That was until today. An anonymous tipster sent our friend Rob at Phandroid some pics of the Motorola Backflip and we can clearly see AT&T branding on the device.

I wonder what that key does?

Phandroid is reporting the device was referred to as the Motorola Enzo and we have also heard the codename Motus used. CellPassion reported that Motorola had registered the trademark Backflip, but even that name could change by launch time.

I’m just going to call it the CLIQ 1.5 because that is essentially what this device is. We have the same internals as the CLIQ, Android 1.5, and the unique reverse flip keyboard.

The keyboard is always exposed.

Speaking of the keyboard, we can see above how the phone looks when closed. Since the keyboard is on the back of the phone, Motorola was forced to put the camera and flash in the lower left area. This has to be the first keyboard I have seen that comes with a LED flash.

Rear directional trackpad.

On the back of the keyboard you will find a trackpad that is similar to what you would find on a notebook. This phone was codenamed Motus, which is latin for gesture. We expect Motorola will take advantage of the gesture controls found in Android that no one else has exploited yet.

For those who missed it, we were the ones who leaked the specs of the Backflip. They include:

• 528 MHz Qualcomm MSM7201A
• 512 MB ROM
• 256 MB RAM
• 3.1 inch display 320 x 480 (HVGA)
• 5 megapixel camera with LED flash
• WiFi / Bluetooth 2.0 / GPS
• OS Android 1.5 with Motoblur
• GSM 850/900/1800/1900 W-CDMA 850/900/1700/1900/2100
• Reverse flip keyboard
• Rear directional touchpad

Engadget posted a rumor that the Backflip might be upgraded to a 1 GHz Snapdragon processor, but I think we can say that is busted now. Motorola is working on a Snapdragon device, but this is not it.

So what do you think AT&T fans? Is this a worthy device for your first possible Android phone?

For addition pictures, head over to Phandroid.

We had heard rumblings Motorola was working with the Snapdragon platform, but this is the first device to be linked to that rumor. Our intel said the Backflip/Motus device would be ready Q1 2010 and Engadget is reporting a possible launch date around April-May 2010.

Could Motorola really change the entire platform of the phone in those few months? A reasonable answer is, “No way”. Most handsets are in development for 16 months and major changes such as this would result in a significant delay.

We also revealed last month that the Backflip supported the 3G bands of T-Mobile and AT&T, but didn’t know which carrier the phone would end up on. According to Engadget, the phone will appear on AT&T, but I wouldn’t rule out a T-Mobile release. We have seen several devices that were bound for AT&T and none of them ever saw the light of day.

Other notes from Engadget include:

• Sure enough, the keyboard flips backwards so that it’s facing out when the phone is “closed.” When it’s open, the underside of the keyboard has a trackpad that allows you to scroll the screen while typing with your thumbs (it’s unclear how well this’ll actually work in practice). There’s also a third hinge position that keeps the phone upright — perfect for use as a video display or alarm clock.
• There’s a 5 megapixel cam and LED flash mounted on the keyboard (notice that white spot in the lower left?) designed to be used as a webcam, but we don’t know whether this’ll function as a traditional 3G video call (we’d doubt it) or over some other service.
• It runs Blur. If you like Blur, congrats; if you hate it, our condolences.
• The keys are backlit and said to be “domed” — that’s not really conveyed in this spy shot we’ve seen, but it’s hard to say for sure.
• It’s said to be about three-quarters of an inch thick, “enough to be bulky in your pocket.”
• Our tipster says he thinks he was told it runs Snapdragon, which would run counter to our current intel that has it running the CLIQ’s 528MHz MSM7201A. At any rate, he says it “seemed very responsive,” which is a good sign.

Could the Motorola Backflip be the first Android phone on AT&T?

Motorola Motus specs:

• 528 MHz Qualcomm MSM7201A
• 512 MB ROM
• 256 MB RAM
• 3.1 inch display 320 x 480 (HVGA)
• 5 megapixel camera with LED flash
• WiFi / Bluetooth 2.0 / GPS
• OS Android 1.5 with Motoblur
• GSM 850/900/1800/1900 W-CDMA 850/900/1700/1900/2100
• Reverse flip keyboard
• Rear directional touchpad

As you can see, this phone is essentially part of the Cliq family. The only thing new is the outer design. It features a reverse flip keyboard and a rear directional touchpad. This is exactly what I speculated last month and I’m really curious to see how the touchpad will operate.

The single photo we have of the device only shows the outside of the phone. Somewhere on the back of the keyboard (or maybe display) there will be a touchpad. I must say it is quite an odd design. We think the touchpad will be used for the gesture controls that no one has taken full advantage of yet.

According to the leaked Motorola roadmap, this phone is due in Q1 2010 and will be in the same price point as the Cliq.

I love the blurry-cam shots.

Update: CellPassion is reporting Motorola has registered the trademark “Backflip” which could end up being the official name of this phone.

Update 2: Another tipster just sent in the full Motus specs.

What do you guys think?

The Motus features a reverse flip keyboard.

Please consider everything in this post a rumor. Each item has been corroborated by several sources, but don’t expect Motorola to confirm or deny any of this information.

Motorola Cliq

A source tells me the Cliq might be stuck with Android 1.x. Motorola has told us they were planning an update for the Motoblur-powered phone, but have not specified which version of Android it would support. Rumor has it that Motorola has not budgeted to bring up all the device drivers for Android 2.0. Google made significant changes to the kernel in Android 2.0 and it takes a lot of effort for handset makers to update their hardware drivers to be compatible.

I really hope this rumor is wrong, but it comes from a reliable source that has never let us down. Motorola could easily squash this rumor, but has chosen not to comment on Android 2.0 coming to the Cliq.

Motorola Motus

We have briefly mentioned the Motus and its “reverse flip keyboard“. Several sources have told us this device will launch in Q1 and be powered by Android 1.5. Why would Motorola release an Android phone in 2010 that is still running Android 1.5? The phone is essentially the same internals as the Cliq (Qualcomm 528 MHz CPU). If the Motus does in fact launch with Android 1.5, this would lead us to believe that the Cliq rumor above is true.

The phone is also said to be a Motoblur-powered device and is likely headed to Verizon AT&T or T-Mobile. It should also appear on another carrier since there is a GSM version in the works. Motus has support for AT&T and T-Mobile 3G bands (W-CDMA 850/900/1700/1900)/2100).

Motorola Sholes Tablet

The Sholes Tablet is a very old rumor that was recently confirmed in the leaked Motorola roadmap. The phone is essentially a Motorola Droid minus the keyboard and with an updated camera. Our sources tell us this device is headed for T-Mobile in Q1 2010 and will feature Motoblur. T-Mobile seems to be huge fans of Blur (we are not) and all their Motorola phones should feature the social service.

Have some juicy news to share? Hit up our tip line.

Dialaphone obtained this leaked roadmap.

It was one of the first times we spotted the Motorola Motus, but little was known about the phone at the time. We have a lot of friends at Moto so I have been trying to pry some details out of them. From what I had been hearing, the phone sounded like a Cliq clone (same guts) but it was headed for Verizon. Motorola said during their last earnings call that Verizon would have a Motoblur device in 2010, so I began to assume that Motus might be the first.

I was not really that excited about the prospect of another Cliq-like phone, until we heard of a brand new feature: “reverse flip keyboard“.

What the heck is a reverse flip keyboard? A quick Google search revealed the following video.

After watching the clip, I was still a little confused. What would you do with a touchpad on the back of a mobile phone keyboard?

I looked up the origin of the word Motus and found it was latin for gesture. This reminded me that Google recently added gesture controls to Android 1.6.

Few devs have yet to impletment gesture controls.

This is pure speculation, but it appears the next version of Motoblur (based on Android 2.0) will center around gesture controls. Motorola hinted at this during the last earnings call, but it was kind of vague. Moto CEO Sanjay Jha said, “Motoblur’s robust functionality will be updated periodically and over time will be enhanced to solve other consumer problems.”

If Motorola decides to focus on gesture controls, a touchpad would be a nice addition to highlight this feature. I’m not sure why you need a touchpad when you have a 3.1 inch touchscreen, but it would certainly be a unique feature I have never seen on a phone before.

The Motorola Motus could certainly be one weird device.

Update: Mr. Anonymous has left a comment describing how this device works.

You usually hold the device like any candybar factor form device but behind your hand instead of having the back of the device you have the keyboard sitting there with the camera on the side of it (It has to be there since THAT is the back of the device). You can flip the keyboard so that it ends up under the screen which would then be in landscape (end up like the G1 or any other “slider” keyboard devices).