Motorola Announces Three Music PhonesMotorola Announces Three Music Phones

Motorola expanded its music phone lineup by announcing three new handsets in its Rokr series.

The Rokr EM30, which is optimized for playing music, will be the latest flagship in the series. The candy bar phone has a high-fidelity audio player, has a standard headphone jack, and is capable of using Bluetooth for wireless speakers and headsets.

The phone also has a built-in FM radio, and software on the phone can identify the artist and song playing on the radio. The phone also has Motorola's ModeShift technology, which changes the keypad's illumination based on whether the user is talking or listening to music.

The EM30 also sports a 2-megapixel camera, and its memory can be expanded up to 8 GB via a microSD slot. The phone is powered by a Linux/Java operating system, according to Motorola.

While the EM30 should deliver high-quality music playback, mobile professionals may find it limiting. Unlike Sony Ericsson's latest W902 Walkman phone, Motorola's music phone isn't capable of mobile Internet access over 3G networks. Instead, the latest Rokr utilizes the slower EDGE technology for surfing the Web on its full HTML browser.

The EM30 measures in at 4.5 by 2.1 by 0.4 inches and weighs about 3.5 ounces. Motorola didn't announce pricing, and the phone is expected to first launch in Taiwan and then in other markets throughout the quarter.

The Rokr EM28 is a little step down from the EM30. The clamshell music phone has a WAP 2.0 browser and only a 1.3-megapixel camera. It does have robust music-playing capabilities, including 3-D sound effects that can give music a surround-sound quality. The EM28 measures in at 3.7 by 1.9 by 0.6 inches and weighs about 3.2 ounces.

Motorola also introduced the Rokr EM25, a lower-end device that has a sliding form factor. It has dedicated music keys, as well as a built-in FM radio, expandable memory, and a WAP 2.0 browser. The slider measures about 3.9 by 1.8 by 0.5 inches and weighs about 3.2 ounces.

The EM28 and EM25 have a proprietary operating system, and both should be available later this quarter.