Motorola unveils Android-powered smartphone, the Cliq

Motorola on Thursday unveiled a new smartphone, the Cliq, powered by Google's Android software which the US handset maker hopes will help turn around its flagging fortunes.

Motorola co-chief executive Sanjay Jha previewed the touch-screen phone, which is to be available through US carrier T-Mobile, at the GigaOm Mobilize09 event in San Francisco.

"Android gives us a platform to innovate and enhance user experiences," he said.

Described as "the first phone with social skills," the Cliq is heavily geared toward social networking with easy access and features built around sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.

For example, Jha said, caller ID on the phone will display the name of the incoming caller, their latest profile picture and latest status update.

The Cliq also features a camera and video camera and a full complement of Google mobile services such as Google calendar, Google maps and built-in GPS.

Jha said the Cliq was one of two smartphones Motorola expected to release by the end of the year running Google's open-source Android operating system.

The other device would be unveiled "in the coming weeks," he said, and both would hit store shelves in time for the holiday season.

"We expect (the Cliq) to be one of our hottest-selling devices in the fourth quarter," said T-Mobile chief technology officer Cole Brodman, who appeared on stage with Jha.

Google and T-Mobile released the first so-called "Google Phone," the T-Mobile G1, which is manufactured by Taiwan's HTC Corp., in October of last year.

US wireless carrier Sprint Nextel and HTC announced plans last week to release a touch-screen mobile phone in October, the HTC Hero, powered by Android.

Motorola enjoyed success with its popular Razr phone launched in 2005 but has been losing ground since to Apple's popular iPhone and Research in Motion's Blackberry as well as other major cell phone makers such as Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson.

'Windows Phones' coming in October

Microsoft, seeking to tap into the rapidly growing smartphone market, announced on Tuesday that new cellphones coming in October will feature an upgraded mobile operating system.

The Redmond, Washington-based software giant said mobile phones from its handset partners hitting stores on October 6 will be the first to feature Windows Mobile 6.5, the latest version of its mobile phone software.

The new phones, to be branded as "Windows Phones," will feature a redesigned Web browser and a free service called "My Phone," which allows users to back up contacts, messages and photos on a personal computer or the Internet.

Microsoft also announced plans to launch an online applications store -- Windows Marketplace for Mobile -- like Apple's popular App Store for the iPhone or Research in Motion's recently unveiled Blackberry App World.

It said a "wide variety" of applications will be available for the devices to be offered by hardware manufacturers in North America, Europe, Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region.

Other features include email using Microsoft Office Outlook Mobile and Microsoft Office Mobile, which allows users to open and edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents from their phone.

Microsoft's share of the market for smartphone operating systems fell to nine percent in the second quarter from 12 percent a year ago, according to research firm Gartner.

Nokia's Symbian is the leader with a 51 percent share of the market according to Gartner, while RIM commands around 21 percent and Apple has increased its share to 13.3 percent from 2.8 percent a year ago.

Google's open-source Android mobile phone software is another new entry in the operating system space and the Internet giant has carved out a two percent market share.

While worldwide mobile phone sales fell 6.1 percent in the second quarter, smartphone sales increased by 27 percent in the period to 40.9 million units, according to Gartner.

Stephanie Ferguson, general manager of Microsoft's Windows Mobile unit, said in a blog post that the software for new smartphones emphasized "productivity."

"Of the people we talked to, 74 percent listed productivity as the top feature they value in their smartphone," she wrote.

"We took this feedback to heart, making the user interface more touch friendly and improving notifications and updates from email, text and calendar items," Ferguson said.

"We also included the latest Internet Explorer Mobile browser and added free services like My Phone to help protect data in the event of a lost phone."

Microsoft identified its partners in North America as mobile operators AT&T, Bell Mobility, Sprint, TELUS and Verizon Wireless, and phone manufacturers HP, HTC Corp., LG Electronics, Samsung and Toshiba Corp.

In Europe, its partners are mobile operators Orange, Deutsche Telekom AG and Vodafone Group Plc and phone manufacturers Acer, HTC, LG Electronics, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and Toshiba.

Microsoft said that in Latin America its partners are mobile operator TIM Brazil and phone manufacturers HTC, LG Electronics and Samsung.

In Asia-Pacific, its partners are mobile operators NTT DOCOMO Inc., SOFTBANK Mobile Corp., SK Telecom, Telstra and WILLCOM Inc. and phone manufacturers Acer Inc., HTC, LG Electronics, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and Toshiba.