The Motorola ROKR E1 Apple iTunes phone
posted Sep 7th 2005 1:28PM
Well, we've been talking it up for months, they've delayed time and time again what's arguably the biggest device
launch since the PSP, but here it is. The Apple iTunes phone, the Motorola
ROKR E1, will feature a 100 song capacity via random
autofill (ala the shuffle) or manually loaded music via USB, a color display (duh) with album art support, stereo
speakers, headphones with a mic for calls. Cingular will be the sole US carrier. Of course, if you've been following
the development, none of the above should surprise you. We had the first known authentic pics of this thing
way back in July, and have followed their more or less
open-secret engagement with Cingular for
the duration.
UPDATE: A few more details. It's going to sell for $249.99 with two-year service agreement. It's tri-band GSM/GPRS (850/1800/1900 MHz), it has a 176 x 220 pixel, 262,000 color display, weighs 3.77 ounces, is 4.25 x 1.81 x .80-inches in size, has a talk time of 9 hours, a VGA camera, and Bluetooth.
Wow. An announcement so big it took out the Engadget servers.
I'm so disappointed that this is the phone Apple is pushing. It would have been a lot more revolutionary if it had SOME of Apple's styling. At the very least it should have a glossy white finish. Or if this even looked half as cool as the RAZR that would be forgivable. But this looks like a boring phone with iTunes in it.
Man, that phone sucks. It's a shuffle with a phone attached...
wow this is a joke ... LOL we waited so long for this crap ...
w800i all the way!
Christ that sucks. What the hell? I've got money sitting here waiting to buy this thing and they turn out this ugly POS? WTF?
Maybe this will blow the myth that Apple is always first or always does things better. How is this any better than a Walkman phone? Or an N91?
Does anyone know when Cingular will release this phone?
details already online at www.cingular.com
i saw the ipod-nano and got excited thinking it was the itunes phone. meh
Wow, an a Moto e398 with new software....what a disappointment. If Sony can get their crap in gear their W800 and W600 would wipe the floor with this phone turd. Too bad Sony will probably drop the ball. Can you say anti-climactic.
First Apple product that doesn't excite me at all. The design is pathetic. Nothing cool about it. It is simply bad.
Why can't Microsoft market worth a damn? They've had devices for over a year that sweep the floor with this pathetic Apple effort. Apple even paired with Motorola which is the least regarded player in the Smartphone market.
Apple didn't make this phone. Motorola did. Apple only licensed Motorola to use iTunes. See class it wasn't that hard now was it?
It's tri-bad?!?! At least they took out 900 instead of 850 so it'll work well in the states. But don't say it's a world phone when it's not quad-band. Don't tell me you can't make a quad-band antenna moto, your overhyped waif (RAZR) has one.
Same complaint extends to the Walkman W800 phone (which is 900/1800/1900), which btw, this thing is NOT better then save for itunes integration (which I don't care about).
First Apple product that doesn't excite me at all. The design is pathetic. Nothing cool about it. It is simply bad.
Bah...i'm a huge apple fan and this is horrible..HORRIBLE..and to think I has saves up money to buy the ipone...well at least i dont have to worry about buying it.
I think it's the first of many, and that the next RAZR (V3i?) will have more memory and probably iTunes support.
I'm sorry, Ryan. I don't see why you're so excited about this phone all the time. It certainly isn't "the biggest device launch since the PSP," although you were right that I'd argue about that :) The PSP was far bigger news. How many phones can play MP3s? The market is far larger than portable gaming. This thing doesn't even have removeable memory, does it? 100 songs is pretty bad considering the other options. So tell me, how is this a bigger announcement than SE's walkman phone? It would seem to me that that phone has more functionality, and at least tried to look nice/different.
This is a poor effort. But even if it weren't, I still must ask why this device is needed, or at least why it is getting Engadget so stirred up. This is probably the least exciting "big announcement" I've seen you guys post this year.
Beautiful. Gorgeous simplistic design. I knew Apple could do it. I'm probably going to buy a second one as backup. I'm sure Nokia, Samsung, Microsoft and the rest are just crying when they see this. All my friends will buy one too.
Wow. that phone SUCKS.
said it b4, say it again: recycled moto garbage
http://www.phonescoop.com/phones/phone.php?p=305
I think the phone should have been better designed. Wireless headphnes please for the next one.
the phone is already available on the cingular website!
Um, it's not an Apple phone. It's Motorola.
The "myth" of Apple is unaffected.
It does suck, though.
I've been waiting for an Apple phone because I knew it would have a superior interface. Now it shows up with the worst interface in the business - Motorola's godawful operating system. Next....
old design, it is from E398
Apple didn't design the phone, Motorola did. All of you whiners saying this is an 'Apple' product should get over yourselves. Apple likely provided software to Moto for accessing iTunes songs, and that's about it.
The interface looks just like my V551. Which, of course, Apple had no hand in designing.
not particularly impressive. i've owned a few moto's, even the e1000 that this is probably loosely based around, and it wasn't impressive.
anyone notice the complete lack of apple branding on the phone, and on the makemedance.com site? Plenty of mention of Cingular, but the only hint that Apple has anything to do with this is that iTunes is written on the page. No mention of Apple, or even a logo.
I could superglue my shitty nokia 8210 to the back of a ipod mini and it would be a better way for apple to have don what should have been the biggest selling gadget since the tv.
Where is the proper ipod phone, with a hard drive and clickwheel, that is black with a white rim like the pics we saw from motonow (which matched the concept design pics for the iphone). THAT WAS WHAT IT WAS MEANT TO BE.
Im totally gutted, almost disgusted with what this has turned out to be.
C'mon, 100 songs? Besides, design sucks - unless you think Dells are beautiful. Nah, not interested. Clearly, the nano takes the headlines.
so basically a L series with music playback, no expansion, tied with iTune.
i will go with sony or nokia.
so very disappointing.
This is so ugly ¬_¬
I expected somethin better fom Apple.
Well, maybe I'm angry because I really wanted some kind of iPod Video with iTunes Video Store.
This is incredibly lame. MacMan, surely you jest! Simplistic design--it's an ordinary MOTOROLOA phone with a crappy verson of iTunes on the screen. I don't see how it could get any uglier.
And I still can't figure out who the heck wants a phone that plays music. What a waste of battery life on a tool that could get you out of an emergency (the phone). Hardware folks need to realize that there will never be the One device to solve all of our portable "needs."
That is so crap compared to Se w800i or the upcoming nokia N91.. 100 songs on a ugly phone eh.
I'm assuming Apple didn't want something from Motorola that would cut into Shuffle/Nano/Mini sales. Sure, they picked the ugliest phone possible, and the storage space is crippled.
BUT - the way to look at this is as a starting point, a proof of concept. If Cingular sees that they are making money from music sales on this, they will be likely to keep selling iTunes phones. This is not a done deal by any means, Cingular could decide to drop it whenever they like.
If Cingular is successful with this, we're sure to see Motorola and Apple pump dollars into better iTunes-capable phones. And, of course, it's no leap of imagination to see Apple decide, after a year of watching Motorola get all the booty, that they could make a better iTunes phone themselves.
So, yes, ugly phone, hardly an earth-shaking announcement - but considering the politically-charged business environment, I think of this as one small step for a phone, one giant leap towards the iPhone.
Uhh... why don't people get it. It's not an Apple phone; it's a Motorola phone. It's not about the specific model; it's the concept of an "Apple phone": in a year it won't matter what model it is: what was introduced today was the integration of iTunes onto a mobile phone platform, the integration of iTMS onto a mobile phone with the support of at least one carrier in three of the world's major markets. This does have significance, and it has nothing to do the model of the phone or whether or not WMP Mobile is already on phones. With Apple the devices, software, and store/service are integrated, adn that will always be the story and the reason for their success.
Boy, over the next year there are gonna be a bunch of whiny WMP Mobile users pointing out that 10 million users do not use their Smartphones even if they could 2 years before iTunes phone users.
Why didn't the create something useful and combine the iPod nano with a decent phone that included features that people want, such as a 2MP camera, at least 4Gig storage, FM Stereo Radio and a Nokia type GUI? The phone is a compromise and the nano is pretty but lacks innovation. It could have been a phone! Anyway, go compare phone specs at http://www.fonebox.com. Always current, always truthful.
Go to www.makemedance.com for the Cingular page.
Go to www.makemedance.com for the Cingular page.
MacMan: Wow, drank the Kool-Aid did we? This phone is a poor excuse for the hype. Apple didn't do this, Moto did. And in typical Moto fashion its late to market and below expectations. Even Sony-Ericson's somewhat flawed entry beats this.
I hate to tell all of you Apple-lovers out there, but loyalty for everybody but you has to do with useablity. As soon as there is something better out there Apple will and iTunes will be forgotten. They can't put their stamp on lame products like this when they live or die by cool.
DUMB. If I'm going to pay that much for an apple phone, I want it to have some apple sex appeal. This is CRAPTACULAR.
Can anyone answer these questions:
Will it work with iSync?
How 'bout e-mail?
What's the price w/o a 2-yr contract?
Clearly you guys don't know great design when you see it. It's elegant and simple. Go buy your Dodge Durango's and Dell Optiplus's and see if I care.
Hmm...no EDGE, no QVGA screen, no megapixel camera. So it's pretty much a entry-level phone with iTunes support. Yawn.
And the world let out a collective yawn. An uninspired design from Motorola... with just a simple license of the iTunes connectivity to give it the features of the shiffle. And pair that with it being an "exclusive" of the worst-rated cell phone provider in the US... can't imagine anyone rushing out for this one.
Ugly. The K750 / W800 definitely has it beat as far as style is concerned.
If you go to www.makemedance.com and watch the ads, take a good look at the phone the girl in the first ad is using.
If you pause the commercial when she's going past the mirror and answers the phone, you get the best view of any of the ads.
It looks basically like an iPod - silver back, white front, and she's got a very stylish pair of white earbuds with an integrated mic.
Not the ugly MechaMoto phone they're actually selling with a gray cord and orange earbuds.
Looks like, when they shot the commercial, they may have actually been thinking about making an iTunes phone that actually looked like an Apple product.
WTF!?!?!?! $249 DOES NOT = £249!!!
Damn this is the rip-off of the century.
sucks.
jobs, get your head out of your ass.
perhaps he will, and they will have an itunes version of the n91...complete with apple-style looks. maybe?
Seem to have eliminated the scrollwheel from earlier leaked photos, that's a shame.
I hope they sell lots of these, cuz I have a feeling the next version won't suck.
Very crappy indeed. Eventough it's not a Apple product, it's still connected to Apple in a way. I'll go for Nokia N91. It's not perfect, but far better product than this..
Guys...it gets worse...this phone supports only USB 1.1. That means that transfers from the PC will be limited to 12Mbps (and that's without USB overhead). Imagine transferring 512MB at 12Mbps. Yuck!
I think it might be because they're using an Intel PXA processor with a built in USB peripheral controller that only supports USB 1.1.
This is a terrible oversight.
Dear Apple,
Stick an antenna, earphone and mic in the black ipod nano and you just sold my family 4 iPhones.
Thank you
PS You can even sell it to me again next year when you give it Bluetooth and more storage.
The ROKR E1 doesn't appear to be a phone for hard core iPod users, nor is it for the phone gadget head. But, the phone will liekly appeal to general public.
It has all the basics that a consumer wants, plus it gets imaginary cool points because it's from Apple and Motorola. I doubt customers will flock to it like the RAZR or iPod, but enough probably will and thus the first ROKR will be a moderate success.
This phone is no home run. It's barely a base hit. So, I can see why they waited until launch day to announce it.
Check out the Apple FAQ on the phone...
Sync's with iTunes on only one computer and not via BlueTooth, BUT via the phone's bundled USB -get this- 1.1! USB 1.1!
This is garbage. What kind of nonsense is this? This is slower than FEMAs response to Katrina... Geez.
Maybe I missed it - can this phone download songs directly from the internet itself? If not, what's the point?
No Apple logo, no bluetooth music transfer, no pay-as-you-go cell coverage... I'm no buy.
Old School!
Outdated design and tech.
I wonder how much Motorola had to pay Apple for this (crap)?
You have to be pretty stupid to buy this phone. It should be a free gift if you buy 100 songs on ITMS.
256mb storage!
vga camera!
The specs is so 2002.
Hard to believe Jobs wanted to stand on the same stage as this POS. The idea is fine, but DANG what an ugly phone and interface. Apple must be the only electronics company with decent industrial designers these days.
What an F*cking embarrassment to Apple.
Steve to believe that I faith that you would make the right choices for Apple.
Tisk Tisk.
You didn't even bother to change the crappy Motorola interface.
How dare you!
I really think this iteration will be quickly developed further. There is a forthcoming model called the SLVR. It is a non-folding version of the RAZR, shrunk down where space can be saved by not having a hinge. The notable feature is that it also supports Transflash/microSD like this phone. Maybe the battery life would be hurt by its smaller size but it is a much more attractive phone. The dimensions are a lot like the iPod nano. Do a search for SLVR or Motorolla V8.
Motorola really dropped the ball on this one. They had the chance to corner the music phone market but instead they came out with this ugly piece of crap. If you're going to make an iTunes phone, at least take onboard some of Apple's design philosophy (both aesthetics and UI).
If Motorola think they can compete with Sony Ericsson's W800i (similar price, more memory, much better camera and decent headphones) or Nokia's N91 (16 times more memory, WiFi, much better camera, 3G, full iSync support, much wider range of media formats supported, 3.5mm headphone socket and stereo bluetooth headphones support) then they are sadly deluded.
sucks donkey balls
God this must be THE most awful Apple item ever, I am now going to weep.
"Motorola really dropped the ball on this one. They had the chance to corner the music phone market but instead they came out with this ugly piece of crap. If you're going to make an iTunes phone, at least take onboard some of Apple's design philosophy (both aesthetics and UI)."
Did anybody think that maybe the carriers are afraid of a killer phone that suddenly highlights Apple software and eliminates any chance that they enter the download market?
That's what I think happened. Not that I like Moto's highend designs, but this is clearly a test. Notice how every ad and announcement states "First iTune Phone"?
Apple just needs to release a version of iTunes for PalmOS and Windows Mobile/Pocket PC/whatever they want us to call it this week powered devices. It doesn't need to be full on hoss iTunes like on Mac OS X and Windows just something like the iPod interface and functionality for these devices. This way we don't need a phone, a PDA, and an iPod. Having the functionality of all three in one device would be very nice.
If I was going to be buying a new phone I would get a Palm OS or Windows Mobile device over this and I suspect that I am not alone in this. Two trick ponies are better than one trick ponies but I want one that knows all the tricks.
This is a pure money-play by Motorola & Cingular trying to capitalise on the iPod name. This "pone" is going to bomb! All those 21m iPod owners know what an iPod is.
As it is Cingular doesn't have the brains to bring in all the cool phones. Hopefully this Rokr won't kill all hope for an actual iPhone that Apple might come out with after seeing the Sony w800i. If they had even a few active brain cells they could have made a white Slvr and slapped a iPod logo instead of this POS.
If Apple & Nokia smarten up then they could, together, come out with a product that will decimate everything out there.
Jobs said it was quad-band, now engadget says tri-band. I'm too lazy to check cause I don't give a damn.
256MB should be standard on all phones, this music phone should have a gig.
and you could have wireless headphones via bluetooth, so that argument is moot. I'll say that it's definitely too expensive though 250 with a two year contract? screw that, I'll take a Treo please.
I cannot believe that none of you even noticed that it's just a normal Motorola e398, which ws released in the first quarter of 2004... http://www.gsmarena.com/motorola_e398-690.php
People should calm down. This isn't the mythic "iPhone." Its the first of maybe many phones to carry the itunes software. Granted, it is an ugly POS, I'm sure Motorala will have an iTunes Razor before long.
God this must be THE most awful Apple item ever, I am now going to weep.
No one should be surprised by this. Don't look for Apple to make a phone any time soon-they don't know how, and it's not a trivial task.
Apple is not going to license their DRM to any product that might cut into iPOD sales.
I swear, some of you idiots who've never designed a product in your life actually expected a white, RAZR-sized phone with 100GB of storage, 10MP camera with 5X optical zoom and xenon flash, Wi-Fi, and 100 hours of battery life. Grow up, please. Welcome to reality.
.
.
BTW, it appears that Apple concurrently released iTunes 5, which includes at least one new feature: "iTunes for Your Mobile Phone. With iTunes on your Motorola ROKR E1 from Cingular, you can listen to music on your mobile phone."
There were much better phones on the market last year. sony erricson will gain market share. Half ass job by all three companies.
No, it is not an "Apple" phone- but Apple held all the cards in this deal as Moto was slobbering all over themselves to get the partnership and ge in on some of that hot iPod/iTunes action.
Apple should have insisted that Moto provide a phone that was at least close to Apple's industrial design standards; with the RAZR and SLVR, it is obvious that Moto is capable of designing a nice looking product.
Instead, Apple went forward with the partnership on this POS looking phone. Therefor, yes- Apple does have some blame to lay at their feet when it comes to wondering why the first iTunes phone is such a piece of junk.
#46 - it's £209 without contract, and free on contract in the UK (carphone warehouse)
#65-
I am an industrial designer. I HAVE designed a product.. multiple products actually.
The ROKR phone is a failure. I can tell just by looking at it that it was designed by some VP of Marketing or BizDev who wanted to cash in on the iTunes/Apple/iPod success. They looked at the math and decided that a phone with X, Y, Z features would work and then they fired the project off to design/engineering who came back with this and a committee looked at it and it got a rubber stamp. In 4-5 months, Moto will be backpedaling and wondering why on earth the iTunes phone was a failure.
The problem is that it isn't LUSTY.
Funny enough, Apple provided a great example of lusty with their release of the iPod Nano. Here is a product that offers no technical innovation compared to the product it replaces (aside from the color screen which is of minimal real value), yet- everyone I have talked to today is just salivating for a Nano. It is just so F-ing cool, but it is cool in a way that isn't exactly quantified on paper.
If Moto had infused the ROKR with more lust factor, I would be impressed. Instead, this is a slap-dash piece of engineering that costs more then a RAZR and a Shuffle combined, is bigger then a RAZR and Shuffle combined, has less features then either and is totally lacking in the sexy department.
I call that a failure...
VISIBILITY is the secret sauce here.
who can walk into a store nearby and see a w800 or 600.
who will be seeing commercials for a w800 or 600.
by the weekend half the tv watching nation will know about this phone and still have no idea what a w800, imate jam, htc universal, nokia n91 etc, are. this phone may outsell the razr.
business 101.
Huh. Well, I'm not moving off my P900 any time soon. I have a 40GB iPod, anyhow... I'm not going to use
Don't hold anything against Apple here... I assume they just wrote the software and the iTunes hooks. But, this phone is ugly, and I blame Moto for that.
I'll be interested to see what happens...
The only thing this would be good for is podcast listening. I couldn't imagine replacing my ipod with this phone. Give me my 5,000 songs to choose from, not 100...
God, this phone is lame. Yes, the iTunes support is great, but im not going to buy this UGLY and OUTDATED phone! For $250? LMAO! I don't understand why they couldnt stuff 300MB of flash storage in a RAZR and then you would have the best looking and coolest phone with an iTunes interface.
PUT A DAMN PHONE IN THE NANO.
Just stupid Apple. Fucking stupid.
I don't care if Motorola designed it, Apple allowed this UGLY phone to be used.
"who can walk into a store nearby and see a w800 or 600.
who will be seeing commercials for a w800 or 600."
Well, that's a very US-centric view. I can't walk down a road or read a magazine in London without seeing the Sony Ericsson W800i. It's out, it's *everywhere* and people are going crazy for it.
Nokia aren't exactly known for being frugle with their marketing budget either. Have you seen all of the adverts plastered over the internet (including Engadget) for the N90 recently? I have.
Maybe in the US the ROKR might edge out the W800i or N91, but globally it'll lose out big time.
but maybe somebody could make an italk/itrip combo piece for it that would let you make phone conversations thru your radio... "can you hear me now?"
HowardChui says the memory is upgradable:
http://www.howardchui.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=850
What does it use? How big do they get?
So....does this mean that Creative can now sue Motorola as well as Apple?
BTW, it appears that Apple concurrently released iTunes 5, which includes at least one new feature: "iTunes for Your Mobile Phone. With iTunes on your Motorola ROKR E1 from Cingular, you can listen to music on your mobile phone."
Good job this isn't the iPod RAZR or I might slit my wrists with it. What an unmitigated disaster. This will sully the Apple name. I'm disgusted.
This uses Micro SD for Memory.
The E398 isn't a smartphone so this iTunes software will be running in Java, right?
So won't there be a way to utilise it on another phone?
Think I will stick to my Orange SPV C500 (AudioVox 5600 methinks is the US version) with windows media player 10. Did you know the windows variant is more versatile and more powerful than just iTunes mobile??? It's been around for a while now... yawn. Got 1 GB mini SD card shoved in with a few hundred songs and a few music videos.
If apple was to bring out an apple phone with mobile apple OS, quicktime and iTunes and perhaps with somemore mobile apps. That would turn my head. Hmmm so iChat over a 3G link.
The ROKR is poorly styled and I dont like Motorola just using the same design but uping the specs. Symbian OS... yuck. It says the first phone with iTunes. That should mean it could be licensed to other vendors and perhaps on other mobile OS.
100 songs? That goes against what iPod is about!
Hmmn, I will wait for the next version of ROKR, I bet it will be a better effort. I guess they had to come out with this phone in a hurry due to the speculation and hence they chose to combine a known phone with itunes. I wouldnt be surprised if the next version is a winner like the razr.
us centric yes but the apple brand has way more sex than sony or nokia at the moment. gagdethounds wanted more as did I.. but apple will win this one everywhere due to the itms marketshare. the fact is that the average joe associates digital music with apple.
anyhow both w800 and rokr are not pleasing to the eye. but the rokr is the lesser of two evils.
Talktime² : up to 260-560 minutes
Standby Time² : up to 160-230 hours
Music Time²: : up to 15 hours using wired headset, up to 6 hours using Surround Sound feature
iTunes® Transfer Time²: : approximately 30 seconds for 4MB music file
MPEG4 encoder/decoder : and H.263 decoder video
all from moto website. only thing i couldnt find is how big the actual file memory is and if it's user upgradeable.
Nope, still won't get me to give up my MPx220 with the Chinese firmware with Windows Media Player 10 and auto-synchronization with my PC and the ability to stream XM sat radio when I'm on waiting for my train.
For those infatuated with iTunes...just get over it. Just as everything that Microsoft produces isn't necessarily evil, everything that Apple produces (or has a big hand in) isn't necessarily brilliant. iTunes is the worst system hog EVER, and the fact that it only encodes to MP3 or LC-AAC is more than enough reason to never EVER install it.
Well, IMHO anyway.
#83. I agree. As soon as I realized this wasn't a smartphone like the Audiovox I have, that ended it for me. (plus, man this phone is ugly - especially when compared to the absolutely gorgeous ipod nano)
I'd like to know who is going to use their phone to listen to music? The concept is simply lame to me. Although, I do think that Apple has done it the right way as far as syncing your contacts and your music via iTunes.
LOL, all you apple zealots have been waiting on this POS forever. now you have it. enjoy! LOL