Motorola is trying to push their new EQ5 portable wireless speakers as the perfect accessory for the Motorola ROKR E8 by T-Mobile. In most of the ways these two devices are a perfect match. Similar to the E8 this EQ5 speaker also has a sleek and striking design which includes advanced features. The performance about the same is also very enjoyable. It is pretty simple to know why Motorola is trying to pair it with E8. Both the devices have glossy and slim design with much of black and silver touches. In addition to this the EQ5 which has 0.59 inches by 2.55 inches by 4.6 inches and 3.52 ounce is much like the same size of E8 and also have the same solid fees when in hand. You will surely love the kickstand of the EQ5 that lets you prop up the device horizontally.
The speakers of EQ5 sit on both the sides of the main control panel. On the face of the device you will find the player control keys and the volume keys. There are also other control buttons that let you to control the music player with any music player with Bluetooth compatibility and one that supports a remote control functions. This is probably a much useful features that you hardly find on most of the cell phone speakers. All the controls of the EQ5 are large and as they are flush they are also easy to use and tactile. At the bottom end of the speaker you will find the power switch with the talk control keys on top of the speaker. You have the micro USB charger point at the left side with a 3.5mm headset jack at the right side of the speaker.
Apart from listening to music the Motorola EQ5 can also be sued as a speakerphone when you make calls. When there is an incoming call you just have to press the aforementioned talk key to receive the call through the phone. Although the speaker will not show you any type of caller ID you can use the device for your voice dialing feature if your phone supports voice dialing. When you pair the Motorola EQ5 portable speakers with the ROKR E8 it instantly go into the pairing mode and turned on. The status of the phone is indicated by the small LED between the volume controls. The connection would automatically resume after turning off both the devices.
The music output from the Motorola EQ5 speakers sounds great. However you might not find the volume output to be very loud although when turned to full volume. The device can also be paired with other mobile pones so that you know the different in sound quality. The call quality with these portable speakers is also very satisfying. The sound of the other end caller seems very natural and you will also not encounter any interference or static with the speakers. Then there is a call on your cell phone the music would pause automatically and it would then resume when you end the call.
Overview
The new Motorola RIZR Z10 is the flagship of Motorola 3G smart phone. The cell phone has packed a number of interesting features like a 3.2 megapixel camera that has auto focus, an excellent media player, high quality video calling, third party Symbian applications and high speed data access through HSDPA. It is much slimline smart phone which sports an excellent kick design slide. However you might not find it the most reliable or easiest phone available.
The Motorola RIZR Z10 is actually the updated version of the previous Motorola RIZR Z8 which is successfully marked as the flagship of Motorola 3G smart phones. Similar to the Z8 the new Motorola Z10 is also a slide design handset which is very light to be a 3G smart phone. The phone looks great with the kick slide design. The slide would kick out when you open it offering you the appearance and wide list of benefits through a clamshell when activated. You will also love the screen with nearly 16 million colours and a bright and clear display. The keypad however is slightly cramped and might be a problem to use if you have large fingers.
Specifications and Features
The advertising unit of Motorola entirely relying on the video recording and camera features of the Motorola Z10. This however seems a bit overdone which draws attention basically to the fact that the Motorola Company lags other companies regarding imaging. It is surely the best imaging handset of Motorola until today that includes 3.2 megapixel camera and also auto focus and a video camera that is capable of recording nearly 30 frames every second. You will find that the camera takes excellent pictures. However the cell phone does not lend in the top-end phones from other manufacturers regarding camera quality. There is also another VGA camera that is capable of high quality video calling through the 3G network.
You will surely love the music features of Motorola Z10 and it music player which supports AAC, AAC+, MP3 and AAC enhanced formats in a very high quality stereo. The inbuilt music player can handle shuffles and playlists which can also synchronies with your computer through the USB 2.0 or high speed Bluetooth. The cell phone also offers support for conventional stereo headset and wireless Bluetooth stereo headset (not included). The handset also lets you store plenty of songs when you include a microSD memory card. It has the capacity of holding the new 4GB card through which you have plenty of storage.
Connectivity and Performance
The connectivity of Motorola Z10 can be done through USB or Bluetooth. it can also handle speed downloads. Through the 3G network the cell phone can connect with the help of EDGE at nearly 236.8 kbps. The 3G network that offers HSDPA also lets you download nearly 3.6 Mbps through your home broadband. There is an opera web browser supplied including total HTML mobile support and it can also perfectly handle emails. The Motorola RIZR Z10 is a quadband phone that lets you use throughout the world.
Although the walkman handset of Sony Ericsson might be something as the household name but when it comes to music phones they usually lack the essential and standard headphone socket or even the support for most of the music formats. Therefore it would not be very difficult for any other company to take the lead. The Rokr E8 from Motorola is inclined simply and purely as music phone and the phone for those style conscious people. The cell phone is available free of cost just for a monthly contract with Orange and O2.
Design
When switched off you will feel that the Rokr E8 is simply a black large slab. The cell phone is designed wit the haptic keypad which is press sensitive but it does not mean that they are on the screen. It imitates the physical keypad perfectly and makes speed typing pretty easy. You would be surprised to see the 3.5mm headphone socket which means that any regular headphones that you have would work just fine. There is however no major changes as the MicroSD slot is just besides the SIM slot in the handset which is excellent for aesthetics but those who keep swapping cards will be disappointed.
Features
The 2 megapixel camera can be found at the back of the handset which however does not include a flash. Inside the cell phone you will find an impressive 2GB of onboard memory and Motorola also lets you expand the memory using the MicroSD with nearly 4GB of memory capacity. Much better feature is that both these units of memory are automatically shared which means that the music that is stored on the memory of the phone is shared with that stored on y our MicroSD in the main music library. This music library is easily accessible through the dedicated music key.
The Motorola Rokr E8 is compatible with most of the music formats that include WAV, WMA, AAC and MP3. Music that is stored can be played through the headphones or even wirelessly through the stereo A2DP Bluetooth. As it is not a 3G phone you will find it a bit difficult dealing with the web however you can alternatively have Opera Mini installed.
Performance
If you would be using the Rokr E8 then it would require some getting used to generally because if you are using Motorola after using Sony Ericsson or Nokia handset. This gets much simple after a few weeks of adjustment. There is however a small amount of lag when using the navigation menus as you might find delays during menu selections and the menu scrolling in also a bit slower during fast browsing. However, the touch sensitive wheel or scroll key makes it very easy to browse long list. Typing through the touch sensitive keypad is in fact very fluid that you might expect and would have a great experience. You would surely praise audio quality gained through music player of Motorola Rokr E8 and the included high quality 3.5mm headphone socket would also give you outstanding performance.
The Motorola Company, for the past two years has been under enormous pressure from several camps so that they could come up with something entirely different. When you first have a look at the Motorola Z9 for AT&T you will find that it is not much different like the previous Motorola Razr. The cell phone is very comfortable and solid when you hold it and the slider mechanism of the phone is very sturdy rather being very stiff. The Motorola Z9 includes a number of features specially the 3G support technology and the AT&T navigator GPS service. The features also include a stereo Bluetooth, a digital music player, a 2 megapixel camera, an opera web browser and the nifty crystal talk technology of Motorola.
The Design
The Motorola Z9 is designed with a 2.4 inch bright and vivid display which shows everything perfectly well from test to photos to graphics. The menu interface of the mobile is generic which is very easy to use. The navigation array of the phone is designed wit the center Ok button. The other navigation controls are flush without any visible separation between them. However, when you use the cell phone you will find out that the buttons are not touch controls but they need a soft click. Unlike other cell phones the camera lens and flash of Motorola Z9 are designed at the top end on its back side. You will find the microUSB port for the charger just above the camera shutter.
Features
The Motorola Z9 is equipped with a wide collection of features which would surely appeal to the multimedia fans and basic users alike. Being a 3.5 phone the Motorola Z9 supports AT&T music and Cellular video service of AT&T. both these applications offer tons of music download and easy streaming of video content. Te music player that supports AMP3, AAC and WMA files is rather not too fancy but they have included some useful features like repeat and shuffle mode, playlist, bass boost and spatial audio. The cell phone also offers an excellent music related features like support for music videos, XM radio mobile and Pandora, a music ID application, a community section and a billboard mobile channel.
The 2 megapixel camera of Motorola Z9 would take pictures in four resolutions and includes three quality settings. A few other camera settings include five shutter sounds, self timer, six colour tones, five lighting options, 8x zoom and exposure metering. The internal storage for the cell phone is a decent 45MB and it also lets you add a microSD card in you need more space. The Motorola Z9 being equipped with all the basic features you will also find that there is stereo Bluetooth, email service, voice dialing and instant messaging. You can also use the cell phone to directly send voice messages to other user. The phonebook of Motorola Z9 lets you feed in nearly 2,000 entries where each contact would hold several other details of the person. You also have several options to customize the cell phone through the selection of functional tones, screensavers, themes, colour skins, wallpapers and ringtones. You also have other option through download using opera 8.5 wireless web browser.
by Patrick Altoft on May 15, 2007
Despite being initially announced back in January Motorola have today been re-announcing the ROKR Z6 music phone.
If you were hoping this would rival the iPhone or any of the Sony Ericsson Walkman phones then you will be disappointed. The Z6 doesn’t offer anything new other than a transfer speed that they claim can download tracks from a PC in 3 seconds.
“The new ROKR music handsets are a true convergence of the MP3 player and mobile phone,” said Chris White, senior director, Mobile Devices Multimedia Entertainment, Motorola. “These innovative devices are packed with the features mobile consumers demand today, including easy PC synching and access to hundreds of music stores.”
Other features:
- Making the easy transition from phone to music and back again, the ROKR Z6 allows one-touch access to your library and pauses music as calls come through.
- With more than 10 hours of music enjoyment in airplane mode, battery life concerns are history.
- A touch of the 4-way navigation wheel gives immediate access to content.
- The Z6 makes it easy to find and manage songs using Windows Media PlayerTM on the PC, which supports playlists, album art, search by genre, artist and more. It even answers calls while you transfer. The ROKR Z6 works right out of the box; Windows Media Player automatically recognizes the device.
- Start rocking fast with High Speed USB 2.0 to side-load songs in 2-3 seconds, almost five times faster than a competitive music phone: that’s a 500 song library in 15 minutes, instead of 2 hours. Synch purchased music from over 200 music stores, including Napster, onto the device from your PC; or side-load tunes from over 200 music stores worldwide - an advantage over most other devices.
- With the external memory slot, load up 2GB microSD cards with your music collection; each holds approximately 1,000 songs and 70 hours of music1 2.
by Patrick Altoft on May 15, 2007
Despite Motorola CEO Ed Zander promising that today would see the announcement of an amazing multimedia movie phone all that happened was they re-announced the Moto Z8 that appeared back in February at 3GSM.
The Moto Z8 does have a few good features, starting off with the casing which is only bent while the phone is open. Slide it back together and it flattens out to fit in your pocket. Motorola are including a 512MB memory card with free full length movie to show off the multimedia features on the handset which include crystal clear video capture and playback at 30 frames per second and up to 32GB of expandable memory.
Most Moto watchers are feeling pretty conned at the moment. Motorola have been widely criticised for their inability to keep up with Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and now Apple and hyping up and already announced handset is poor form indeed.
The Z8 will be available in the UK during June.
Other features:
- At 30 frames per second, the large QVGA 16 million color TFT display optimizes the viewing experience in both portrait and landscape mode. The beautiful screen also helps enhance Internet browsing and game play.
- Provides mobile broadband2 at 3.6Mbps HSDPA, among the fastest over-the-air download speeds today, for 10-second song downloads using a combination of OMAP2420 and ARM 11 processors that also provide a powerful platform for multi-tasking. For example, consumers can surf the Web while listening to music, without missing a beat.
by Patrick Altoft on May 15, 2007
Despite many users becoming tired Motorola seem intent on not letting it die and have today announced the RAZR 2.
Boasting specifications only slightly higher than the original RAZR the RAZR 2 offers 3.6Mbps HSDPA, a 2 megapixel digital camera, Bluetooth and some Crystal Talk technology which adjusts volumes based on ambient noise to make conversations clearer.
The handset will be available in a GSM / EDGE variant as well as HSDPA, the EDGE version is 2 mm thinner than the original RAZR. Other features include QVGA screens, Motorolas JUIX Java Linux platform, 3G, HTML browser. According to the press release the internal screen is 2.2 inches and has twice the resolution of the original RAZR. Motorola have also incorporated a seamless casing along with a soft touch back and vacuum metal front finish.
The large exterior lens is made with chemically hardened glass to be more scratch resistant and the cast aluminium hinge was tested more than 100,000 times in a lab to help ensure it works perfectly.
The price tag is expected to be around $500 (the same as the iPhone) which seems way to high considering the competition.
“With the modern style and powerful performance of RAZR2, Motorola is once again redefining the cell phone,” said Ed Zander, Motorola’s chairman and chief executive officer. “This device takes the world’s best-selling feature-phone to the next level. Combining groundbreaking new features and an even slimmer exterior than the original icon, the RAZR2 is capable of giving consumers the ultimate mobile experience.”
Expect the RAZR 2 to be available in July in most regions.
Other features:
- With the new ARM 11 processor1, processing speed is 10 times faster than the original RAZR and with high-speed USB 2.0 it only takes 2-3 seconds to transfer a song.
- The RAZR2 family’s three new handsets - V9 (3G HSDPA), V9m (EVDO CDMA) and V8 (GSM) - will be available to users of all three major technology networks.
- The external display incorporates Motorola’s breakthrough “haptics” technology, which provides users with vibrating feedback in response to their finger taps. This, combined with the virtual music keys, allows the user to effortlessly control their music.
- Some versions of RAZR2 will run Linux/JavaTM5, giving Motorola entry to the next generation of mobile architecture.
- RAZR2 V8 “talks” to consumers by speaking the interactive menu, contact lists, emails and messages aloud — a feature developed for people with visual impairments, but convenient for in-car use6 or when you are on the go.
- Without even opening the phone, RAZR2 users can rely on the large external screen to read messages and reply with pre-programmed text messages.
- The RAZR2 V8 has a completely redesigned User Interface (UI) so consumers can search contacts even faster. This eliminates duplicate entries for the same person while allowing contacts to have multiple numbers. The main menu is customizable, so consumers are never more than 2-3 clicks away from favorite applications, and even messaging is easier; RAZR2 automatically recognizes what type of message consumers are sending.
- Microsoft Windows Media Player 11 compatibility helps consumers easily purchase, synchronize and transfer their music library to their RAZR2 in only a few minutes. In some models music can be downloaded over the air at near-broadband-like wireless data speeds.
- With up to 2GB of memory4, the new RAZR2 rocks with stereo Bluetooth wireless technology7 and enough storage for approximately 1,000 songs.
by Patrick Altoft on May 14, 2007
Despite earlier reports stating that the new Motorola V9m will run the Linux operating system and be called the LAZR it now appears that the V9m will be based on the BREW UI and Adobe Flash.
Now being dubbed the RAZR 2 the V9m will launch on CDMA networks later this year and might change its name to V9c.
Features include a touch screen and a shiny chrome finish.
Via New Launches
by Patrick Altoft on May 10, 2007
The device to be announced by Motorola next Tuesday is apparently going to be a high end movie phone capable of playing videos at 30 frames per second.
Details have emerged since our last post on the new Motorola device. CEO Ed Zander, speaking at a conference in California, stated that the new phone would have “unbelievable video capabilities” and be a “media monster”.
Zander commented:
Mobile Internet and applications such as multimedia and video and pictures and music are going to happen on these devices.
We are working with another company to deliver movies on SD cards. You can start watching unbelievable quality movies,
Movies will be available for playing via an integrated SD memory card and users will be able to buy SD cards with films pre-installed.
Mobile video is a rapidly growing market with an estimated 46 million subscribers by 2010.
Motorola usually pick a strange name for their handsets, whether this device will be called the Moto PLYR remains to be seen.
by Patrick Altoft on May 8, 2007
Motorola Chief Executive Ed Zander has informed shareholders that the company is launching some new phones next Tuesday.
In the statement he says that the devices will be “based on 3G and Java technologies”.
Apparently the problems Motorola are having are not due to the poor quality handsets and inability to notice that the RAZR brand is dead:
Motorola, the world’s second-largest mobile phone maker, had blamed a lack of 3G devices for its recent weak sales.
Unless the devices launched next week are better than the top quality phones we have seen in 2007 from Samsung, LG, Nokia and Sony Ericsson Motorola will see sales slump even further. Adding 3G to a handset doesn’t make any difference, as Apple will no doubt confirm next month.
