What we might see at Moto's Android event

Motorola will have at least two Android phones on sale this year.

(Credit: Motorola)

Motorola is finally ready to unveil its first Google Android handsets. Invitations sent out Tuesday announced a media event in San Francisco on September 10. Details were limited, but we expect to see an appearance from two rumored Motorola phones, the Morrison and Sholes.

The Morrison should launch on T-Mobile later this year. Initial rumors said it would be a budget Android phone, but the leaked specs are impressive. The Morrison will feature the same CPU as the first two Android phones (G1 and MyTouch), but will offer several enhancements that should make it a desirable phone.

Android fans will welcome the 256MB of RAM that is expected on the Morrison. As that's a healthy increase over the 192MB of RAM on both the G1 and MyTouch, the Morrison should offer better performance. The camera resolution is also greater (five megapixels vs three megapixels) and the Morrison includes the long-awaited 3.5mm headset jack (HTC's Android phones use a mini-USB jack).

Sholes is the codename for the upcoming Android phone for Verizon Wireless. The handset should aim for the high-end user and usher in the second generation of Android devices. Moto has chosen the Texas Instruments OMAP3430 platform to power the Sholes, which would make it the fastest Android phone to date. The OMAP3430 features a 600MHz CPU and is the same platform that supports the Palm Pre.

My sources tell me that the Sholes will ship with Eclair, which is expected to be named Android 2.0. Users can expect a significant user interface refresh, increased gaming performance, and more social networking integration. BoyGeniusReport has leaked documents which show the Sholes launching in late October on Verizon.

We might also get new information on Blur, the codename for Motorola's custom user interface for Android. It is expected to be tightly integrated with many social networking platforms and offer push updates. For example, opening a contact on your phone would instantly display real-time updates from Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr. We could also get an update from Motorola on its possible plans to launch its own app store.