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Moto shows off eighth Android 'andset

Cliq XT revamped for Europe

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MWC Motorola today took the wraps of yet another Android smartphone, this one called Quench and based around a 3.1in touchscreen.

If the Quench seems familiar, it's because its already been annouced, kind of. Recently, Motorola unveiled the Cliq XT in the US, and the Quench is the same handset, tweaked for the European market just as it renamed the US-oriented Droid as the Milestone over here.

Motorola Quench

Motorola Quench: The Cliq with a new name and tri-band HSDPA

Quench incorporates Motorola's Motoblur social networking management tool and features Adobe Flash Lite.

Hardware wise, there's a 5Mp camera round the back. The screen has a 480 x 320 resolution and 65,000-colour capacity. Quench has Wi-Fi and HSDPA 3G (tri-band) network connectivity, assisted GPS and Bluetooth 2.0 with stereo audio.

Motorola Quench

Snap happy: there's a 5Mp camera with autofocus and an LED flash

Quench runs Android 1.5.

Quench will go on sale before the end of March, just after the Cliq XT launches in the States. Motorola was keeping mum about the price. ®

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Versions?

Why the hell are all these Android phones coming out with different versions of the OS? Can they be upgraded out of the box to 2.1 (or whatever it is that the Nexus One is running)? If not, I can imagine that it's a pain in the arse to develop for Android.

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A much more likely theory

All these manufacturers that make their own UIs (Samsung, HTC) have to do extensive redevelopment for Android 2.0. And they can't be bothered. The Nexus One has no such addons, so it's free to run the cutting edge.

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Indeed

I wouldn't say that the different versions make it much harder to code for, something like 80% of the Android user base is on 1.5 and 1.6, so as a dev, that's your target version.

2.0+ is fully backwards compatible with 1.5 and 1.6, so unless you *need* a feature only available in 2.0+, you stick to 1.5/1.6.

I do agree though, manufacturers need to keep the devices up to date as much as possible. I can see future handsets stating whether they will / won't be kept updated.

Grenade to blow away older versions of Android.

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