Hip to be square
US handset maker Motorola has officially launched the Charm Android handset but, for now at least, it's exclusive to T-Mobile in the US.
The Charm has a BlackBerry-like squareness due to its fixed QWERTY keyboard, but it's targeted squarely as consumers, featuring a version of its Motoblur social networking software updated for Android 2.1. It also has the Backtrack touchpad on the back of the handset to facilitate navigation and, presumably, compensate for the 2.8 inch touchscreen.
"Motorola strives to provide an increased customizable user experience, which is enabled by our latest enhancements to Motoblur and featured on the new Motorola Charm," said Jean Pierre Le Cannellier, VP of Americas marketing at Motorola.
"Combine that with a compact design, easy handling and all the features you would expect from a smartphone, and we believe that Charm with Motoblur adds the social ability and workability consumers are looking for."
Motorola isn't offering any pricing information, nor have we been able to get any information on the likelihood of the Charm eventually making it over here. But from the look of it and the specs - like a 3MP camera - we reckon this should be priced towards the lower end of the Android smartphone category.