Motorola to Launch Three New Phones

Motorla’s new phones – MOTOROKR E8, PEBL U9 and MOTORIZR Z10 – are seemingly headed towards popularity even before their official launch.

The ROKR E8, part of Motorola’s ROKR music phone clan, is designed with a touch-sensitive keypad and has a navigation scroll wheel. It has a 2-inch TFT display with a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels and sports 256k colors. It supports external memory with microSD cards and comes with 2GB of internal memory.

Connectivity is handled by EDGE, USB v2.0 and Bluetooth with A2DP compatibility. The E8 also has an integrated Stereo FM radio, a 2 megapixel camera and, of course, a music player that supports MP3 and AAC playback. It has a 3.5mm earphone socket.

What really makes this phone unique is that in standby mode the keypad is virtually invisible, and when in music mode select keys that highlight music navigation are lit up. The keypad is quoted to support Haptic feedback, allowing users to actually feel every keypress. The expected release date is sometime in November and the price would be in the region of Rs. 15,700 (280 Euro).

The ROKR PEBL U9 is a clamshell phone with a reflective (fingerprint magnet!) surface. It has a 1.4 inch, 65K, OLED display with a resolution of 128 x 128 pixels on the outer surface and a 1.8 inch QVGA, TFT display with a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels and 256K colors. The keypad is touch-sensitive.

For connectivity it’s equipped with EDGE, Bluetooth with A2DP compatibility and USB v2.0. The U9 has a 2 megapixel camera, an MP3 player, and supports external memory using microSD cards. Pricing and availability have not yet been disclosed.

Motorola’s RIZR Z10 is a rather well-equipped mobile device with HSDPA, 3G and of course EDGE connectivity. It too supports Bluetooth with A2DP and USB v2.0 (mini). The 2.2 inch TFT display supports a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels with 256k colors and has a scratch-resistant surface. The 90MB of internal memory can be extended using microSD cards.

The RIZR Z10 is equipped with a TI 2420 multimedia processor, a 3.2 megapixel autofocus camera, and a secondary VGA camera in the front for video calling. There appears to be some confusion as to whether the Z10 will have a Xenon or LED flash. The specs aren't too clear.

This phone also has a 3.5 mm earphone socket and a music player that supports MP3 and AAC+ playback. Motorola has decided to go with a Symbian UIQ 3.1 OS in the Z10. It’s expected to be out in December for approximately Rs. 22,430 (400 Euro).