Motorola ROKR E2 iTunes Phone

[MacRumors]

http://www.macrumors.com/images/macrumorsthreadlogo.gif (http://www.macrumors.com)

Appleinsider posts (http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=1395) some information and a presentation slide on the upcoming Motorola ROKR E2 phone.

The ROKR E2 is the successor to the ROKR E1 (http://guides.macrumors.com/ROKR_E1_Phone) which was released by Apple and Motorola in September. While the E1 represented the first iTunes enabled cell phone, it was met with many criticisms.

Meanwhile, a recent Businessweek article (http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2005/11/20051116071755.shtml) reported that Motorola was revamping the ROKR for 2006 with many new features.

In 2006, Motorola is planning on introducing a new version of the ROKR that addresses many of the issues of the first generation. New features expected include a 1 megapixel camera, a 3.5mm earphone jack, capacity to hold 1000 songs, and a "sleek new look". iTunes support is expected to remain.

[powerboy]

That looks promising - better than the first one anyway. Hopefully they release it sooner rather than later.

[mangoman]

So what. Give me this, someone: a phone with excellent battery power. No silly camera, no whistle, no unnecessary bells. My current Motorola, a v330 has 1. a weak battery, 2. a goofy, unintuitive interface, and 3. a slow proc'. The last thing I need is more bell/whistle crap added to it.

Does anyone make a phone that is built to run fast minus the bells and whistles?

[lopresmb]

I sure hope this is better than the last ROKR -- But will it really stack up with the new itunes RAZR???

[aegisdesign]

So what. Give me this, someone: a phone with excellent battery power. No silly camera, no whistle, no unnecessary bells. My current Motorola, a v330 has 1. a weak battery, 2. a goofy, unintuitive interface, and 3. a slow proc'. The last thing I need is more bell/whistle crap added to it.

Does anyone make a phone that is built to run fast minus the bells and whistles?

Yep. Most of Nokia's business phones, such as the 6310i. Black and White, No camera, battery that lasts about a week, Bluetooth and a user interface that mostly makes sense.

[aegisdesign]

I sure hope this is better than the last ROKR -- But will it really stack up with the new itunes RAZR???

They're essentially the same phone underneath, same ****** UI, same slow CPU that should have been mothballed 3 years ago.

[iGary]

This, I would buy:

http://www.powerpage.org/images/applele/hiPod_R2.jpg

[steve_hill4]

This, I would buy:

http://www.powerpage.org/images/applele/hiPod_R2.jpg
Would that keypad slide out? If so, it would be cool, if not, it would be awkward.

As for the new ROKR, looks a lot better than the first attempt. I'll reserve judgement for when people have tested it. My only problem would be all those that signed up for the original, when the new one comes out so soon after. They are signed up to 18-24 month contracts and will probably not get the option to trade theirs in for this, on the same contract.

[kretzy]

I suppose it's a slight improvement, but I still don't find the look of it all that appealing...hardly worthy of any kind of association with Apple.

[dernhelm]

Hmm - I'm in for a new plan and phone soon. But the value of this phone is all about how it looks. If it's big and clunky it won't matter if it holds 1000 songs instead of 100.

Still this is good news. Moto is taking the issues with the original ROKR seriously.

[steve_hill4]

Hmm - I'm in for a new plan and phone soon. But the value of this phone is all about how it looks. If it's big and clunky it won't matter if it holds 1000 songs instead of 100.

Still this is good news. Moto is taking the issues with the original ROKR seriously.
Yeah, but I think it also has a bit to do with the fear that this iTunes link-up won't last too much longer if they don't sell well. A lot still suspect Apple are itching to produce a smartphone, (which will probably be a iPod-Newton hybrid in terms of features and usability). If Apple did do this, it would potentially kill off Motorola's sales as portable players get to the crucial phone stage of their development. Most manufacturers know mp3 players have only a few great years left, then many will merely use their phones for music, with iPods and such becoming multimedia players being slowly dying off. If Motorola can prove they have what it takes to sell phones based on their music capability, Apple will be less inclined to dump them early on and either go alone or jump in with another manufacturer.

[twoodcc]

this sounds nice. i'd like to see bluetooth headphones, but this is still an improvement

[corywoolf]

I would never by a motorola phone again, they are cheap pieces of shiat. I agree with the poster above about creating an actually good phone first (without all the bells and whistles) and then slowly adding new features, much like how apple has done with the ipod. All these tweens and teens (for the most part) are the main target audience for the sub $250 phones and that is a problem. They really need to hire some usability experts that know what they are doing and redesign the interface. What good is a cool looking phone if it has the brain of a mouse?

[~Shard~]

Thisn is a good thing - I knew the first ROKR was just a stepping stone, and there would be many faults with it. It looks as though Motorola is addressing these issues though and hopefully this updated offering will see better success.

[Bubbasteve]

I'm more of a fan of the flip phones... this looks much better than the previous model. Forget the RAZR, I'm waiting for this rumored iPhone

[redAPPLE]

I'm more of a fan of the flip phones... this looks much better than the previous model. Forget the RAZR, I'm waiting for this rumored iPhone

it's going to be released 4 weeks after the iWalk <d'oh>

[Epicurus]

I'm more of a fan of the flip phones... this looks much better than the previous model. Forget the RAZR, I'm waiting for this rumored iPhone

The RAZR is fine for what I need now (although the OS needs work). An iTunes RAZR or SLVR would be a step in the right director for the ROKR line, but I doubt Motorola would simply merge the two so soon. If an iPhone is ever even going to come out, it will probably have to wait a good long time. Apple has a lot of more important hardware and software computing issues to deal with now. They should just let Motorola worry about keeping the iTunes name afloat in the phone market for the next couple of years. Then, when Sony and Nokia have had a chance to release their music-phone hybrids into the marketplace, probably trouncing Motorola in the process, Apple can step in, release the iPhone with a great OS (secretly in development from the original ROKR's release), and capture 50% market share for music-phones within a few months. Letting Motorola beta test the mobile iTunes software is fine by me since I really don't want a phone like the ROKR (or an iPhone) right now. Maybe if the iPhone offered superior iCal, Mail, and Address Book integration, built in iSight for on the move video conferencing, a decent camera (3MP minimum) and a spacious internal memory (4GB minimum)... Then I'd buy in a heartbeat.
:D :D

[iHavenolife]

I'm still, even if motorola updates the iTunes phone(s?), going to hold out for an eventual iPhone. We can only hope and wait.

[nagromme]

I guess any evolution is a good thing!

No mobile phone--or mobile SERVICE--is good enough to take my money yet.

For a few cents I check my answering machine messages via calling card a couple times a day when I'm out. It keeps me in touch with my clients far more cheaply and less cumbersomely [wow, spellcheck accepted that word!] than a mobile phone.

It doesn't let them reach me instantly any time and place... but that's a BENEFIT :)

[~Shard~]

I guess any evolution is a good thing!

No mobile phone--or mobile SERVICE--is good enough to take my money yet.

For a few cents I check my answering machine messages via calling card a couple times a day when I'm out. It keeps me in touch with my clients far more cheaply and less cumbersomely [wow, spellcheck accepted that word!] than a mobile phone.

It doesn't let them reach me instantly any time and place... but that's a BENEFIT :)

I agree with ya - I have no desire to own a cell phone - sometimes I just don't want to be reached... ;) And having no cell bill every month frees up more income for other fun purchases. :cool:

[Lynxpro]

That ROKR E2 looks like the Motorola PEBL if you ask me.

I couldn't wait any longer. I dumped Cingular for the second time (I hated Cingular and switched to AT&T Wireless only to see Cingular buy them) and went with T-Mobile last weekend. Took advantage of the deal at CompUSA to pick up 2 Motorola RAZRs for $79. And the phones are awesome. I get much better reception than I had with the Sony Ericsson T616. And despite what people biotch about online about Motorola's software, I have no problem with the UI. I'll take Motorola's UI over Nokia's microwave oven-worthy radiation levels their mobile phones kick out any day.

I would have preferred to get the second generation iTunes compatible RAZR but there's no word whether T-Mobile will land it or not, and I'm not going back with Cingular just for a phone. However, the new RAZR will supposedly sport 32 megs of memory plus the 512 megs of TransFlash, which is definitely a step up on my RAZRs memory. From there, I would expect Motorola to upgrade the RAZR with better cameras. 1 megapixel, then 2, 3, and 5. By this time next year, the base camera phones should be 2 megapixel quality.

[Lynxpro]

I agree with ya - I have no desire to own a cell phone - sometimes I just don't want to be reached... ;) And having no cell bill every month frees up more income for other fun purchases. :cool:


Ah, but I dumped my landline. At this point, you only need a landline for a DirecTV installation and/or for a burglar alarm.

"Efff SBC" is what I have to say.

[aswitcher]

http://www.macrumors.com/images/macrumorsthreadlogo.gif (http://www.macrumors.com)

Appleinsider posts (http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=1395) some information and a presentation slide on the upcoming Motorola ROKR E2 phone.

.

2006 - Year of the iPhone...

[jessica.]

I tried to use the ROKR and it was clunky to me. I like that the razors come with itunes, but I love my t616 too much to switch!

[Abstract]

I don't care, really. I actually don't see much lacking in the ROKR other than a decent camera, but I doubt I'd use the camera even if it was 1 or 2 MP because they don't use "real" lenses and the photos would end up crap.

I don't care because its just a music program on a mobile phone, and it doesn't matter if they put iTunes on a better phone or not.

[FoxyKaye]

Am I the only one who thinks that the whole business of playing MP3s on a cell phone is silly? It's not that I would mind a unified device, it's just that a crippled version of iTunes (100 or even 1000 song max) and limited (1 GB max) storage seems to be a waste of time, let alone battery life. It would be an entirely different matter to me if portable storage for the phones rivaled the iPod Mini, iTunes didn't have a song limit and would play purchased music, and battery life still gave me a solid 3-4 days of standby time. But right now, it seems like if folks want to carry around 512MB-1GB worth of music they should just buy a Shuffle and be done with it.

Heck, I'm still pretty dubious about putting cameras in phones, and I actually use the 1.2 MPxl one on my Moto e815. Although nothing destroys my battery life more than using the camera... Presumably using a phone as an MP3 player would do the same thing.

Here's a "unified" phone I'd consider buying:

* Bluetooth/iSync compatible
* Camera in the 2-4 MPxl range that actually works in low light
* 6-12 GB of storage for photos and MP3s
* Unlimited number of MP3s for iTunes, plus ability to play purchased music
* Battery life lasts a week or more

[Lynxpro]

I tried to use the ROKR and it was clunky to me. I like that the razors come with itunes, but I love my t616 too much to switch!


You'll get better reception with the RAZR than a T616. I know, I have both. The RAZR pretty much confirmed my suspicion that flip phones get better reception than candybar models.

[aegisdesign]

Then, when Sony and Nokia have had a chance to release their music-phone hybrids into the marketplace, probably trouncing Motorola in the process, Apple can step in, release the iPhone with a great OS (secretly in development from the original ROKR's release), and capture 50% market share for music-phones within a few months.

Sony and Nokia already have released their music phones.

Sony have the excellent Walkman phones. All of Nokia's series 60 phones come with a music player. Most of the new phones coming out now have TV built in here in the UK.

The ROKR is 2-3 years behind the competition.

The Sony-Ericsson W900 is the phone Apple should have made.

[Kace]

the moto ui is slow and buggy. should've been canned years ago. bring on the nokia N80 and the 6G (widescreen high res) iPod come Q1 06. better yet make 06 the year of the iPhone. with 800 million phones expected to sell next year, apple could amass a nifty chunk in just a year and soon become a big player in telco/consumer elec/computer industries.

[Lynxpro]

the moto ui is slow and buggy. should've been canned years ago. bring on the nokia N80 and the 6G (widescreen high res) iPod come Q1 06. better yet make 06 the year of the iPhone. with 800 million phones expected to sell next year, apple could amass a nifty chunk in just a year and soon become a big player in telco/consumer elec/computer industries.


Funny....my RAZR's software hasn't crashed, and it ain't slow. Why do Nokia fanbois never tire of spreading such FUD online?

Sheesh. At least the Motorola phones don't expose your head to a microwave oven's worth of radiation, unlike Nokias. Of course, cooking brains and Nokia's popularity in Europe explains a lot of their foreign & domestic policy decisions over the past decade... They probably should concern themselves about mobile phone radiation more so than protesting genetically modified foods, in my humble opinion... :)

[crackrock]

This company hop-on has it right... why can't apple just make one of these????

[steve_hill4]

This company hop-on has it right... why can't apple just make one of these????
Where is the keypad, or how would you dial the numbers? I know some phones can deal with this in a different way, but I much prefer to have that keypad there to dial and I wouldn't want to use a click wheel to select numbers.