Motorola FLIPOUT Hands-On [Video]

It wasn't just the Motorola XT720 we grabbed some playtime with this morning; we also caught some hands-on time with the company's diminutive FLIPOUT, announced last week.  In some ways the FLIPOUT is more of a surprise than the XT720 proved to be, mainly because it's actually very usable despite the palm-sized dimensions.  The QWERTY keyboard is reasonable to type on, and the rotating screen section may be the spiritual successor to the Sidekick's spring-loaded display when it comes to absent-mindedly fiddling with your phone.Video hands-on after the cut

In fact, the main thing holding us back from outright FLIPOUT lust is the display.  At 2.8-inches it's not so much the scale as the QVGA resolution, which is low enough to make webpages a pixelated mush at all but the closest of zoom levels.  A slightly higher resolution and this could find its way into a surprising number of professional pockets, we reckon.

Motorola FLIPOUT hands-on

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Otherwise it's generally swift and the new version of MOTOBLUR – while still dominating your homescreen with its widgets – is improved in various mild ways over its predecessor.  There's also a 3-megapixel fixed-focus camera, WiFi b/g and GPS.  It'll land on Orange UK imminently.