of other high-profile phones, it'd do well.

[addison]

Originally Posted by Roboman I really do hope Verizon has a big "Next Phones Now" launch, like they did in 2007. Last year they put all their eggs in the Storm basket, which would have been better if the Storm didn't have so many problems (at launch). While I don't think a refined Storm will succeed in getting a lot of attention by itself (you only get one chance to make a first impression!), as part of an event with a bunch of other high-profile phones, it'd do well.

That seems to be the direction they are headed. Unlike last year they seem to be throwing a bunch of stuff up to see what sticks. There will be Android devices, obviously the Storm 2, WebOS, WM7 which I'm guessing will be here sooner rather than later along with the enhanced feature phones.

[Bryson]

Originally Posted by Roboman I'm not saying widgets are the answer (though they're certainly a trend, and I don't deny that "snackable" information does make sense on a handset), but I do wish the iPhone's home screen was more useful. I think it's kind of odd that I actually have to open up a weather app just to see the weather, for example. Even just displaying the current weather on the weather icon would be an improvement.

Nice idea: the same way the iCal icon shows todays date. That would be cool.

I guess we're into the realm of background processes, though...

[chucker]

Originally Posted by Bryson I guess we're into the realm of background processes, though...

Doesn't have to be its own process. Could work similarly to Dock tile plug-ins on OS X (something introduced with 10.5 and made public in 10.6), except as a plug-in to Springboard, not Dock. Sure, Apple currently only allows applications on the App Store, and there might be complications with sandboxing. Still worth considering.

[Robo]

Yay! I had a good idea ^_^