by edwin p. sallan
AS shiny gizmos go, the latest mobile phones of Motorola do not literally light up a room, at least not at first glance. But when you actually hear any one of their ringtones or crank up any other type of music that comes out of their 3D Stereo Surround Sound speakers, no other cellular shines brighter.
Because whether you’re jumping up and down to REM’s "Shiny Happy People" or singing along to the familiar chorus, "It’s gonna be a bright, bright, sunshiny day" of Johnny Nash’s reggae classic, "I Can See Clearly Now," the latest Motorola handsets of the MotoMusic series deliver astounding sound quality unheard of before in a mobile phone.
Sleek and stylishly designed, two models, namely the
E398 Hijacked by MTV and the Moto Razor V3, are both bringing black in vogue. The E398 is a candy bar type of handset that comes in a matte black plastic finish with a rubbery feel and metallic silver trim. Its rubber keypad also comes in shiny silver, making it a head-turning two-tone phone that actually makes it look both rugged and elegant, making it suitable for just about any occasion and should complement just about any type of wardrobe. The black color suggests that it is more suitable for men although ladies should look quite foxy using it.
Ditto with the new black limited edition of the Moto Razr V3, a flip-top type that has style written all over it. Originally released in a similarly metallic anodized aluminum, the Razr now also comes in the same soft touch black finish of the E398. Wide but thin, the Razr should also fit most shirt and jeans pockets. It also has a luminous touch-sensitive metal screen that should make anyone feel like he or she is either in a James Bond flick or Philip K. Dick novel. Both the E398 and the Moto Razr V3 also come with a built-in mp3 player and the E398 even has the added bonus of including support for TransFlash memory cards and up to 256MB of music and other multimedia files. Should keep you entertained for those times when having a separate stand-alone music player around is just too cumbersome for comfort.
If you’re the geeky type who prefer a more Smartphone-type of model or want a more extensive multimedia experience, then the stylus-based E680i is your kind of phone. With built-in FM radio, Real Player software, MPEG4 video capture and playback support, VGA camera with 8x zoom and large internal memory plus SD memory card support to store complete CD’s of music, the E680i features a large 240 x 320 color screen and also comes in a slick metallic finish that makes it one of the better looking Smartphones out there. A pair of wireless Bluetooth headphones is an intriguing option for this model.
As if that’s not already enough, Motorola has also recently launched its new ROKR E1 handset. It’s basically the E398 that’s distinguished for two significant things. One is that it comes in immaculate white and two, it’s because it’s the only mobile phone to include Apple Computer’s iTunes software which pretty much makes it an iPod mobile phone. Its TransFlash support for up to 512MB of music and other files also makes it just as big as the entry level iPod Shuffle while its ability to display album cover art while playing music makes it just as compelling as the iPod Photo when it first came out.
One neat feature of the ROKR E1 as pointed out by Motorola’s Darren Sy is that it automatically stops the music while an incoming call is answered. It then resumes the music when the call is ended.
All of these Motorola handsets have other great features that make them a surprisingly sound alternative to the more popular models being churned out by the more sought after competition. There’s the 200k plus colors of their TFT screens that make them some of the very brightest in the market. There’s the ability to customize your phone’s look with built-in themes, wallpapers and screensavers that’s nothing short of amazing. There are the high quality games that are actually playable and more fun. And the animated icons are just as enjoyable to watch as they are to use.
And for a mobile phone brand that has never been known for its user-friendliness, the interface of the new Motorolas are much easier and more intuitive. Of course, there are still areas for improvement and we should be seeing those improvements in future models but as they are, I already consider these phones as pleasant surprises.
The outstanding musical ability of these new models is what Motorola is aggressively promoting and a recently-concluded contest and concert series campaign has so far been successful in creating awareness for them. Aptly dubbed as Rock Mo’To and coinciding with the launch of the ROKR E1, the campaign saw 50 of the country’s hottest bands in perform in a total of 10 gigs and eight venues in Manila and Cebu.
The series also pits Sandwich’s Raimund Marasigan, Imago’s Aia De Leon, Chicosci’s Miggy Chavez, Sponge Cola’s Yael Yuson, Sugarfree’s Ebe Dancel, Greyhounds’ Reg Rubio and Urbandub’s Gabby Alipe in a contest where fans are allowed to vote for them as their favorite Rock Icon. The winner, in this case, Miggy Chavez of Chicosci will receive round-trip tickets for two to Australia, pocket money, two tickets to a rocking Foo Fighters’ concert in Sydney, and a chance to meet the Foo Fighters in person along with a lucky ROKR E1 patron who texted his or her Rock Icon vote.
The MotoMusic phones as well as In Your Honor, the brilliant double CD of the Foo Fighters released by Sony/BMG Music, were also given away in the duration of the Rock Mo’To campaign.
In terms of musical and overall multimedia content, Motorola has raised the bar. How the competition will respond should make up for even more exciting times ahead for mobile phone enthusiasts. In this country, that pretty much means most of us.
