Motorola Atrix smartphone will arrive in May on Orange

EXCLUSIVELY ON Orange, the Motorola Atrix smartphone will be available in the UK next month.

The Atrix is a smartphone running Android 2.3 and will be available for free on a £35 per month on a 24 month contract. This tariff will include 600 minutes, unlimited texts, 50 MMS and a 750MB data allowance. You can reserve the phone either in an Orange shop or via Orange telesales.

Motorola has put a 1GHz dual core processor in the phone along with 1GB RAM. It has a large 4-inch HD screen with 540x960 resolution and there is a generous 16GB of internal storage which can be topped up to 48GB using the microSD slot.

Orange customers will have the option to purchase a "Work and Play Kit" that includes a remote control, mouse, keyboard and HD Multimedia Dock. Orange will price this kit at £49.99 compared to its standard retail price of £129.99. Furthermore, Orange customers who upgrade to the Atrix during May will get the kit for free.

The HD Multimedia Dock consists of a headphone socket, three USB ports and a mini HDMI output, and it lets users turn the phone into a PC or a multimedia hub.

The other docking system available is the Lapdock, which turns the phone into a netbook. The Lapdock, which is completely powered by the phone's hardware, has an 11.6-inch screen, weighs 1.1kg and comes with its own battery offering 8 hours of battery life. The Lapdock is priced at £299 but Orange says it will be available at lower prices on different tariffs.

We took a look at the phone and its docking systems last week at Motodev, so take a look at our Atrix hands-on review. We will bring you a full review of the phone soon. µ