The ROKR is Motorola's iTunes phone

Oh yeah, one more tasty tidbit revealed by Motorola CEO Ed Zander in that Reuters interview we just linked to: the E1060 is definitely not the first iTunes phone, but that the ROKR, as it's going to be called, is on the way. One thing we don't like: apparently Apple is going to limit the number of tracks you can put onto the ROKR in order to "protect its popular iPod portable music business," which means you probably won't be able to fill up the memory card on your iTunes phone with 1GB of songs.

[Dick Durishin @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

ROKR?

As in "Kid"

or

As in "Al"?

[Powda_P @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

ROKR(Rocker) as in music, i assume since it is a 'music' phone. And Im guessing theyll be no media expansion slots. Id say well be lucky to get 128mb of storage, although that would be sufficient for my needs

[Bill @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

If it's a motorola phone, it'll either have a metric assload (as opposed to an imperial assload ... they are japanese, of course) of onboard memory that'll be wholly inaccessible without voiding the warranty big time(highly unlikely), or it'll have a Transflash slot and those max out at 512. I don't think the spec has room to go any higher without screwing up somewhere, but I know what happens to people that say things like that(besides, the damn things are smaller than my pinky nail ... it's a royal bitch when the spring loaded eject mechanism launches them across the shag carpeted room), so I'm just gonna close with a hearty "I'M RICK JAMES, BITCH!!"

[Andy @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

hat's off to the huy yesterday who made the comment abuot that first Moto phone not having a slick 4 char. name; good call!

[Keith @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

*shrug*
If Apple places non-technological limits on this they are just shooting themselves in the foot. Someone else can easily produce the same thing w/o the limits - though patent wise it will likely have to be slightly different. But remember little billy, patents only help customers and corporations.

[gnome @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

Glad to see I'm not the only one who thought of Al Roker when I saw this...

[ogun7 @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

To the Rick James Bitch: Motorola is an AMERICAN company. They practically invented the walkie-talkie. "Motorola�s role as pioneer, innovator and visionary in mobile communications is well-known. Originally founded as the Galvin Manufacturing Corporation in 1928, Motorola has come a long way since introducing its first product, the battery eliminator." from; http://www.motorola.com/content/0,,115-110,00.html

[Bud Landry @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

You know, I really don't want my cell phone to be an MP3 player. People use Mp3 players for hours on end, which suck up battery life.

I would rather my cell phone...

Be a great phone

Be a decent camera

Be a more flexible PDA

It is for interactive use, not passive use
It is for occasional, rather than constant use (and battery drain)

[MACALEX @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

I have an information that after ROKR will be released Apple will host java based iTunes client for free on their web site.

[Jacob @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

It kind of makes sense for Apple to impose limits on the capacity of a cellphone's iTunes capability.

Telcos sell these things for next to nothing, when bought with a plan. A large-capacity iTunes-capable phone for a low, low price would cut into the premium iPod lines.

[Mark H @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

Who cares if Apple want's to protect the iPod? I don't want one anyway. The H10 works as an external hard drive without having to be HACKED. As far as I know the only iPod that does that is the shuffle.

[funkmaster_dan @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

To use the iPod as an external HD all you need to do is check an option in iTunes, hardly a hack.

[Another Thought @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

Apple is making a big mistake. People don't like artificially imposed limits, especially in this age of technology where limits are shattered everyday.

Look at how people complain about Bluetooth being disabled on cellphones, etc.

Plus, either it has adequate capacity or not. If not, then no one will want the phone. If it does, it still is a competitor to the iPod.
In other words, either it will be good or it will suck. If it is good then it will have sufficient capacity to compete against the iPod for some users. If it sucks, then why enter this market in the first place.

Apple can't have it both ways: they can't have a successful cell phone that in some manner doesn't compete against their iPod.

As for the comment above "Telcos sell these things for next to nothing, when bought with a plan"...well, I don't know what carrier you've been dealing with, but carriers I know retail alot of the better phones for a pretty penny, even with a plan...see the Treo, RAZR, etc as examples. And I'm willing to bet that the iTunes phone will be released with a premium pricetag.

Apple will just be following in the footsteps of companies like Palm that shoot themselves in the foot...

[Pat @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

So basically this product will be poor, until someone hacks the java app to destroy that limitation. (I give it 1 hour after release)

[Arka @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM]

I see the point #13 is trying to make with the either/or scenario but i still don't believe they are shooting themselves in the foot. This is a perfect way for them to get into a new industry that they have not explored (cell phones obviously). Even if the phone could somehow be better, it still would not have a chance of competing against their other products such as the new ipod nano.

All they are trying to do with the ROKR is to add a new feature that no one thought of to the every-day cell phone. First came internet, then the camera, bluetooth, video...so they took it to a new level. Its not meant to be a subsitute for any IPOD product or a super high-tech no limit product. All theyre trying to do is add a new feature to a phone and hoping to increase ITUNES sales.