Motorola shows ROKR E2 iTunes handset

[AppleInsider]

In a presentation to investors last month, Motorola revealed brief details and a photo of the ROKR E2 handset, one of the company's upcoming music phones with iTunes integration.

The capsule shape phone was shown in black, featuring a dedicated iTunes music key and track-ball-like navigational pad. Unlike the ROKR E1, which is was based on a candy-bar form-factor, the ROKR E2 appears to sport Motorola's PEBL industrial design.

According to a brief description included in the presentation, the ROKR E2 will feature a Bluetooth stereo headset and "rapid USB2-enabled downloads." The handset is also expected to feature a "richer mobile music experience" and support for UMTS -- a 3G mobile system news and information provider.

The ROKR E2 fits a different description than the handset recently described by BusinessWeek as being the successor to the ROKR E1. In a recent report, the publication said Motorola plans to introduce a revamped version of the ROKR in the first quarter of 2006, updated to address the main criticisms of the first release.

"Expect a phone with a 1 megapixel camera, a 3.5 millimeter earphone jack (same as the iPod uses), and enough storage capacity to hold 1,000 songs -- all capabilities Motorola has confirmed," the report said. "The current phone's basic design will be replaced by a sleek new look, which sources close to the company say will be an elegant slider format."

Motorola ROKR E2 handset

At least two other upcoming Motorola handset will include support for iTunes according to reports circulating on the Internet. Pre-production models of Motorola's SLVR L7 handset were recently spotted with iTunes, Bluetooth headset support, a VGA digital camera, and a TransFlash memory card. Meanwhile, photos of a RAZR2 prototype also reveal plans for iTunes integration.

Despite a lackluster response to the original ROKR E1 iTunes handset by reviewers and the media, Motorola recently said that it shipped over half-a-million of the phones since they were introduced in September.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[jdbartlett]

Two bucks a song? "Richer" is right.

[SpamSandwich]

They might consider changing the acronym to: SUKR

[fabsgwu]

Looks great to me... They'll sell a million a month if they get the feature/design mix right this time.

[aestival]

Motorola is a big company -- why are they chronically incapable of buying a well-designed font for their devices? Their interfaces look terrible, and the user experience is heavily degraded by text that's less legible than an old version of DOS. Their ROKR phones are well-named -- the 70's-retro all-caps name goes perfectly with the utter lack of style. I use a Motorola phone, and their interface designers deserve to be fired en masse (the phone works fine technically, but even compared to a 1G iPod c. 2001, the interface is ugly and frequently impenetrable). I suspect their ROKR phones will die the slow death reserved for all ill-designed multimedia devices.

[ajmas]

One thing I would like for them to get right is their bluetooth support. Ever tried sending your address book over to your computer?

One thing they did get right is adding a mini-USB socket for charging and cabled data transfer. One universal connector. About time someone did this.

[sjk]

USB2, finally. I've wondered what the reason is for Palm PDAs (except for the LifeDrive, but including the new T/X) not to use it by now. Anyone know why?

[a j stev]

Originally posted by aestival
Motorola is a big company -- why are they chronically incapable of buying a well-designed font for their devices? Their interfaces look terrible, and the user experience is heavily degraded by text that's less legible than an old version of DOS. Their ROKR phones are well-named -- the 70's-retro all-caps name goes perfectly with the utter lack of style. I use a Motorola phone, and their interface designers deserve to be fired en masse (the phone works fine technically, but even compared to a 1G iPod c. 2001, the interface is ugly and frequently impenetrable). I suspect their ROKR phones will die the slow death reserved for all ill-designed multimedia devices.

++

The interface is possibly the major reason why I don't even bother looking at Moto phones. Its Sony Ericsson or Nokia...followed by Samsung a couple of lengths behind.

The E2 could be 200% better than the first ROKR and I still wouldn't even give it the time of day unless they improved that pathetic interface.

[faxmachine11658]

Sony Ericson's UI is horrible IMO. I have a Sanyo and it's really easy to use, and Nokias do have good UI.

[AquaMac]

This is a step in the right direction. Next I would like to see a Razor iTunes phone.

[MacGregor]

I like the UI on the LG phones ... is that Samsung in disguise?

I think the little scroll ball in the well could be a good idea if it is well implemented. The size of the iPod clickwheel has kept that interface from moving to smaller devices, but if the scroll ball of the Mighty Mouse were placed in a well whose sides also had some pressure sensativity, you might get a good facsimile of the clickwheel.

If so THEN you could put them and the iPod UI all over the place on smaller iPods and phones and between the space bar and track pad on laptops! Okay that might be dorky, but sincde the biggest problem in my opinion with an horizontal iPod widescreen video is the clickwheel ... this might be the answer.