T-Mobile Charm arrives with new Android design

Just as we expected, T-Mobile's latest Android phone, the Motorola Charm, went on sale today, ushering in yet another handset design for the platform. Save for the similarities between the Droid and Droid 2, Motorola has offered a unique design with each of its Android handsets.

This time around, we're getting a candy bar, BlackBerry-like device with a four-row QWERTY keyboard under the 2.8-inch touch screen. I'll be interested to see its rate of adoption considering the Charm's $75 price tag. Over the last few months, we've seen plenty of reports about Android eating away at the competition's market share.

Inside, the Motorola Charm doesn't have many standout features. The 3-megapixel camera is a rather low resolution and the 600MHz processor sounds slow when everyone else is rolling out 1GHz Snapdragons and Hummingbirds. On the other hand, it does run Android 2.1 with Flash Lite in the browser. Other than Verizon's Droid phones, Motorola doesn't have anything above 1.6 in the United States, so I'll take what I can get.

Rumors have been swirling for a few weeks that T-Mobile might be offering this phone up as part of a back-to-school promotion. If this happens, look for the Charm to go free after rebate.

If you ask me, this would be the perfect device for someone jumping from a feature phone. The Golden Bronze and Cabernet color options keep the phone classy, whereas the MotoBlur experience appeals to the social network fanatic in all of us. However, if you're looking for a superphone, you'll be wise to wait a little longer.