Motorola CLIQ / DEXT

I got to spend a pretty significant amount of time with the new Motorola CLIQ this evening at a Motorola event.  While the hardware is not exactly sexy, the software is really quite brilliant.

I’ll say it right here: Motorola does Synergy better than Palm.  This MOTOBLUR system takes all of your contacts and social networks and integrates them all into a really useful and usable system.  You get all of your messages organized perfectly, and you can update status on one or all networks easily – all from the device’s 5 customizable home screens.  It is amazing how much you can do on the CLIQ without ever going to a menu to launch an application.

The Motorola concept of “happenings”, the things that your friends do on the various social networks and in messages with you, works well.  Even the T-Mobile MyFaves application offers a filtered down view of the happenings of just those 5 contacts.  This stuff runs deeply in the CLIQ.

There’s no multitouch support (yet), but apart from that, Motorola really seems to taking it to HTC and the Sense-based UI found on the Hero.  For that matter, it’s going to give Palm a scare as well.  For a company that’s never been good at UI design and software, the MOTOBLUR system on the CLIQ is really a very pleasant surprise.

It is worth mentioning that the CLIQ runs on Android 1.5, not the newer 1.6 version that is due out soon.

In any case, you’ll find a large gallery of photos and a two-part, in-depth video tour of the CLIQ’s software after the jump.