Moto Android phone to carry touch, keyboard?

Motorola's social networking Android phone will promise to more directly compete against the iPhone and T-Mobile's imminent G1, a leak to BusinessWeek suggests. Although it will share the G1's use of a slide-out keyboard, the handset should have a significantly larger screen closer to the size of the iPhone's 3.5-inch display and will have styling cues somewhat like those of the Krave, positioning it as a more luxuriant alternative to HTC's phone.

Pricing would also be closer to the slightly less expensive Krave than the G1, which would supply the future Android hardware at $150 with a two-year contract. Although the cellphone designer is reportedly showing images and features for the system to carriers, an American release isn't anticipated until spring of next year, or several months after the G1's launch this week.

In addition to the social networking component, which will likely to tap into sites such as Facebook or MySpace, Android will give access to several Google-developed advanced features such as Google Maps and a full HTML web browser, both of which have been rare on Motorola's current phones.

The design recalls descriptions and early leaks for the Alexander but is unlikely to share much similarity with the already-shown handset, which has a smaller screen and is built around Windows Mobile. Either smartphone, however, is considered an important device for the company, which has struggled to hold on to market share without original RAZR-like success for any of its modern products.

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