It might seem hard to believe, but yes there are actually people out there that own the Motorola CLIQ 2. Even harder to believe is that they’ve been living with Android 2.1 Eclair since the phone was released in early 2011. Now, more than a year later, Motorola has finally gotten around to releasing an optional update to Android 2.3 Gingerbread.

This upgrade will not be pushed out over-the-air, instead it’s offered as an option download with the Motorola Software Update tool for Windows computers. This update that seemed like an afterthought where someone at Motorola suddenly remembered the CLIQ 2 existed and was still running really old Android.

And sadly, since it took this long, it seems like this is the end of the line for the CLIQ 2, as it’s highly doubtful it will ever see Ice Cream Sandwich outside of the third party ROM development community. For downloads and installation instructions, head over the Motorola Support site.

[via Motorola Forums]

Yep, you heard it right. More than a year after its release the Motorola CLIQ 2 is finally getting an upgrade to Android 2.3 Gingerbread. At least Motorola is attempting to show they care about older devices, but they sure do have a weird way of showing it.

In a forum post yesterday, Motorola announced the Gingerbread update would be coming soon to the CLIQ 2, and they want 1,000 users to test it before general roll out. We’re not sure how many units they actually sold, but it might be hard to actually find that many CLIQ 2 owners. Seriously, does anyone own this phone? Are you looking forward to Gingerbread or just looking forward to a new phone?

[Motorola via TmoNews]

Many of you are readers of Gizmodo I’m sure. They’re one of the 800lb gorillas in the tech blog world and hard to ignore. But you may have missed a short little post yesterday about the CLIQ XT upgrade (or lack thereof) that I want to make further light of. Probably some of the best buying advice when it comes to Android phones. Forget screen size and dual core and megapixel counts for a second, just listen to this:

Never buy a phone on the promise that it might get upgraded someday. Buy it for the features and the software that it comes with today. Period.

That is literally going to be the cornerstone of my shopping advice whenever someone asks me what phone they should get. Every day I hear from people wondering when this upgrade is coming to this phone. And if Google keeps updating Android, which they will, the cycle will never stop and inevitably some phones will get left out in the cold. Granted, there are sometimes other upgrade avenues available via the developer community. Yes, even the original Android phone, the T-Mobile G1, has a version of Gingerbread ported to it.

A fair amount of the phones announced at CES last month are said to come with Android 2.2, of course quickly followed up with a promise to upgrade to Gingerbread. I’m willing to bet one or more of those devices may not see it for another year. What version of Android will we be on then?

If you bought a new car, then next year’s model came out with some new fangled feature, would you take it back to the dealer begging them to add the feature to your car? Probably not.

If you’re going to buy a phone and sign away two years of your life to a carrier to get it at a good price, make sure you can either be happy with that phone, as-is, for two years. Or be able to afford to upgrade early. Or find an alternative way to update the software as mentioned earlier.

Thoughts? Comments? Death threats?

TmoNews go their hands on a roadmap showing release dates for all the latest Android phones and tablets coming to T-Mobile and the lineup looks like this:

• Motorola CLIQ 2 – 1/19/2011 (on sale now, $49 at AmazonWireless)
• Dell Streak 7 tablet – 2/02/2011
• Samsung Galaxy S 4G – 2/23/2011
• LG G-Slate with Google – 3/23/2011

We already know the Motorola CLIQ 2 launched right on time. We’ll have to hang out till Feb 2nd to find out if the next release date is accurate. This also seems to confirm that the LG G-Slate is a pure Google experience, based on the name they give it  (With Google) and the row of icons at the bottom.

And another nice little tidbit, we have a confirmed price for the Dell Streak 7 tablet. $299 with a 2 year contract, but well below what the Galaxy Tab launched at. Start saving your pennies now.

Now tell me more about that Sidekick 4G…

[via TmoNews]

Is that an original CLIQ in the video? It doesn’t look like the leaked pictures.

[via Twitter 1 and 2nd link]

[More pictures over at CellPhoneSignal]

No really though, is anyone still rocking the CLIQ? Excited about your update, or still mad at Moto?

If you took the Motorola CLIQ formfactor, and slapped a CLIQ XT on the face of it, then added Android 2.1, you would have roughly was we have here. This is the Motorola SAGE, finally posing for some clear shots and said to be coming to AT&T, but of course with no time frame. We have a feeling the QWERTY sliding keyboard will sell a bit better than the BACKFLIP weird flip style, but that’s just us. Definitely not a high end device, but in AT&T’s current lineup, it kinda fits right in.

Look for more pictures and specs to come out of the woodwork soon, but for now, head over to Engadget for the rest of the shots.

[via Phandroid]

Guess it’s a good thing I just upgraded to the MyTouch Slide and got rid of the Motorola Cliq. Looks like Motorola decided to delay the release of 2.1 for the Cliq. It was scheduled for release in Q2 of 2010, and there is no current estimated release ETA. Apparently they are “working hard to optimize it”. Sorry Cliq owners, no Eclair love for a while, I really feel for you having to rock 1.5 for so long.

[Motorola Support via Android Community]

In case you haven’t seen it already, here’s the current Motorola rollout schedule for Android 2.1 upgrades. The screenshot speaks for itself, but to recap, the Droid is already running 2.1, most other phones should be getting it before the middle of summer, but BackFlip owners will have to wait till Fall. And even more sour news for DEXT and Devour users. But at least we know where Motorola stands. The information is subject to change, hit the link for the latest info on Motorola Android upgrade plans.

[Motorola]