Three new Motorola phones launched

In a media roundtable held last week in a posh restaurant at the new Greenbelt 5 in Makati City, Motorola unveiled its new lineup of handsets that have either been recently made available or are due to hit the stores within the next few weeks.

Top-billing the trio of handsets shown to the press was the new Motorola P20,190 Q9 smartphone.

A business phone that is now also targeted at prosumer users, the quad-band Q9 has a QWERTY keypad housed within a stainless steel frame for added strength and a quality feel.

It boasts crisp voice quality and a customizable interface that lets you change your home screen, ringtones and create shortcuts to your favorite features or online content.

The Q9 allows video and still image capture with its 2.0-megapixel camera and LED flash while its Windows Media player lets you watch your favorite music and videos anywhere, anytime.

It is also BT stereo-capable for wireless music enjoyment and offers PC-like Web browsing with its Opera browser and Outlook and webmail capability.

Improved functionality comes from its Windows Mobile 6 operating system. The Q9 also has preloaded applications to protect your files with numerous aftermarket applications to further customize the handset.

The 134-gram Moto Q9 has a 2.4-inch, 65k-color TFT LCD screen while its memory storage is via external 2GB MicroSD card. It is already available in stores.

For music lovers, Motorola introduces the latest in its popular ROKR series, the likewise quad-band E8.

This new-generation ROKR offers consumers a complete music system that can help them enjoy their favorite tunes while on the go.

Motorola officials pointed out that the new GPRS/EDGE-enabled ROKR E8 is a no-compromise device, being both a music player that makes great phone calls and a mobile phone with tremendous audio capabilities.

Notable features of the new ROKR E8 include its ModeShift technology; innovative vibrating haptics technology that provides tactile response when a virtual key is pressed; FastScroll navigation wheel for scrolling through thousands of songs with the slide of a thumb; Motorola’s patented CrystalTalk technology that delivers outstanding call clarity even in noisy environments; and Windows Media Player 11 compatibility for easy transfer of tunes from the PC to the device.

Motorola’s breakthrough ModeShift technology presents users with only the controls they need, at the time they need them, instantly transforming from music player to phone with the touch of a button.

When powered off, the surface of ROKR E8 is smooth, with no visible keys. Power on the device and it presents a virtual numbered keypad on the front surface.

With one “press” of the virtual music key, the phone keypad disappears and control keys for the music player — play, pause, fast forward and rewind — appear in its place.

Yet ROKR E8 is more than just a touch-operated device. Using innovative vibrating haptics technology, the device provides the tactile feedback consumers expect from a traditional keypad, providing confirmation they have pressed a virtual key.

ROKR E8 also marks the debut of the new FastScroll navigation wheel from Motorola, a variable-speed touch control that lets consumers easily scroll through all of the content stored on the device.

With a gentle slide of the thumb, the wheel quickly scrolls through your music (music mode), contacts (phone mode), calendar (phone mode) or multimedia (imaging mode) content.

The 100-gram ROKR E8, which hits the stores in early April, has a landscape 2.0” QVGA display and a two-megapixel camera with video capture.

In music mode, ROKR E8 delivers great sound through a 3D stereo feature that enhances two-channel audio and an on-board equalizer.

Music can be enjoyed on the built-in speaker, with a compatible Bluetooth-enabled stereo headset, or through a wired headset plugged into its audiophile headphone-compatible 3.5mm jack.

The ROKR E8 also helps consumers discover new music with a built-in FM radio and support for Song ID2. Its 2GB internal memory can store up to 1,500 songs while the external memory is expandable up to 4GB with an optional microSD card.

Music transfers quickly with USB 2.0. The device is compatible with Windows Media Player 11 on the PC, which also provides access to more than 200 online music stores.

In phone mode, ROKR E8 provides outstanding voice quality using Motorola CrystalTalk technology. The powerful device can receive calls while downloading or playing music, text messaging, surfing the Web or taking pictures.

Quality construction and materials help make the ROKR E8 durable and reliable, and a high gloss front, aluminum soft-touch back, spun metal side keys and engraved banding offer the modern Motorola style.

Last but not least is the new GPRS/MMS Motorola W230, which aims to set new standards in value for money by being the lowest-priced music phone with a targeted retail price of P2,450 when it hits stores in March.

Its music smarts come from its FM radio with RDS support as well as FM recording with playback for use as alarm. The W230 lets you save your favorite MP3 songs and transfer media between phone and PC easily via drag-and-drop.

Memory comes from its external card slot that can accommodate up to 2GB microSD cards. It has a 65k-color screen.

Other features of the W230 include long battery life (talk time of close to 10 hours and a standby time of just under three weeks), a speakerphone for voice and FM radio, a Google pointer, and Motorola’s CrystalTalk.