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ROKR posts

Motorola's ROKR ZN50 touchscreen slider could be a winner

by Darren Murph posted Jul 8th 2009 at 10:16AM

Right around this time last year, we actually had lofty hopes that Motorola would get its handset business in gear and shock us all with an ultra-potent, completely refined smartphone. Here we sit today, still waiting. Still, we can't pass up an opportunity to throw Moto's hardware design team a bone, as the ROKR ZN50 is downright sexy from any angle. The music-centric, full touchscreen slider packs a 3.2-inch panel (427 x 240 resolution), automatic screen rotation, shake to switch tracks, a 3.5 millimeter headphone jack, Bluetooth stereo headset support, SRS WOW HD audio tech and a battery good for 30 hours of audio playback. There's also a T-DMB TV tuner, 4GB of inbuilt memory, a microSDHC card slot, 3.2 megapixel camera, an e-dictionary and support for 7.2Mbps HSDPA. Sadly, it seems as if the phone is being reserved for the Korean market, but seriously, can you imagine this hitting North America with Android loaded on? Motorola: you're this close.

[Via Unwired View]

Motorola adds EM25, EM28, and EM30 to ROKR series

by Chris Ziegler posted Aug 5th 2008 at 9:58AM

Moving just a tad downmarket from the mighty morphin' E8, Moto has rolled out three new members of its music-centric ROKR series today: the EM25 slider, EM28 flip, and EM30 candybar. The EM30 probably feels the most familiar, aping the E8's design language but trashing the touch-sensitive wheel for a plain ol' d-pad. It does, however, carry over the E8's so-called ModeShift morphing keypad and features an FM radio with RDS, 3.5mm headphone jack, and Windows Media compatibility. The EM28 brings the same style to a clamshell, while the EM25 reps the slider form factor. We're seeing some shots of a T-Mobile branded EM30 in here, too, so it looks like the carrier wants something to slot in right below the E8 in its Moto lineup -- a wise move, considering the E8's considerable expense. Look for the EM30 to launch first in Taiwan (sorry, T-Mob) followed by other markets later in the quarter, while the EM25 and EM28 should launch on a more global scale in the coming weeks.

Gallery: Motorola adds EM25, EM28, and EM30 to ROKR series

T-Mobile announces Motorola ROKR E8

by Chris Ziegler posted Jun 26th 2008 at 12:15AM

As expected, T-Mobile has taken the wraps off its very own version of Motorola's ROKR E8, a glossy black candybar offering a 2 megapixel camera, 2GB of internal storage (plus a microSD slot that'll swallow up to 8GB more), stereo Bluetooth, 3.5mm headphone jack, FM radio, and that so-called "morphing" keypad that selectively renders keys invisible depending on the mode you're using. It's missing 3G, but that's one feature T-Mobile customers are all too well acquainted to missing out on -- and considering that the just-announced flagship ZN5 doesn't even do any WCDMA, it shouldn't come as any surprise. Subscribers and would-be subscribers will be able to nab the E8 come July 7 for $199.99 on contract.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Hands-on with the Motorola ROKR E8

by Chris Ziegler posted Jan 7th 2008 at 2:28AM

We're awfully disillusioned by the lack of 3G data -- a phone with a display, a keypad, and an overall look this sexy deserves better. Be that as it may, though, anyone who thinks they can plod along happily on EDGE alone owes it to themselves to have a nice, close look at the ROKR E8 when it comes out later this quarter. The landscape QVGA screen was awfully bright and crisp (though the eerie, dim blue lighting plaguing the room could make it seem artificially great), the glossy black shell is pretty gorgeous, and it's hard to deny the cool factor on a mighty morphin' keypad. Complaints? The usual 3G whining aside, we'd have preferred a full circle for music navigation instead of the funky three-quarter thing we have here. Call us fickle!

Gallery: Hands-on with the Motorola ROKR E8

Motorola makes PEBL-ish U9 official

by Chris Ziegler posted Oct 11th 2007 at 12:14PM

It's real! Motorola has made official its latest PEBL-esque device -- though there's no actual PEBL branding to be found on this one -- the U9. Think of the U9 to the original PEBL what the V8 and V9 are to the original RAZR, rocking Motorola's "CrystalTalk" noise reduction tech, microSD expansion, and a 2 megapixel camera. Media's the focus here with support for syncing with Windows Media Player 11; WMA, MP3, AAC, AAC+, and AAC+ enhanced files are all good to go, while the stereo Bluetooth support and "floating" external display with touch sensitive controls certainly don't hurt. Look for it to hit in the fourth quarter of the year in Asia, Latin America, and Europe. No North American release plans have been outed at this point, but it's a quadband GSM / EDGE phone, so we'd expect to find its way onto importers' shelves (and probably Motorola's own online store) right quick.

Two new Moto handsets outed: say hello to the RIZR Z10 and ROKR E8

by Sean Cooper posted Sep 18th 2007 at 2:01PM

Motorola is expecting a couple new and rather glossy additions to its family, namely the RIZR Z10 (pictured on left) and the ROKR E8. The E8's face will between various modes based on what you're doing, from keypad to music controls for example, it also has some tactile feedback so you know you've actually input something on its smooth black surface. The ROKR E8 has a multi function "Omega Wheel" for zooming through your tunes and navigating, 2GB of internal storage, expansion via microSD, and the sad word -- rumor of course, so we can hold out hope -- that it won't feature 3G connectivity. The RIZR Z10 is a Symbian 9.02 handset sporting the ever so lovely UIQ 3.2 interface, quad-band GSM / EDGE, HSDPA in some alien frequency, a 3.2 megapixel shooter, 90MB of internal storage with the old standby, microSD, if you need more space. The E8 should be landing Q1 of 2008, and the Z10 should be shipping Q4 this year for round about €400 (about $550).

Read - Motorola ROKR E8
Read - Motorola RIZR Z10

Motorola's ROKR U9, U3 and W5 pictured / detailed

by Darren Murph posted Sep 12th 2007 at 10:44AM

While whispers and supposed shots of Motorola's ROKR U9 have been around for a tick, the PEBL-icious handset -- along with the similarly styled U9 and the W5 clamshell -- are finally getting detailed. Reportedly, the U9 will tout a 1.4-inch 160 x 128 resolution OLED (externally), two-megapixel camera, GSM / GPRS / EDGE connectivity, a 1.8-inch QVGA screen (internal), microSD expansion slot, USB, Bluetooth, and "touch sensitive keys." The U3 looks to be an entry-level sibling with a less attractive external display and a VGA camera, while the ROKR W5 will purportedly include a 1.3-megapixel camera, a 1.9-inch 220 x 176 resolution display, 20MB of internal storage, a microSD slot, 96 x 85 pixel external screen, miniUSB, Bluetooth, A2DP support, and quad-band GSM connectivity. No word on pricing or release dates just yet, but do click on for a few more pictures.

Read - ROKR U9
Read - ROKR W5
Read - ROKR U3

Continue reading Motorola's ROKR U9, U3 and W5 pictured / detailed

The PEBL lives: Motorola to add ROKR U9

by Chris Ziegler posted Jul 12th 2007 at 5:21PM

Though the original PEBL didn't get quite the love Motorola may have liked (Maria Sharapova special edition notwithstanding), it seems they're looking to give it at least one more go with the upcoming U9 model. Presumably designed to slot in alongside the RAZR 2 V8 / V9 models, Phone Scoop reports that the U9 will be ROKR branded, indicating a strong music tie-in. Other details are sketchy, though there's speculation that the "9" designation in the model number indicates that 3G is in the cards; for Motorola's sake, we hope that's true.

Motorola's four CDMA multimedia cellphones: ROKR Z6m, RAZR maxx Ve, W385 and W355

by Thomas Ricker posted Mar 27th 2007 at 7:53AM

Motorola just went official with four new CDMA handsets ready to hit before July: the MOTOROKR Z6m slider (left), MOTORAZR maxx Ve clam (right), and mass market W385 and W355. First up, the RAZR maxx Ve king headed to Verizon which Moto has been teasing us with for a few months. It's what we expected: ultra-thin, EVDO, and 2 megapixel camera with integrated music player and touch-sensitive controls. The Z6m slider (which looks like a CDMA RIZR Z3) hopes to shake the original (E1) ROKR's fumbled hype. The Z6m multi-modal slider packs a 2 megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth or 3.5-mm headphone jack to get tethered, and up to 2GB of removable memory. The W385 and W355 bring multimedia on a budget with a mix of GPS location services, Bluetooth, and FM radio. Now go ahead, check the gallery for all the pics -- don't cost nothin'.

Gallery: Motorola's four CDMA multimedia cellphones: ROKR Z6m, RAZR maxx Ve, W385 and W355

Read -- MOTORAZR maxx Ve
Read -- MOTOROKR Z6m
Read -- W385
Read -- W355

Motorola's ROKR E6 released in China, US next?

by Thomas Ricker posted Nov 27th 2006 at 9:45AM

Well hot damn, looks like Motorola went and sprung their smokin', linux-based ROKR E6 upon China today. Better yet, we now know that this 14.5-mm thinster delivers the much appreciated GSM 900/1800 bands in addition to the 1900 band we saw tested and approved in the FCC filing. That makes it of limited use (but use nonetheless) here in the US as long as you stay within the T-Mobile network. The phone delivers a 2.4-inch, 260k color QVGA touch-screen with stylus, a 2 megapixel camera and push-to-talk capabilities in addition to handwriting recognition, a QR code (barcode) scanner, business card reader, and document viewer for PDF and the most common MS Office apps. And unlike the first gen ROKR, this pup drops iTunes in favor of RealPlayer which means support for MP3, MPEG4, AAC+, WAV, and RealAudio formats -- fine and all, but most importantly, no artificial song cap -- so load up that 2GB SD card to your heart's content kid. Rounding things out on the audio front is the native 3.5-mm headphone jack and support for Bluetooth stereo audio (A2DP), integrated FM radio, dedicated music controls along the side, and a USB 2.0 jack up underneath for quick data transfer. When not lapping up the media you can talk for up to 7 hours or just sit and stare at the E6's clean lines for about 235 hours on standby. Yours for 4,280 chinese yuan or $545 retail if you can track 'er down.

[Thanks LordFarkward]

Wild speculation: iPhone to launch in August?

by Chris Ziegler posted Jul 29th 2006 at 1:33PM

Alright, dear readers, you know the drill: proceed with caution. We have no confirmation here, but sometimes a tip is too juicy not to share, no matter how suspect it might be. A reader is reporting to us that a coworker's tech-unsavvy friend, who is regularly hired by Apple to do marketing photo shoots, was recently brought on to take some shots of "the sleekest, sexiest damn phone he's ever seen." The launch date? "Some time in August." Yeah, not a typo -- August. Now, to be perfectly clear, we don't know what the iPhone (if it exists) will be actually called, we've never seen a real pic of the elusive beast, and this doesn't really jive with the time frame suggested by Peter Oppenheimer's recent comments -- but we want to believe, and we don't have to wait very long for this one to get debunked or confirmed.

Apple on iPhone: "We're not sitting around doing nothing"

by Chris Ziegler posted Jul 20th 2006 at 2:26PM

Apple's been dogged with rumors of an iPod / phone hybrid (the real deal, not a rehash of a Moto E398 with iTunes support) for nearly as long as the iPod's been kickin' around. Apparently looking to beat the dead horse yet again, an analyst mentioned Sony's success with their Walkman line of music-oriented phones during Apple's Q3 earnings call, prompting CFO Peter Oppenheimer to respond with a fairly solid non-denial: "As regards cell phones, we don't think that the phones that are available today make the best music players. We think the iPod is. But over time, that is likely to change. And we're not sitting around doing nothing." Knowing Apple, of course, this is about the biggest admission we'll get until the iPhone actually drops, so relish in the moment, keep your eyes peeled in a year or so, and if you're really hard up, you could fashion your own, like the pictured Nokia 6680 makeover.

[Via MacDailyNews]

Apple said to be working with Softbank on "co-branded" handset

by Evan Blass posted May 12th 2006 at 5:16PM

Japanese news agency Nikkei is reporting that Apple and new Vodafone Japan owner Softbank are working together to develop cellphones capable of downloading and playing music from the iTunes store. Details are, of course, very slim at this point, as we don't even know whether to characterize this as a "true" iPhone, or simply a ROKR-like model featuring only software from the iPod manufacturer powering a non-Apple handset. However, Nikkei is quoting sources that say the phone, which may be released as early as this year (and which is definitely NOT pictured alongside this post), is expected to sport both Softbank and Apple branding, which may indicate that Cupertino will have a hand in developing the hardware as well. Whatever they're working on, we wanna know about it, and we won't rest until we have a ton of specs and pics for you.

Hands-on with the Motorola ROKR E3

by Peter Rojas posted Mar 2nd 2006 at 9:04AM

Engadget Mobile is finally pulling its weight around here: we just posted up a bunch of exclusive hands-on shots of Motorola's unannounced new ROKR E3 musicphone over there. No iTunes, but if you look closely you'll notice at least one similarity to a certain well-known digital audio player.