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Motorola makes PEBL-ish U9 official
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.
The PEBL lives: Motorola to add ROKR U9
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.
T-Mobile kills PEBL, slashes prices on other Motos
'Tis the changing of the guard in both T-Mobile's and Motorola's lineup, it seems. The PEBL U6, once a heavily-advertised T-Mobile exclusive, has apparently been given its walking papers to make room for the newer, more RAZR-like RIZR Z3. That's not to say the U6 is history -- far from it, in fact, with Motorola still offering it direct from its own site -- but this officially marks the end of the original PEBL's carrier availability in the US. Along with the discontinuation, several RAZRs have been deeply discounted from $50 down to $30 on contract, perhaps signaling the beginning of the end for the V3. Believe us, there's not a dry eye in the house.
Motorola PEBL U3e rocks the FCC
The PEBL design meme seems to be one of the less-loved in Moto's hallowed halls, with relatively few models released -- so far, anyway -- bearing the PEBL name. Imagine our surprise, then, to find this little gem up in the FCC's business today. The so-called "MOTOPEBL U3e," a GSM handset with EDGE, bears a rather striking resemblance not to the original V6, but to the CDMA U6c. In fact, we'd go so far to say that the U3e is the U6c's GSM counterpart, despite the bizarre model number convention here. As best we can tell, this one rocks four bands of radio (well, at least two -- 850 and 1900 -- but we're guessing there are another two packed in there) and appears to be a low-end piece likely destined as an entry-level fashion phone for various carriers around the globe. We'll personally pass, but we're not gonna fault anyone for digging it.
Motorola intros white PEBL through contest
For some odd reason, Motorola always seems to pull off new colors of existing handsets with an amount of fanfare other manufacturers can only dream of. We don't suppose it has something to do with the Maria Sharapova tie-ins, could it? Much like the Sharapova-endorsed magenta RAZR before it, the white PEBL offers nothing its more colorful siblings don't -- except exclusivity to the tune of 50 examples in total, all of which will be won via contest. Of course, no one would be surprised to see Moto turn right around and start pumping out white PEBLs en masse just as soon as the contest ends, but they wouldn't be printed with Maria's signature, rendering them all but useless to us.[Via Yahoo Tech]
