Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Motorola has added three new music phones to its MOTOROKR lineup, the EM30 candybar, the EM28 clamshell and EM25 slider phone. All three are geared for music lovers who can’t live without their mobile phones. Here’s a quick rundown of the specs and features of each of these new ROKR handsets.

First up we the ROKR EM30 candybar, which is equipped with Motorola’s ModeShift technology for illuminating the phone’s keyboards when shifting from phone to music mode. Aside from these, it also features an FM Radio in addition to its media player functionality, a 2-megapixel camera with 8x digital zoom, a 3.5mm stereo headset jack, text-to-speech recognition, support for Microsoft music ecosystem, airplane mode, CrystalTalk technology, a microSD storage card slot and Windows Media Player 11 support. The ROKR EM30 is a quad band GPRS/EDGE class 12 phone which can give out 360 minutes of talktime and 300 hours of standby time.

MORE »

We couldn’t help but be amused by the timing of Nokia’s release of its latest addition to the lineup, the 1508. Just when other phone manufacturers are outclassing each other with the release of new advanced features, here comes Nokia introducing a lowly, plain-jane-looking, basic handset. In fact, the 1508 is so simple that it took only a few sentences for Nokia to come up with an official press release. Or maybe it was just that we are so used to Nokia’s lengthy press releases.

Anyway, what should we expect from the Nokia 1508, a mobile phone as simple as this certainly doesn’t have that much to offer. This candy bar style handset boasts of easy keypad dialing, integrated FM stereo, high-speed data connectivity to the internet via cable, text messaging, built-in speakerphone, 3 minutes of voice recording time and memory that will let you store around 500 phonebook contacts plus 400 text messages.

Well, that pretty much sums up the Nokia 1508’s features. A simple mobile phone that can actually answer our most basic needs. Nokia expects to ship the 1508 sometime during Q3 2008 and it will be available in select CDMA markets. Pricing information is not yet available. But with a simple phone such as this, we wouldn’t expect the price to be too much.

Read [Nokia]

Sporting a very similar look as the current MOTOROKR E8, the EM30 has landed at the FCC and received their approval. The most notable difference between the EM30 and E8 is the navigation pad, the EM30 uses a D-pad as opposed to the omega wheel navigation. The Motorola EM30 is your basic looking candybar style handset, however it does offer some nice features, which includes the keypad, it changes layout based on the current application in use. The EM30 also includes a 2-inch display, 2-megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth, 3.5mm jack, FM radio, microSD card slot and takes advantage of Motorola’s Crystal Talk technology. Currently the launch information and pricing remains a mystery, however we will keep you updated when it becomes available.

Via [Phone Scoop]

A seemingly great source to see just what is coming in the world of technology, the FCC once again is showing off some live image pics of a new handset. This time its the Motorola L800t, with a nice shot of the front and back.

The Motorola L800t is a candybar style handset that has yet to have many specs revealed. From the image you can see that it appears to have a touchscreen keypad, possibly with some feedback upon touch. In addition there is also two cameras, the standard on the back, and also a front camera in what could be used for video calling. Otherwise it comes in a nice shade of black, hey we told you the details were light. The still unannounced L800t is however expected to hit the market in China.

Read [FCC] Via [unwired view]

You know what they say...slim is in.  Well, I don’t know if anybody really says that, but apparently that’s Sony Ericsson’s new motto.  According to Reuters, Sony Ericsson is ready to launch its first slim candybar phone, dubbed “Ai”.  Ai is apparently just 9.4 mm thick - which beats out the SLVR, and is similar thickness to some of Samsung’s offerings.  Other features include a 2 megapixel camera, Memory Stick Micro (M2) slot, and walkman software allowing for over-the-air downloads.  Ai will come in silver and black, and is expected to be unveiled in March 2007.  More details as they come.

Read [Reuters] Via [PhoneScoop]

What make one cellphone rise head and shoulders above the rest? I would assume that the RAZR is one of the first phones that comes to peoples minds if I asked you to name the most iconic/popular/stylish handset of all time. Forgetting about opinions the sales figures agree with this statement. Motorola is about to sell more units of the RAZR than Apple has sold iPods, and in less time.

Check out Forbe’s list and slide show of the most noteworthy and iconic mobile phones. I would add the Motorola v60 as well as a Sony Ericsson Walkman phone to the list as well, and maybe even the v70 (picture above), but in the end its just another conversation on another already obsolete cellphone.

What model will be the next mobile icon?

The Samsung T509 ultra-thin handset was shown at this year’s CTIA expo. As expected it launched by T-Mobile, today, to compete with Motorola’s SLVR, currently exclusive on Cingular. The thin candybar has a color screen, camera with digital zoom, music ringtones, EDGE, IM clients, and Bluetooth all in a 0.4 inch - 2.7 oz body.

T-Mobile offers it for as low as $50 after a contract and mail-in rebate.

Via [Phone Arena]
Product Page [T-Mobile]

If you’re looking for a really really ridiculously thin phone, Samsung’s X828 may be your match.  The phone, measuring in at 6.9 mm thick thin, has a 2 megapixel camera, 80MB of storage, Bluetooth, music player, and a 262k color screen all jammed into it’s tiny casing.  As a comparison, it’s only 0.05 mm thicker than the iPod nano.  Before you know it, we’re all going to be walking around with Derek Zoolander-like phones.  So hot right now.

Read [Gadget Review]