Motorola announced its first Android operating system-based device, the Cliq this past week. The hardware is beautifully designed while the software makes a serious attempt to incorporate social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook. But more importantly, the future of Motorola may ride partially on the success of the Cliq.
The Cliq has a number of innovative and cool features, but does it lack the chemistry to capture any significant portion of the smartphone market? Motorola seems to have focused its attention on software feature innovation while completely ignoring the aesthetics and style of the hardware it is putting the features in. There are less functional hardware designs out there to be sure, but the slide-out QWERTY keyboard, rectangular micro-laptop with a 3-inch screen is uncompelling at best.
Motorola seems to be heading in the right direction with this handset, though. The Cliq is Motorola’s first attempt at a Google Android-based device, and the first device to include the new MotoBlur UI. With luck, Motorola will gather user feedback and learn from the Cliq, but the Cliq itself unlikely to click with the grown-ups who actually buy smartphones.