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The Motorola ROKR (pronounced "rocker") E1 is the first mobile phone to be integrated with Apple Computer'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.
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 upgradable 512 MB microSD memory card, it is limited by its firmware to allow only one hundred songs to be loaded at any time (it is believed by some that Apple imposed the limit to prevent the ROKR from competing with the iPod). Many users also discovered that transferring music to the phone was painfully slow compared to dedicated players. Lastly, the ROKR was criticized for offering little improvement over the preceding E398, even retaining the subpar digital camera. As a result, the ROKR E1 has sold below expectations despite a high-profile marketing campaignRelations 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[http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=13782&hed=ROKR+Marriage+Rocky.
The ROKR E1 will be succeeded by the ROKR E2, which does away with the iTunes but includes Motorola's new iRadio. As an iTunes phone, it is superseded by the SLVR L7 (pronounced "sliver"), which resembles a candybar version of Motorola's famous and popular RAZR.
The phone is carried by:
- Australia: Optus (and previously by Telstra)
- Chile: movistar, Entel PCS
- Venezuela: Digitel TIM
- USA: Cingular Wireless (discontinued)
- United Kingdom: O2, T-Mobile, Tesco Mobile
- Germany: T-Mobile
- Republic of Ireland: O2
- Italy: TIM
- Portugal: Optimus
- France: Bouygues Télécom
- Canada: Rogers Wireless
- Brazil: TIM, Claro, Brasil Telecom GSM
- Philippines: Globe Telecom
- Mexico: Telcel
External links
- Official website
- Apple: The first mobile phone with iTunes
- Apple's Stream of the Launch Event
- BetaNews: iPod Chief Not Excited About iTunes Phone
- Motorola ROKR E1 - Mobiledia
- Wired: Battle for the Soul of the MP3 Phone
- newswire.net: Background to the ROKR Catastrophe and Your Mom
"Motorola ROKR E1"