Motorola's MOTORIZR Z8 was launched today at 3GSM. The Z8 is a 'kick-slider' smartphone running UIQ 3.1 on Symbian 9.2. It packs an impressive feature set for that is just 15.3mm thin and feels small and light in the hand. Its features HSDPA connectivity, 90MB of internal memory (and a microSD slot that supports cards up to 4GB in size), a 2.0 megapxiel camera with a lumi LED light and video capture capabilities (QVGA at 30 frames per second), a 2.2 inch QVGA screen with 16 million colours and suport for stereo audio Bluetooth profiles.

The design is one of the most eye-catching aspects of the device. Instead of a uniform slide the back breaks into two halves angled in different directions. The result is that the phone forms into a concave shape similar to many clamshell phones. From the back and side of the phone the effect looks similar to that which you get when you break a Mars Bar in half. As a result it is better matched to the shape of the human head and this should help improve the audibility of phone calls.

Motorola were talking up the video multimedia capabilities of the phone. Video can be played back at up to 30 frames per second and in the demo I saw it was crisp and smooth. Motorola expect consumers to fit up to 10 feature length films on to a 4GB microSD card. Even more impressive in some ways is that the video capabilties have been further enhanced by the presence of the Sky by Mobile app that has been developed in asscoiated with weComm. Sky by Mobile allows you to access the full Sky Electronic Program Guide and with one click Record a program to your home Sky+ box. It also allows you to stream Sky TV (25 channels available) directly to your handset via the 3G connection. I'll be bringing you more information on the Shy by Mobile application in due course.

The Z8 runs the latest version of UIQ - 3.1, which was announced last week. It is the first UIQ non-touch screen device. All the UI interaction is carried out via softkeys. The demo phone I saw showed an extremely slick and speedy interface. Motorola have developed a custom front end screen for the phone which allows access to the most commonly used functions. For example the first entry on this screen allows you to make a phone call. Its a small interface tweak, but it is an excellent way of making the initial user experience more approachable. The standard UIQ application launcher / list is a single click away. The usual application are present including the Opera Web browser, an email client and the usual array of PIM applications. There's also a music player for MP3 and AAC playback. The music player includes play list management, visualisation and the usual array of playback options. When paired with a stereo audio Bluetooth headset this makes the Z8 a capable music player.

Motorola's Z8 was certainly rasing eyebrows at 3GSM today. For many within the industry it came as something of a suprise. Motorola was assumed to have ceased Symbian development to concentrate on its own Linux platform. The Z8 is Motorola first Symbian phone since the A1010 two years ago (which was eventually bought to market as the M1000 in Japan, but was never released anywherre else). As such it represents a major strategic step for Motorola and is major feather in the cap for both UIQ and Symbian.

Motorola's software platform strategy remains diverse. Its Linux platform (Juice) is finally starting to look mature. It is still intended as its main platform and will principally be used in mid tier phones and some high end phones. However Motorola clearly plans to use UIQ on Symbian and Windows Mobile in some of its high end phones. Windows Mobile, used in devices such as the Motorola Q family, will principally be for high end business devices. UIQ on Symbian will be used for high end multimedia phone. The development behind the Z8 represents a considerable investment for Motorola and it seems likely that further UIQ phones may be under development. Motorola have recently demonstrated a lot of sucess at quickly rolling out phone variants within the same family, for example in changing the radio frequences used, and it is possible a similar strategy may be employed with the Z8 in order to have a global sales reach.