CES 2008: Motorola ROKR E8 and Z10 - Short Review
Motorola takes music phones to a new level with the ROKR E8, which uses innovative ModeShift technology to transform this glossy handset into a music player. With the touch of a button the perfectly flat virtual dialpad disappears and is replaced by music playback controls, and they feel like real buttons because of the amazing work Motorola has done to improve haptics technology. A variable-speed FastScroll navigation wheel makes it simple to scroll through the ROKR E8’s menus by sliding your thumb, as well as up to 1,500 songs stored on the 2GB of memory. And the sound quality rivals what you would expect from standalone music players, whether you’re listening through traditional earphones (plugged into the 3.5mm jack) or the powerful speaker.
What makes the ROKR E8 so innovative is its ModeShift technology, which morphs the device from phone mode to music mode with the push of a button and displays only those controls you need on the slick glass front surface. So when you’re in music mode, for example, the dialpad disappears and you’ll only see the playback controls on the bottom part of the phone. And in camera mode the playback controls give way to zoom buttons. In each mode Motorola employs haptics technology in a new way to make it feel like you’re pushing a button instead of providing an overpowering and imprecise buzz.
We also dig the new FastScroll navigation wheel, which replaces the traditional D-pad and allows you to scroll through everything from the Linux/Java-powered main menu to 1,500 tracks stored on the ROKR E8’s 2GB of built-in memory, which you can expand with a 4GB microSD card.
Motorola claims that the audio quality surpasses that of many standalone MP3 players but we’ll need more hands-on time before we can agree or disagree. Other features include a 2-inch display, 3.5-mm headphone jack, and compatibility with WMP 11. The only bummer is that this sleek candybar doesn’t rock 3G; there’s only an EDGE data connection inside.
Motorola also provided more details on its Z10 kick slider, which makes it easy to capture video, edit your clips, and even add transitions and music right on the phone. From there you can watch your masterpieces on the crisp 2.2-inch QVGA display with more than 16 million colors and upload your masterpieces to sites like YouTube and ShoZu. And don’t worry about running out of memory: this device can record up to 24 hours of video when equipped with a high-capacity memory card.
The still pictures from the 3.2-MP camera didn’t look too shabby either. More important, the Z10 is the fastest camera phone available, turning on in 1.5 seconds and able to shoot up to three images per second. And, unlike the ROKR E8, this one has a 3G HSDPA connection for fast uploads and downloads. Add in a polished metallic finish and you have a serious multimedia powerhouse that could put the Samsung FlipShot to shame.
Both the ROKR E8 and Moto Z10 should be available in the first quarter, but Motorola told us last night to expect the E8 to come stateside first. We can’t wait to bring you full reviews.
0 comments:
Post a Comment