LAS VEGAS—Motorola outdid itself last night with a classy press event at the Mirage’s Revolution Lounge. The night wouldn’t have been complete without at least a little surprise. 

More specifically, Sanjay Jha, the company’s co-CEO, introduced the Motorola Backflip. The new Android device features the company’s well-received Moto Blur UI on top of Android version 1.5.

The Backflip has a unique reverse flip design that acts a kickstand for viewing media. The back of the touchscreen has a track pad for navigation of the device. A spokesman said the unique attributes of the Backflip are an attempt to offer developers a new set of features to exploit.

“Since introducing our first MOTOBLUR-based device, we’ve remained focused on differentiating the Android experience and bringing it to new carrier partners around the globe,” Jha said. “Backflip maximizes the multi-tasking and multi-functional potential of MOTOBLUR with its unique design elements, making it as smart as it is social.”

Beyond its quirky form factor, the Backflip doesn’t stray too far from the Motorola Cliq. The phone comes equipped with a full HTML browser, 3.1-inch high-resolution touchscreen, 5-megapixel camera, LED flash, A-GPS, stereo Bluetooth and a 3.5-inch headphone jack and up to 32 GB of expandable memory.

The Backflip will be available in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia beginning in the first quarter. The company gave no immediate information on a U.S. carrier partner for the Backflip but did say the device supports the GSM band, which would make it a potential candidate for either AT&T or T-Mobile USA.

Given that AT&T just announced an impending Android release from Motorola, the Backflip could be on its way to that carrier.