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/v3-uk/news/1986574/motorola-dext-smartphone-debuts-orange
16 Sep 2009, V3.co.uk staff , V3
Motorola has launched its Dext Android-powered mobile phone in the UK on the Orange network.
The handset is the same as the Cliq launched on T-Mobile last week in the US, and marks a return from the wilderness for Motorola. The company had not launched a phone in the UK since December 2008, when it released the astronomically priced $2,000 (£1,200) Aura mobile.
The Dext will be available in early October, free of charge on Orange's Dolphin £35-a-month tariff with an all-you-can-eat data package.
The handset boasts a 3.2in screen, 5-megapixel camera and a slide-out Qwerty keyboard. Other features of this distinctly Nokia N97 lookalike device are Wi-Fi and a 2GB microSD card.
Motorola has lost Google's endorsement on the handset as it has tinkered with the operating system, much as HTC did with the Hero where it too lost the Google branding on the handset.
The Android mobile operating system under the name Motoblur has better integration of social networking features such as Facebook and Twitter built in to the operating system.
This is evident from Motorola's 'happenings' updates on the phone's home screen, where content from Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, email and text messages is displayed in real time.
Motoblur also has a cloud element, in which contacts and the handset details can be backed up. If the handset is lost or stolen all saved data can be remotely erased and restored to a new device. Apple's iPhone has a similar feature under Mobileme, as do Windows Mobile handsets.
Dext is just the first handset in a range of Android phones planned by Motorola, according to Orange.
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* MEDIA ALERT *
Milton Keynes to be first place in UK to see the Motorola DEXT? with MOTOBLUR.
The new Orange Multimedia Store in Milton Keynes, which officially opens at 3pm on Tuesday 6 October, 2009, will be the first place in the UK to showcase the much anticipated Motorola DEXT with MOTOBLUR, a day before it's available anywhere else in the UK.
Available only on Orange, the DEXT is the first mobile phone with MOTOBLUR technology- allowing you to synch all your communication, from work email to social messaging activity, directly to your home screen in easy to manage streams.
Orange will have some expert advisors and trainers in store on opening day to demonstrate the phone's multimedia capabilities to customers.
To find out more about the DEXT and to see a video of it in action, click here .
Orange is offering the DEXT free to customers who take out 24 month contract at £34.26 per month.
DEXT will be available at the new Orange Multimedia Store in Milton Keynes from October 6th, and nationwide at your local Orange store from October 7th.
Posted by Orange, 05 Oct 2009