After European market, Motorola launches its Milestone smartphone in Hong Kong, the first in Asia region to get the Android 2.0 device. The version Motorola sells in Hong Kong is English version with MOTO Chinese input methods (but no Chinese UI), including Chinese handwriting recognition and Pinyin.

According MOTO’s product manager, the cellphone maker will release later in Hong Kong a Chinese version with native Chinese UI and more Chinese input methods. The Chinese version may be released with Android 2.1 OS, and current devices will receive updates.

The Motorola Milestone is selling in Hong Kong at HK$4680 (US$602), unlocked and no contract needed.
Motorola Milestone Specs:

•WCDMA/900/2100, GSM 850/900/1800/1900, HSPA, GPRS Class 12
•Android 2.0
•3.7-inch 480×854 Touchscreen Display
•5 Megapixel Auto Focus Camera with Dual LED Flash, 4X Digital Zoom
•QWERTY keyboard
•Bluetooth
•WiFi 802.11b/g
•aGPS
•CrystalTalk
•3.5mm Headset Jack
•MicroUSB port
•microSD slot (up to 32GB)

[itechnews]

Synaptics, known for making trackpads for notebooks/netbooks, introduces the Fuse, the “next-generation” mobile concept. The Fuse claims to be the future of user interaction for handsets. It includes multi-touch capacitive sensing, haptic feedback, 3-D graphics, and force, grip, and proximity sensing.

The Fuse is actually a collaboration between Synaptics and four global partners – TheAlloy, The Astonishing Tribe (TAT), Immersion, and Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI). Synaptics also adds its ClearPad, NavPoint, and TouchButtons solutions to the concept.

Each partner provided valuable expertise and contributions to the project:

• TheAlloy led the user experience and overall product design efforts.
• TAT enabled the effective 3-D environment and lent their extensive user interface software design skills.
• Immersion made possible the tactile feedback, ensuring an integrated and satisfying experience.
• TI’s OMAP(TM) 3630 processor provided the framework and platform to leverage the enhanced multimedia, graphics and imaging features that consumers crave.

[Synaptics]

The Motorola Backflip (it’s also known as Enzo) is a first for AT&T - it’s an Android phone. It’s not official yet, but it’s a very interesting phone in that it was designed by someone completely lacking spatial awareness.

First things first. The Motorola Backflip is a rather appropriate name as you’re about to find out. Spec-wise it’s almost identical to the Motorola CLIQ (or Motorola DEXT MB220 as it is known outside the States).

Motorola Backflip (Enzo)

This means typical Android device and typical specs - 3.1″ HVGA display, 528MHz CPU, 256MB RAM/512MB ROM, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS. The software is said to be Android 1.5 with Motoblur and lack all Google apps except Google Maps. The Android Market is included though.

AT&T have taken their time to include their own customizations - Yahoo! Search (say what?), AT&T Nav, AT&T Music and AT&T Mobile App store. Anyhow, word is that the Motorola Backflip is thinner, slightly smaller and lighter than the T-Mobile G1 (or HTC Dream).

AT&T left their mark on the Motorola Backflip

The Motorola Backflip sports a 5-megapixel camera with autofocus and LED flash but, uh, there’s a problem - the placement. We mentioned the weird form factor, right? Well, sit down because your head will start spinning.

If you’ve looked at the photos you’re probably feeling something is off - how come you can see the keyboard in that one photo but not the screen? Well, it’s called “Motorola Backflip” for a reason. The keyboard is on the back on the device, while the display is on the front.

When you fold the Motorola Backflip open, things start to look normal, good even - that’s one roomy 4-row QWERTY - but putting the keyboard on the back where it’s always exposed is not exactly a good idea. And where’s the camera - on the keyboard, of course. Where else?

That’s some bad camera placement • the touchpad • the Backflip still runs Android 1.5

Oh, and that’s not all that’s strange about the Motorola Backflip - there’s a touchpad on the back of the screen, accessible when the phone is open. Apparently, it can be used for scrolling. It’s not like the phone has a 3.1″ touchscreen or anything. Weird.

One last bit of weirdness before we go - the (admittedly rumored) specs list the device as quad-band GSM/EDGE and quint-band 3G. That is 5 bands in a row - 850/900/1700/1900/2100MHz. Of course, it could just be a mistake. There’s no guarantee that the Motorola Backflip will have global 3G support (but if it does, we’d need a better name for it).