CES 2010: Motorola flips over an Android phone

Motorola yesterday demoed the Android-powered (initially version 1.5, with a later upgrade to 2.1) Backflip phone with an interesting design: its QWERTY keyboard is on the back and flips around when you need it. Grips on the underside of the keyboard allow you to place the phone on a tabletop so you can type on it like a laptop computer.

The Backflip has a 3.1-in touch screen that does something else cool: You can interact with it via a trackpad located behind the screen. The idea is that you can select objects and perform other on-screen tasks without your fingers blocking your view. Not sure how practical it is, but it does work.

The phone, which seems to be a good ½-inch thick when closed, also has a 5-megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, a full Web browser, and GPS navigation. Its Motoblur feature backs up all of your home screen customizations, e-mail, and social network messages in case your phone breaks, or is lost or stolen. And if your phone is lost or stolen, Motoblur uses GPS to help you find it, or lets you remotely wipe all of your personal information to protect you from identity theft.

The Backflip will be available in Q1 this year. Though no carrier was announced, the spec sheet shows it supports AT&T 3G data network.

—Mike Gikas