Motorola ROKR E8 at CTIA San Francisco 2008

Motorola’s latest take on their ROKR line of music-oriented handsets brings a snazzy, reconfigurable keypad to music-lovers everywhere. Together with a touch-sensitive scroll-strip called the “Omega Wheel,” Motorola (NYSE: MOT)’s ROKR E8 boasts a morphing keypad – Motorola calls it “ModeShift” technology – that makes music playback as simple a proposition as possible.

Simply hit the dedicated “music” key on the keypad and the flush, backlit numeric keys vanish, to be replaced by a new set of music-control keys that magically light up from underneath the slick, glossy black surface. Exit the music player and the Motorola ROKR E8 reconfigures its keypad back to the traditional numeric keypad. It’s really a trick little feature that clearly separates the “work” and “play” aspects of the Motorola ROKR E8’s bi-polar feature set. And, the “Omega Wheel” makes it easy to scroll through menus and playlists, giving the user speedy access to their media.

Clicking on navigation controls is soo last year.

Here’s a rundown of the Motorola ROKR E8 spec-sheet:

• Dimensions: 115 x 53 x 10.6mm
• Connectivity: Quad Band (850/900/1800/1900Mhz) GSM; GPRS/EDGE class 12
• Weight: 100 grams
• Battery: 970mAh
• Display: 2.0” QVGA 240×320 262K TFT
• Features
  • ModeShift technology transforms the device from phone to music player to imaging device with the touch of a button
  • FastScroll navigation wheel allows for scrolling through songs, contact and image library with the slide of a thumb
  • Innovative haptics technology provides tactile response when a virtual key is pressed
  • 2GB internal memory; optional external memory support up to 4GB capacity
  • Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT)™ music ecosystem support
  • 3.5 mm stereo headset jack, stereo Bluetooth wireless technology (A2DP)
  • 2.0megapixel camera with 8x zoom, multi-shot feature, video capture and playback
  • Airplane mode to play uninterrupted music in the air, even without a SIM card
  • Talking phone offers a voice readout of text messages while dialing number or when receiving a call
  • MIDI, MP3, AAC, AAC+, Enhanced AAC+, WMA, WAV, AMR-NB, Real Audio (RA) v10
  • Crystal Talk™ technology
  • Full HTML browse
  • Stereo Bluetooth Class 2
  • USB 2.0 Hi-speed