In September 2005, Motorola launched its first product for the nascent music mobile phone market - the Rokr (pronounced rocker) E1. Early adopters were disappointed, as the handset turned out to be a redesigned Motorola E398 candy-bar phone model tricked out with Apple's iTunes software. The Rokr E2, released last year with RealPlayer software, was beset with music playback issues and paled in comparison with the savvy design of Sony Ericsson's Walkman mobile phones.
The young Rokr line has turned a corner this year, following the release of the slider-format Motorokr Z6 with two-megapixel camera. It is the most sophisticated-looking Rokr, no doubt influenced by the successful Razr line. It has a mirror-like metallic finish, 'soft-touch feel' glass, clean lines and a slender silhouette.
User interface with music files has been improved, thanks to keys dedicated to launching and accessing your music library and the use of Windows Media Player 11 software. You can quickly synch your song files with multiple personal computers running either Windows Vista or XP, so you'll never be far from your favourite music at work or play. Its USB 2.0 connection allows for an average transfer speed of about two seconds per song.
Priced at HK$3,180, the Motorokr Z6 is bundled with the Motorokr S9 headset and a 1-gigabyte microSD memory card.