Motorola to roll out Google phone 'Cliq' during the holidays

Motorola said Thursday it would launch a new cell phone that will run on Google's operating system.

Analysts and industry watchers concede that through this new phone, Motorola is hoping to regain market share that it has lost to more recent phone models, like Apple's iPhone.

According to Motorola, the phone which is called Cliq, uses software called Motoblur and is designed to simplify managing contacts and messages from online social sites.

Motoblur appears as a widget on the screen that connects the main social networking sites in one. By clicking on it, the user can see all its messages and activitiy on sites like; Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and Flickr.

The phone, which uses Google's Android software, has a slide-out mini-keyboard and a five megapixel camera.

An executive with Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile USA said it will begin selling the phones in the United States, in time for the Christmas holidays.