Motorola SLVR L7 -- with iTunes
By Peter Rojas 
posted Nov 1st 2005 12:55PM
posted Nov 1st 2005 12:55PM
We have no idea when Motorola will be actually introducing this, but we managed to get our sweaty paws on a SLVR L7 with iTunes on it (and all we had to do was pretend we were dead). Nothing too unexpected — it has just about the same user interface as the ROKR E1 (though the menus are slightly less sluggish) and it has Bluetooth, a VGA digital camera, and a TransFlash memory card slot for storing up to 100 iTunes tracks, but there is one real surprise: the phone doesn't have a headphone jack. Seems a bit odd for a phone with iTunes, but we're hearing that Motorola will offer Bluetooth stereo headphones. Click on for a few more pics.
now THATS a phone to whack iTunes on (shame about the HP jack though).
A White version would look neat.
Why would you leave off a headphone jack on a phone with iTunes?! What a stupid, stupid decision.
AHAH! Moto has got you now! Now you have to shell out for their $80 bluetooth headphones, instead of Rocking the always clashing orange earbuds that came with teh smashing hit ROKR. MOTO you so LOCO.
hmm, the lack of aheadhone jack doesn't seem to smart... but aesthetically this thing is miles beyond the original "designed in the 80's" ROKR phone.
I'm assuming that iTunes is a late software add-on to the phone, and that's why there's no headphone jack. Perhaps it will work with some soft of combo headset, or maybe there will be a mini-usb plug in for it, or maybe this is an early version, and a future production model will have one.
This thing is suppose to be ultra-thin right? from the pics it doesn't look THAT special .. Of course when compared to the RokR .. its much much ... i dont think i even need to complete the sentence.
No headphones b/c of the Stereo BT. i think that's cool. I've held one of these (an engineer for moto comes to our store twice a week) and it's pretty cool
Damn it people, stop buying Moto's stupid fashion phones. This is like what, the 10th phone out of Motorola that has the SAME featureset as my 2 YEAR OLD V600! The RAZR, the SLVR, the ROKR, the PEBL, the E398, the V300, 400, 500, 551, 547, 330, 600, and 620 are ALL THE SAME. The V330 and V551/V547 add petty things like EDGE, the V620 and RAZR add video recording, the SLVR and ROKR are both just E398s. The V635 (damnit UPS guy where are you) and V360 are the ONLY two phones to come out of Moto in the past year to offer anything compelling. The SLVR was what I wanted, until I learned Moto ditched the 1.3 MP cam for VGA, and dropped EDGE.
Does anyone know how much this will retail for?
bluetooth stereo headphones
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000AMM6QO/104-4158551-2089530?v=glance&n=172282&v=glance
I'd guess $300 w/2-year
the USB port will be used for the headset, i know this cuz i on this phone. its just like razr, u use the usb port for headset in that too, u can use the usb port on this for headphones. And yes the bluetooth headphones will also be there
They might all have the same features... but they all have different pretty colors and designs! ooooooh!
Seems cool...but how thick is it?
And sheik124, Take a chill pill. People buy fashion phones cause they dont need their phone to do much else. If they needed features, they would buy a phone that had one.
Nope, still waiting for the Nokia N91.
I'm doubtful about the bluetooth headphones, in terms of sound quality and ease of using (pairing them, etc.)
I have heard anywhere from 200 to 250 Right Now I am waiting on this or the HTC Tornado. Can't decied. Also this thing says it was an mp3 player
http://www.phonescoop.com/phones/phone.php?p=683
I need awnsers!!!! I have heard a whole slew of phones are supposed to be realsed this month. My Tech Expo will be complete, My New Phone My New Laptop My New Computer My New XBOX 360. My new Nissan Skyline GTR V-Spec II. LIFE IS SWEET
the SLVR is a SEXY phone, screw iTunes. I want that phone...
I love you. Come to Butthead.
#7:
you're right. i dont want a damn fashion phone... but i DO want iTunes. what the hell. this damn fashion phone thing is a plague on cell phone progression.
Way ahead the ROKR, but I still don't think the design's too great. I like the buttons, though. There's alot of room to improve, but this is a phone I wouldn't feel bad about carrying around.
No headphone jack is a bit annoying, though. But it makes sense. You have your headphones on, and suddenly your phone rings - you'll have to remove your headphones (or listen through your headphones, which is a bit annoying) and then pick up your phone and follow through with the call. With a BT headphone (if it's like a bluetooth head-set too) you can answer your phone right there without switching gear around, and maybe without even having to pick up the phone from your pocket... Just speculation though.
I hope Moto get it right this time as I'm also looking for a second phone. It's really cool!
It just a excuse for Moto to sell you their overly priced BT headphones. Just a way for them to make themselves more money.
Is this 100 song limit thing going to stay around for good? It's times like this that I'm pissed that I bought into the whole iPod iTunes empire.
This is *almost* the phone the world has been missing. For me it boils down to the following:
1) Stunning good looks (I mean iPod nano good looks)
2) Fast and easy to use interface
3) fast address book browsing
4) fast and simple texting
5) bluetooth to sync address book with laptop
6) ability to use phone as a modem for laptop (with an all you can eat data plan that doesn't exist in NZ)
Not fussed about iTunes or crap quality photos at all.
It's amazing with the power in these phones, they can't make the interfaces ultra snappy. It's also amazing there isn't a single phone, at any price, that looks as stylish as an ipod nano or any apple product. This phone is the closest I've seen so far. Anyone agree?
Yawn.
I'll wait for the Q, thank you very much..
(Moto Q black - droollll)
Screw that, where is the RAZR with iTunes. Flip phones people. Until then, I don't want to hear any more about iTunes.
#5, the phone is thinner than a RAZR. See here:
http://www.mobile-review.com/review/motorola-l7-en.shtml and here: http://www.bengalboy.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=146&forum=2
it has better design than rokr...
And #16, you know, its not that I don't want a fashion phone, gimme a fashion phone I'll take it, BUT STOP RELEASING THEM WITH 2 YEAR OLD FEATURE SETS!
I'm not a music downloader, but I'd likely download podcasts or industry specific professional conferences in an MP3 format. I'd listen on airplanes (if an MP3 mode only on a mobile phone)or transmit to a bluetooth capable car radio. Is this phone likely something that would satisfy these perceived needs?
is it pronounced silver or sliver?
It's pronounced "sliver", this direct from an engineer who has worked on it (college buddies are awesome). btw, college buddy (you know who you are flyboy), this is the first and only time i've posted on this phone. no worries ;)
I hope this have a faster USB than the ROKR for downloading those iTunes!
Data speeds?!?! Does the SLVR really contain Moto's crippled EDGE chip?
>>>"I'm assuming that iTunes is a late software add-on to the phone, and that's why there's no headphone jack." by Mike<<<
yeah i have been watching this phone for about 6 months now and have been waiting for it's release, still no date, but glad to finally see someone with it in hand.. also I think the iTunes software was a late add on, which CAN be added onto the v600, or anyother Motorola phone from the v400 and up, just with a few hacks or so. I assume this will be a $300 phone to start out, but it will come down soon...
I've been waiting for the SLVR literally for months. I've even started a Yahoo! group, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Motorola_SLVR/
I'd heard that the phone will include MP3 playback, I'd be disappointed if the ability to play "standard" MP3 files from transflash were removed in favor of iTunes.
As to USB speeds, the transflash card is just a tiny version of SD, and high speed card readers along with sleeves to make the transflash work in any SD slot should be readily availble soon.
I bought one from wirelessimports.com and had it flashed with latest software and made it quadband with itunes. I just bought a new pebl so I put this on ebay, http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5825681354
That thing is messed, motorola took the RAZR's camera, and Keypad and stuck it on a candybar style phone with iTunes.
That thing is messed, motorola took the RAZR's camera, and Keypad and stuck it on a candybar style phone with iTunes.
#33 The headphone jack may be no mistake because at #34 mentioned wireless imports sells the prototype with bluetooth headphone great site check it out. thanks for the link #34
. but aesthetically this thing is miles beyond the original "designed in the 80's" ROKR phone.
---
Apple fanboys are so image-conscious..
wait a tick..
that i would buy
Carry a headset for music and another for talking? That will be annoying.
"(and all we had to do was pretend we were dead)" Such a brilliant, but subtle plug! L7 ROCKS! 41 comments and not 1 L7 fan! http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playlistId=196915&s=143441&i=196895 Cool phone also.
no headphone jack!? is that a joke? "oh blah blah u can use the luetooth ones ay a simple smalll price of, wait, thats not small at all! $150!!!!! wtf they really screwed up this time. its a simple fashion phone that tries to benefit mac which just sells things off of looks not because of what peorple really want, like longer battery life in the ipod, of divx compatibility. piss poor.
Surely it's still better if you just glue an iPod nano to the back of the motorolla RAZR V3 phone? That'll give you something thinner and better than this.
While I'd only rarely use a camera, there are plenty of phones with better cameras than this, I don't see an excuse to not have a better one.
Are their third party audio file players for phones? I'd think that the person that doesn't like iTunes should still have an option, I don't see why adding a different program would be excluded.
Is there a exact release date for this baby yet other then Q4 2005?
> I wanted this so badly but if itunes REPLACES the original ability to
> play mp3's without restrictions I may no longer be interested :-(
> In dont like itunes. too proprietary.
Well, iTunes as a piece of commercial software is no more or less proprietary than any other piece of commercial software (such as Windows Media Player).
The only 'proprietary to Apple' elements of iTunes and the iTunes Music Store are the FairPlay DRM system and the Apple Lossless audio codec. Everything else, such as AAC, MP3, Audible, AIFF, WAV, H.264 etc. is either open licensed by Apple, or 3rd party proprietary and licensed by Apple.
In answer to your question, the iTunes Mobile software does support MP3.
Come on! Who wants a stodgy old wired earphone anyways? Lol.. Not all is lost, I'm sure Bluetooth stereo headsets work stunningly well with it... After all, the whole idea of WIRELESS is just that... WIRE-LESS.
Nice looking phone!
Can't someone just make a decent phone that doesn't have a bunch of useless crap on it? Who cares if it has iTunes on it. Or a camera...
Who will carry it? Cingular, I suppose... oh, well.
Ok, first of all, stop blaming motorola for the 100 limit, that was an apple descision because they didnt want the ROKR to compete with the shuffle or even the nano (transflash is getting better). And with a 265mb transflash card, you can fit roughly 64 songs on there. If your ever in a situation were you can listen to more than 64 songs at a time, youd be better off getting an ipod, cause the real purpose of the ROKR or SLVR is that its a phone, not an ipod.
Secondly, have any of you actually used the ROKR? Personally i prefer it to the RAZR, the fact that it has iTunes, which is awesome and a luxury that unless you try, cant appreciate. Camera and Video camera, plus flash (no flash on the RAZR). And with Quicktime Pro, ive been able to convert short movies, (trailers, music videos) into acceptable content for the phone. That may not be "wow" for alot of you, but it was for me. Oh, and if your into lights, the side of the ROKR lights up different colors, incase any of you were interested.
Now, Motorola didnt just opt out of a HP jack for the SLVR. The hardware for a headphone jack was prolly too big to fit in the enclosure they had designed for the phone. Look at the ROKR, it uses a smaller jack than a 1/8th. Even if iTunes was a last minute decision, they were gonna have a transflash slot and MP3 playback already. Most likely, if it has a USB on the side, that will be the HP jack. They wont release a phone without headphones. If they included BT headphones, which i kinda doubt, i would be very impressed.
While the ROKR may have appeared to be a disapointment on paper, using one is a different story. Ive had mine for a month now, and i love it much more than the RAZR.
In regard to post #53 "Drew". I must say that I too am impressed with the ROKR. My sister bought it and it shows how jaded we have become with technology. The ROKR comes with a flash for the camera! 100 songs was imposed by Apple; but as Drew mentioned, the iPod would be appropriate for amassing your proper music collection.
look http://promo.motorola.com/ProductPreviews/ht820.html
Uh, no headphone jack? Who cares? Music headphones don't have microphones for talking. Oh, that's right, you want to listen to people calling and not talk back? Okay, use your iPod earbuds.
http://id.motorola.com/pcs/accessories.ASP
EMU Headset with USB Adaptor. Listen to MP3s & receive calls at the same time. Headset pauses music for incoming calls & resumes when call has ended.
Now imagine it in stereo.
Can anyone confirm if the SLVR is quad band or tri band?
Does anyone know if this phone has the capability to play music videos like the iPod Video?
People just calm down, half of you are bitching saying agghh i dont need iTunes etc etc, then if you don't why are you arsed about it so makin a post? If you didn't want it then you wouldn't be arsed about it, so therefore wouldn't post, the 100 song limit, well put it this way, if you owned a big company such as apple,. would you like ti jepodize your sales and loose money? I think the answer is no.
The ehadphone jack, wjo needs it? This world is going wireless therefore bluetooth comes in handy, the headsets might be expensive, but there will be companies out there (suck as belkin) that will make cheaper ones, and the same applies, if your not happy with no headphone jacks, then dimple don't get the hpone!
Im a big fan of appl'es products (well i admit im obbsessed) i have the enw IPod (with video) the 2GB black nano, 14" iBook, and my dad has the new iMac, i normally love everything apple sais does etc,
This was until the day of the ROKR, no tooooo big, didnt look like a product apple were supportign eiother, take the example of the HP version of iPod's , apple kept the sleeknes, just had 'HP' printed on the back, but still kept the same design.
Know if you an apple enthusiast like myself, then you wouldn't realy bitch about the things they do bag, don't forget they have diffrent target audiences to meet, not just your own!
Personally i will not be buying either phones, i feel it won't be long before apple release there own phone, the amout of trouble they have been having working with other companies!
Now you euther agree or dis agree with me its just i thought i needed to say something as i was getting pretty wound up.lol
Simon Betty
People just calm down, half of you are bitching saying agghh i dont need iTunes etc etc, then if you don't why are you arsed about it so makin a post? If you didn't want it then you wouldn't be arsed about it, so therefore wouldn't post, the 100 song limit, well put it this way, if you owned a big company such as apple,. would you like ti jepodize your sales and loose money? I think the answer is no.
The ehadphone jack, wjo needs it? This world is going wireless therefore bluetooth comes in handy, the headsets might be expensive, but there will be companies out there (suck as belkin) that will make cheaper ones, and the same applies, if your not happy with no headphone jacks, then dimple don't get the hpone!
Im a big fan of appl'es products (well i admit im obbsessed) i have the enw IPod (with video) the 2GB black nano, 14" iBook, and my dad has the new iMac, i normally love everything apple sais does etc,
This was until the day of the ROKR, no tooooo big, didnt look like a product apple were supportign eiother, take the example of the HP version of iPod's , apple kept the sleeknes, just had 'HP' printed on the back, but still kept the same design.
Know if you an apple enthusiast like myself, then you wouldn't realy bitch about the things they do bag, don't forget they have diffrent target audiences to meet, not just your own!
Personally i will not be buying either phones, i feel it won't be long before apple release there own phone, the amout of trouble they have been having working with other companies!
Now you euther agree or dis agree with me its just i thought i needed to say something as i was getting pretty wound up.lol
Simon Betty
hopefully its not just USB1 again.
Decent MP3 Player Requirements:
- NO 100 Song Limit
- USB 2.0
looks like vodaphone have it for sale on their homepage. http://shop.vodafone.co.uk
This phone looks great, I'm thinking of getting it.
No headphone jack really doesn't sound so bad.. if you're really keen on having music in your pocket, you've probably already got a standalone mp3 player. Music on the phone would just be for that time when you're really really bored and need something to entertain you. Hopefully the speaker will be decent.
Ah yes I forgot to add - there needs to be a 1.3 mp camera in this baby, AT LEAST.
the ericsson walkman phone looks much more appealing than this. 100 songs?
WHAT'S THE DEAL APPLE!?
Have ordered a SLVR but would cancel if there were a stylish, tiny, long battery life phone out there. Don't want camera, ipod, any damn thing really. Any alternatives?
I got this phone yesterday, and it doesn't come with iTunes (not in the uk at least), just the standard mp3 player. I don't have any BT headphones so I don't know if they would work or if it would just continue to use the speaker.
No Headphone jack ? must be a new plan to get people buying those burton/moto jackets with integrated wireless speakers and play controls. itunes in your coat baby. i cant wait for bluetooth to get small enough to fit into ibud size enclosures or a necklace?
Same as my ol' E398 capability except for the PTT. What I expect are these (or my E398 will be my last moto):
1) Megapixel cam : at least 2 Mp, 3 Mp as in E1120 would be nice :).
2) USB 2 interface
3) 3G
4) Better bluetooth. i.e more BT Profile.
5) Music Player with Playlist that don't restrict people to have 50/100 songs. Let the memory restrict that :P - It would be better if they have built-in Gigabytes storage.(samsung ic300 have 3Gb, N91 have 4Gb, come on Moto, beat them!)
Anyone have an idea when in Q1 2006 will it arrive to the US? There all on ebay ,but I dont know paying $300-$400 + $50 shipping is worth it!
A nokia 6680 would beat the crap out of this piece of shiit