Moto's new ROKR sings a different tune

Juniper Foo | Jan 04, 2006

It's finally out. No surprises here that Motorola has named its successor to its debut iTunes phone E1, the E2. However, this latest musical Moto croons a very different tune from its iTunes elder. Unveiled at the Las Vegas annual Consumer Electronics Show, which kicks off this Thursday, what we do know for now is that the E2 is dropping iTunes compatibility to go with MP3, WMA, AAC and RealAudio formats. This has its tradeoffs since Apple fans may look elsewhere. However, the crucial observation is that the E2 no longer has its hands tied, unlike its predecessor, to a 100-song limit (50 in the case of some Asian countries).

Instead, the E2 now sports an SD slot for up to 2GB of removable memory (vs the E1's TransFlash or miniSD media), and can now store as many as 500 tunes. Other notables include a USB 2.0 port (to the E1's USB 1.0), the ability to create and manage playlists, a 3.5 mm stereo earphone jack, an FM tuner, and Linux as an operating system which should enhance speed and flexibility.

No word on pricing, though Motorola is slating the E2 to launch in the first half of 2006.

Filed under: Mobile Phones
Leave a comment | Bookmark | Share