Freshly leaked Motorola handset could be the new ROKR [UPDATED]

By on Feb 23, 2009 at 12:42 PM
Rumor February 23, 2009

Assuming this handset is real and not a crazy Moto-clone, yet another handset that we know very little about has leaked this morning and Motorola is the victim this time around. Thankfully we have a bit more to go on compared to the Samsung S5600 but we’re still missing some relatively key information – you know, the name or model number would be nice info to have. Judging by the look however, it’s safe to say this nameless touchscreen handset will be the next device to drop in Moto’s ROKR line though it seems to have taken a few big steps backward from its predecessor. First and foremost, holy bulk. This baby looks like it might have eaten each of the ROKRs that came before it. It’s tall, wide and way thicker than any handset of its kind should be at this point. The only other detail we can confirm is that this new ROKR will sport a 3.2 megapixel camera. Beyond that, it looks like at least the top row of keys are touch-sensitive and Moto has opted to do away with the ModeShift keypad which is a pretty logical decision considering the presence of a touchscreen. The rest is still a mystery for the time being but we might just be looking at one of the first Motorola handsets that will feature the Android OS — probably the only surprise that would make the new ROKR even the least bit appealing. Hit the jump for a few more images.

UPDATE: Thanks to word from a few sources it looks like this handset is the EM1 / Texel, a Moto handset that was reportedly axed a while back to make room for more solid efforts from Moto. Although it looks a bit different from the initial image of the EM1 that was leaked, it’s a lighting/angle issue – definitely the same phone. Whew. Thanks to everyone else who emailed us.

[Via Unwired View]

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  • HeLD
  • Brian

    Did somebody get bored, that thing seems to match exactly the body of a Moto Q9h…

  • tanders

    I think that between this and the Ruby some people just happened to get their hands on some shots that Moto doesn’t care too much about since the phones are DOA.

  • rubbish

    This is the revised hardware. The original prototype used a different keypad. I am unsure why we changed it but you can be happy this was not released. It was a very poor product and did not even use a full screen navigation. Part of the bottom of the screen worked as a D-pad, and the rest of the mobile used the same screen area as a Z10. The full use of the screen was only when playing a video.
    This was Motorola’s attempt to put touch screen function back into the UIQ. This is after working the last 2 years taking it out. Very bright people.

  • RogueX5

    @rubbish

    Err… I beg to differ, the device had full touch screen use. Early hardware only had the lower half enabled but the later hardware was full screen enabled. The device had promise apart from the UIQ part.

  • Motofan

    That handset appears somewhere in this video, made at motorola’s now closed Rennes R&D center. It shows up about 3 times in this video, mostly towards the end take a look if you wish.
    http://rd.center.free.fr/home_videosoft.html

  • rubbish

    Full touch screen yes. But the lay out of the applications was top half only. The bottom half was D-pad. The full screen could not be used for normally view something. You could not remove the D-pad area. The best way to say it, is that this device was the Z10, but instead of a keys to press and navigate you used the lower part of the screen. Only in video mode was the full screen used. The lower part was always a D-pad area apart from in video. This was the only time the bigger screen area was used like a iPhone or HTC Touch HD.

  • Donnie

    Wow, that’s just a mini-Motorola q9h. I guess Motorola’s creative days are gone.

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