With the iPhone king of the touchscreen phone hill and the much expected launch of HTC’s G1, Motorola joins the fun and announces that it will embark on a project that will use the Android operating system on one of their phones. Motorola said the new phone, which doesn’t have a name yet, would have a touch screen like the iPhone and a slide-out Qwerty keyboard like the G1. Motorola also said that the phone itself would be focusing on social networking systems like MySpace and Facebook. This means that the phone’s software will allow users to access their accounts even easier than it is on other similar devices.

To build a “social networking phone” isn’t a bad idea, but, on the other hand, it’s not brilliant either. Motorola is now hiring a team of up to 350 people to work on the new Android based cell phone. Also, it is said that Motorola will invest $50 million in this project and that the first phone is expected to appear on the second quarter of next year. Motorola has already entered the market of touchscreen cell phones, with the Motorola Krave, a reliable and good looking piece of device. On the other hand, maybe the competition for the ultimate touch screen phone is already over as G1 will be released in a short time, the iPhone 3G already dominating the markets and the upcoming Blackberry Storm will definitely present itself as a pleasant surprise.

Motorola’s recently announced, Android based, touchscreen cell phone is expected to be even cheaper than the G1, under $180 and to be a serious competitor to other similar devices.