CES 2008

Motorola's Rokr E8

(Credit: Bonnie Cha/CNET Networks)

Since the Motorola Rokr E8 nabbed CNET's Best of CES award in the cell phones and smartphones category, it's appopriate to give you an idea of how the phone feels beyond just a list of specs. At 4.52 inches by 2.09 inches by 0.42 inch, it has an average size for a cell phone, and it's actually a bit heavier than I expected at 3.5 ounces. I didn't mind the weight, however, as it gave the E8 a solid and sturdy feel in the hand.

Motorola Rokr E8

(Credit: Bonnie Cha/CNET Networks)

The Rokr's showpiece is, of course, its new keypad. I admit I didn't know quite what to expect, as new cell phone interfaces can be hard to do right. But it was quite easy to use from what I could tell. The vibrating keypad was nifty, and the numeric keys also have tiny bumps to help you find your way. The scrolling toggle doesn't go in a full circle (perhaps Apple has patent on that) so you could move your finger in a full loop. If you tried to trace your digit on the missing portion of the circle at the toggle's bottom, the cursor on the screen would stop and then resume again when you got to the other side. The keypad morphing also worked well. When I pressed the dedicated music button, the backlighting illuminated only the music buttons, just as the E8 is supposed to do. Same goes for the camera; once we selected that feature, only the camera buttons were backlit. Though the transition between the individual functions took a few seconds but that wasn't an issue for me. The new menu interface was simple and attractive, and I liked the position of the 3.5mm headset jack on the top of the phone.

I was able to test the music quality and liked what I heard. It's still too early to tell, however, whether the Rokr E8 will surpass standalone MP3 players as Moto has promised. I didn't get the chance to test the photo or call quality, but I suspect the E8 could just have a bright future ahead of it. The lack of 3G bothers me, but otherwise it deserves its Best of CES award.

Motorola continues to make up for its dismal Rokr E1 with its new Rokr E8. Announced at the ultra-posh Wynn Hotel during a late-night press conference (we're not sure why Moto had to wait until 9 p.m. on a Sunday to do this), the E8 is one of two handsets Moto is announcing at CES 2008. And it won CNET's Best of CES in the cell phones and smartphones.

Watch the Motorola Rokr E8 video on CNET TV.

Music, of course, is a central theme here but the E8's real news lies with its unique "ModeShift" technology. Instead of traditional keypad and navigation array, the Rokr features a smooth "glasslike" surface with touch-pad controls that digitally "morph" depending on how the handset is used. As you shift from phone to music to imaging modes, the backlight on the control changes to illuminate only the relevant buttons for your current function. The E8 also features Motorola's first Haptics keypad with vibrating feedback and a "FastScroll" navigation wheel that makes it pretty seamless to navigate through long playlists. It's not a complete circle but it's pretty user-friendly.

Loading songs on the E8 is also supposed to be fast and easy via a USB connection to a PC. Moto said that over the next year it would introduce more music phones like the E8 that would be better than standalone music players. That's a bold prediction, we can't wait to test it out. We have to say, however, that Moto seems to have succeeded at integrating the ergonomics of an MP3 player and a cell phone into one device.

Other features on the candy bar device include a Linux/Java OS, support for Windows Media Player 11, a large (2-inch) 262,000-color display, 2GB internal memory, stereo Bluetooth, USB 2.0, Moto's CrystalTalk technology (like we saw on the Razr2 series), an external memory card slot, a 2-megapixel camera, a digital-music player, and a full HTML browser. The quad-band world phone supports GPRS and EDGE networks, and it offers a "talking phone" to read your text messages while dialing a number or receiving a call. We haven't had the chance to test that particular feature yet, but it looks fun.