subject: The Motorola Backflip-an Introduction [print this page] The Motorola Backflip looks set to turn the mobile phone market on its head by breaking away from tradition, and attempting something a little different from the rest of the bunch. A risky decision, but one that works very impressively in this instance.
The Motorola Backflip defies smartphone convention, and is actually a phone of the flip variety. The advantages of such a design is that whilst for general use it does not differ much to a more traditional phone, for e mailing or composing of an SMS text the handset can be "flipped". This process involves the physical "Qwerty" keypad that is actually located behind the screen on the rear of the phone ending up beneath the screen when held in landscape mode. The keypad itself is just big enough to make typing easier than on the touchscreen, keys are responsive and large enough for people with larger hands to use with minimal errors. When the Backflip is in the closed position, it looks just like a more traditional phone, albeit a touch deeper. Weighing 135 grammes and measuring 108 x 53 x 15.3mm, the handset looks neat, the curved edges and nice sized screen making it pleasing on the eye. This 3.1" screen looks great, image reproduction is clear and websites appear crisp and more importantly readable. The screen is also capacitive, meaning it has the edge in terms of responsiveness over it resistive rivals.
Like previous Motorola handsets, the backflip uses MotoBlur software. What this software does is collaborate a whole host of your information from both social networking accounts and e mail accounts and puts all of this together in the one "Master" list. The advantage of this is that you can group all the information for anyone contact together ie e mails, messages, calendar appointments etc. A nice touch and a much easier way of viewing information. In addition to clever touches like this, MotoBlur also give the user access to a host of widgets which can be used across the Backflips 5 homescreens. Google Android 1.5 is included as the OS on the Backflip, and Motorola have also confirmed that over the air software updates makes upgrading to the latest version very easy. A Qualcomm 528Mhz processor powers everything along rather smoothly, with a nice speed on loading and generally a good responsiveness.
The Motorola Backflip is certainly one of the more exciting mobile phone releases. It innovative design will appeal to those who want to be a bit different, whilst the social networking aspect will appeal to the younger crowd. Whether the physical hinges stand the test of time remains to be seen, but for the meanwhile this looks set to be a hugely popular handset.
