It might not be the most exciting new handset to come to light this year, or this month, or even today, but Motorola has just added a new piece to the ROKR puzzle. The Moto ROKR ZN50. For the time being it looks like this gadget will be confined to South Korea but availability in other markets is likely at some point down the road.

It is about time Motorola delivered a stand-out touchscreen handset. We haven’t been hearing too much in the way of new products from Motorola in a minute, so it’s good to see the RAZR-maker still alive and kicking. It has a full widget-ized touchscreen interface.

The feature set is as good as any musicphone available today. The Motorola ZN50 sports a 3.2-inch touchscreen, 3.2-megapixel camera, SRS WOW HD sound system with equalizer, GPS, 3G data (HSDPA 7.2Mbps), Bluetooth 2.0 and 3.5mm headphone jack. And, because this is a Korea-bound handset, the Motorola ROKR ZN50 features a T-DMB TV tuner.

The Moto ROKR ZN50’s custom touch-based interface seems good enough, but let’s all remember that Motorola’s other feature-phone operating systems consistently failed to deliver a usable UI in the many years since the blockbuster RAZR was launched. It would be interesting to see elements of the ROKR ZN50’s widget-based UI making it to Motorola’s future Android handsets.

Features of the Moto ROKR ZN50:

• WCDMA 2100/HSDPA 7.2 Mbps, tri-band GSM 900/1800/1900
• Dimensions: 108.9mm x 54mm x 14.3mm
• Weight: 143g
• Display: widescreen touch-sensitive 3.2-inch, TFT, 240×427 pixels resolution, 262k colors
• Camera: 3.2 megapixels with auto-focus
• Bluetooth v2.1 + EDR
• “SRS WOW HD” sound system
• GPS
• microSDHC support
• Battery: 900 mAh
• Other applications: Alarm clock, calendar, calculator, units converter, world time

At the right price and in the right markets, we can see the ROKR ZN50 shining to some extent. Rumor suggests it will drop near the end of the year and will come with free access to a music download service of some kind.

Motorola ROKR ZN50 via unwiredview.com

When news about Motorola‘s one last attempt to gain its lost popularity since the era of its RAZR phones came out, I must say I was quite intrigued on what the company would come up with. Would it be so ground-breaking that it could change the face of the industry altogether? The folks at BGR got this blurry picture of, er, a picture of the Motorola Alexander—the one purported to be Motorola’s saving grace.

continue reading "Motorola Alexander: So Far, Not Good"

The FCC has just approved the Motorola EM330 also called the Ischia. It’s an entry-level clamshell phone which reminds me of a toy phone model I got off of the corner store. Still, Motorola claims it’s a “music phone with a sleek design that’s sure to get attention.” Uhu, sure.

continue reading "Motorola Ischia EM330 Clamshell Phone Unveiled"