Motorola ROKR E1

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Motorola ROKR E1
Screen 176x220, 262000 colors
Ringtone MP3, AAC, WAV, MIDI, Polyphonic
Memory microSD
Networks GPRS
Connectivity Bluetooth
Physical size 108 x 46 x 20.5 mm
Weight 107 g

The Motorola ROKR E1 (pronounced /ˈrɒkɚ/ "rocker") is the first mobile phone to be integrated with Apple Inc.'s iTunes music player. It was launched on September 7, 2005 during a special media-only event by Apple in San Francisco, California. The phone had been widely expected, with technology sites reporting on collaborations between Motorola and Apple as far back as December 2004.

Contents

[edit] Description and Acceptance

The ROKR E1 is essentially a re-badged Motorola E398 candybar style phone (it was originally called the E790) with Apple-licensed technology to play back music purchased from the iTunes Music Store. It features a music player with an interface similar to that of Apple's ubiquitous iPod music players. While the phone is equipped with an upgradeable 512 MB microSD memory card, it is limited by its firmware to allow only one hundred songs to be loaded at any time.

Many users also discovered that transferring music to the phone was slow compared to dedicated players due to it lacking support for Hi-Speed USB. Lastly, the ROKR was criticized for being too much like the preceding E398. As a result, the ROKR E1 sold below expectations despite a high-profile marketing campaign.[1] Relations between Motorola and Apple were also strained because the latter unveiled the iPod nano at the same time, and Motorola CEO Ed Zander later accused Apple of purposely undercutting the ROKR.[2]

The ROKR E1 was replaced by the ROKR E2 which lacked iTunes and superseded by the iTunes enabled SLVR L7.

A ROKR connecting to an Apple Powerbook G4.
A ROKR connecting to an Apple Powerbook G4.

[edit] Carriers

The phone was carried by:

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ Motorola Blasts iRadio
  2. ^ ROKR

[edit] External links