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Other likely competitors of EM30 may include
Sony Ericsson W302 which is to start selling at a comparable price on a
comparable date. The device has no advantages over EM30 at all – the
materials, assembly, ergonomics, software platform, screen and audio
quality are apparently inferior to what you get with an EM30. The only
plus of W302 is the size, the model is a really miniature piece. But
that’s not going to save W302 from an utter failure in the competition
with EM30

Nokia 5220 XpressMusic appears to be a
stronger adversary. A comparable price, size, quality of design and
sound give this model a very firm ground. The choice between these two
phones appears to be a hard one, the advantages of Motorola don’t look
that impressive in this pit fight: a slightly better screen, the
Linux-Java software platform, support for 4 GSM frequency band and a
generally higher quality of communication including a better and louder
speaker sound, but the battery life in player mode is shorter. The key
factor in this struggle will be the promotional campaign. Nokia 5220
and Motorola EM30 can be named the best mid-end music phones on the
whole market. Samsung M3510 is to join this club a bit later, though
it’s not likely to win as much popularity as the two former models are
going to. Because of Samsung’s negligence of the music segment few
people really care about the rare new entries in that class, no matter
how actually good these gadgets perform in real life – Samsung i450 is
a good example of such a product.

Design and Ergonomics

The design of EM30 can be basically described
as a copy of the original E8 design; the materials, measurements and
weight are the same. The handset has a very unusual shape – the
thickness and length are quite normal, but the width is a bit too
large, a whole 53 mm. We don’t try to say the phone feels clumsy, but
the 2’’ screen looks utterly disproportional, though this brings about
no actual problems. The screen uses a landscape orientation, so the
keyboard area is very spacious.

The assembly quality is next to ideal. All the
parts sit tight, there’s no slightest play between the details (save
probably for the battery bay cover). The handset feels like a monolith.
The casing frame and the side edges are made from metal painted red.
The surface coating sports a high quality. The deep red color is kept
in harmony with the rich black of the front panel, looking a bit like
Nokia’s XpressMusic solutions. An alternate silver-colored variant of
the handset will be available in limited quantities.

The back panel uses metal as well, though
treated with a soft-touch coating, which is very practical – the
scratches and worn spots are kept away. The front panel looks a bit
different form E8, in which the whole front panel was made from a
single piece of plastic. In EM30, a semi-transparent sort of plastic is
only used for the keyboard framing, while the rest of the front panel
is manufactured form a black glossy plastic. The luminance sensor is
missing, which is another minor difference form E8.

The upper edge hosts a wrist band holder and a
3.5 mm audio jack covered with a plastic flap. The right edge houses a
microUSB slot protected with a similar flap. This sort of slot has
become a standard in Nokia and Motorola products, leading to the
appearance of a host of compliant accessories. The control buttons are:
a two-positioned sound volume / profile switch button and a camera
launch button on the left edge and a keyboard block slider on the right
edge. In Motorola E8, the slider served to turn the device on and off,
effectively substituting a power button. In EM30, it only serves to
block and unblock the keyboard.

The gadget comes with an only polyphonic
speaker, but it has a really high quality and volume. It’s perfectly
audible in any environment. The speaker is capped with a red protective
mesh, slightly different in appearance from the homologous element in
E8. The back panel also sports a different inscription. The phone is
equipped with a very mediocre 2 Mp camera, its lens is rather easily
soiled. A microSD memory card slot can be found under the battery,
which effectively stands for no hot swapping, which is a bad thing for
a music phone. The SIM card rests in a slot just next to the memory
card.

Keyboard

Motorola ROKR E8 is the first handset to
feature a Morphing keyboard, where in the camera mode, the numerical
buttons are automatically swapped for four virtual buttons controlling
the camera and gallery. The new EM30 uses a conventional mechanical
keyboard, and the dedicated player controls are placed between the rows
of numerical buttons and are only rendered active in the corresponding
mode. Outside the player, these buttons don’t do anything. The keyboard
has a bright neon backlighting, the dedicated player buttons and the
joystick button are backlit red.

On the whole, the keyboard of EM30 is fully
analogous to the keyboards of the ZN5 and Nokia N78 models, which also
offer dedicated keyboard layouts for different operational models. The
buttons are very handy and responsive, providing more comfort than the
touch keypad of E8. The company varies the number of alternate keyboard
modes depending on a model’s positioning, in our case only one
complementary keyboard layout is available, activated when you enter
the player (rewinding, play/pause, random and looped playback on / off
buttons are on this list). E8 has a second alternate keyboard layout
active in the camera mode, and ZN5 lacks the player dedicated controls
but includes an alternative set of controls for the gallery. The idea
is going to have a prolific development in the future models, the
number of alternate key functions is going to grow, producing
individual keyboard layouts for all sorts of applications. Imagine
application-specific sets of controls for the file manager, radio, PIM
and so on. This is yet to be seen in the future products, don’t expect
that much from a budget handset.

Another simplification is the lack of the
FastScroll touch wheel which is available in E8. In EM30, it was
substituted with a standard joystick button, so the user has to forget
about quick playlist scrolling and track rewinding. That’s a great
pity, for FastScroll enormously contributes to ergonomics in E8 and you
get used to it in no time.

Reviews and tests / Spotlight: Motorola ROKR EM30 SMAPE  Reviews and tests  Motorola  Spotlight: Motorola ROKR EM30 Motorola ROKR EM30 On August 5th 2008, Motorola have announced a series of affordable music handsets belonging to the ROKR series: EM25, EM28 and EM30. From the purely commercial point of view, everything is okay – the models are brightly colored and neatly design, come at affordable prices and offer a high audio quality. All the three come with 3.5 mm standard headset jacks and integrated music-related services, sport a good battery life in the player mode. All of the main form factors are represented – the two junior models are a slider and a clamshell, the senior model is a candy bar. EM25 and Em28 are going to become the most affordable music phones after their release around September or October. One could recall the W230 and W270 models, the first budget models to feature a support for memory cards. They could hardly be regarded as full-fledged music phones and lacked standard audio jacks, the player interface left much to be desired, too. A starting price of less than $100 was a generous compensation, nevertheless. The two junior models of the next generation of this product family now come with a 3.5 mm jack, but the price was notched up accordingly to $130 and $150. Nokia and Sony Ericsson can’t offer any competitive products inside the price bracket, so we would predict a massive demand for Motorola’s budget handsets which is going to peak this winter.         <!—-> Design and Ergonomics Keyboard Screen Battery Connectivity Audio quality and Voice Control Hardware Features User Interface Main Menu Call Service Messaging PIM Preinstalled Software Browser Performance Camera File Manager MP3 player Song ID Service SMAPE’s opinion One of the best mid-end music phones. A perfect audio, virtual player controls, high quality of materials and assembly are the model’s strengths. Advantages:  Alternative keyboard layouts for different modes  High quality of materials  A powerful platform  High audio quality  3,5 mm audio jack  Comfortable player controls Disadvantages:  Large size  No Fastscroll wheel available  No hot swapping for memory cards RORK EM30 is quite a different story. That’s the top model in the line, but its actual positioning is that of a mid-end phone. In fact, it’s a simplified version of Motorola ROKR E8 with almost no differences between the two other than a few costly features taken out from the former. These points of difference are to be thoroughly described in the later sections of the article, and now let’s have a general view on the phone’s market positioning. The luring combination of a relatively low price ($250 in September) and the expensive materials and design which were inherited from the E8 model, an unmatched audio quality, touch buttons serving as player controls – here are the principal selling points of this handset. The E8 model remains a rather expensive offer, that’s a fashion phone which will never be subject to serious price reduction, so the price gap between it and EM30 is going to always keep above $100. On the other hand, by paying an extra $100 the user gets a lot of extra memory, a FastScroll wheel and a more pronounced fashion impact. At that point, the principal differences between the two models come to an end. MOTOROKR EМ30 Specification List <!—-> <!—-> <!—-> <!—-> <!—-> <!—-> <!—-> <!—-> <!—-> <!—-> <!—-> Connectivity: GSM 850/900/1800/1900, EDGE class 12 Storage: 28 Mb of user memory, microSD slot (supports SDHC) Screen: 2.0″, 240×320, 262K colors Connectivity: USB2.0, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR (supports A2DP) Camera: 2 Mp (up to 1600×1200) Battery: Li-Ion, BK60, capacity – 970 mAh up to 6 hours of talktime up to 300 hours of standby Measurements: 115×53x10.6mm Weight: 100 g Guiding price: $250 Other likely competitors of EM30 may include Sony Ericsson W302 which is to start selling at a comparable price on a comparable date. The device has no advantages over EM30 at all – the materials, assembly, ergonomics, software platform, screen and audio quality are apparently inferior to what you get with an EM30. The only plus of W302 is the size, the model is a really miniature piece. But that’s not going to save W302 from an utter failure in the competition with EM30. Nokia 5220 XpressMusic appears to be a stronger adversary. A comparable price, size, quality of design and sound give this model a very firm ground. The choice between these two phones appears to be a hard one, the advantages of Motorola don’t look that impressive in this pit fight: a slightly better screen, the Linux-Java software platform, support for 4 GSM frequency band and a generally higher quality of communication including a better and louder speaker sound, but the battery life in player mode is shorter. The key factor in this struggle will be the promotional campaign. Nokia 5220 and Motorola EM30 can be named the best mid-end music phones on the whole market. Samsung M3510 is to join this club a bit later, though it’s not likely to win as much popularity as the two former models are going to. Because of Samsung’s negligence of the music segment few people really care about the rare new entries in that class, no matter how actually good these gadgets perform in real life – Samsung i450 is a good example of such a product. Design and Ergonomics The design of EM30 can be basically described as a copy of the original E8 design; the materials, measurements and weight are the same. The handset has a very unusual shape – the thickness and length are quite normal, but the width is a bit too large, a whole 53 mm. We don’t try to say the phone feels clumsy, but the 2’’ screen looks utterly disproportional, though this brings about no actual problems. The screen uses a landscape orientation, so the keyboard area is very spacious. The assembly quality is next to ideal. All the parts sit tight, there’s no slightest play between the details (save probably for the battery bay cover). The handset feels like a monolith. The casing frame and the side edges are made from metal painted red. The surface coating sports a high quality. The deep red color is kept in harmony with the rich black of the front panel, looking a bit like Nokia’s XpressMusic solutions. An alternate silver-colored variant of the handset will be available in limited quantities. The back panel uses metal as well, though treated with a soft-touch coating, which is very practical – the scratches and worn spots are kept away. The front panel looks a bit different form E8, in which the whole front panel was made from a single piece of plastic. In EM30, a semi-transparent sort of plastic is only used for the keyboard framing, while the rest of the front panel is manufactured form a black glossy plastic. The luminance sensor is missing, which is another minor difference form E8. The upper edge hosts a wrist band holder and a 3.5 mm audio jack covered with a plastic flap. The right edge houses a microUSB slot protected with a similar flap. This sort of slot has become a standard in Nokia and Motorola products, leading to the appearance of a host of compliant accessories. The control buttons are: a two-positioned sound volume / profile switch button and a camera launch button on the left edge and a keyboard block slider on the right edge. In Motorola E8, the slider served to turn the device on and off, effectively substituting a power button. In EM30, it only serves to block and unblock the keyboard. The gadget comes with an only polyphonic speaker, but it has a really high quality and volume. It’s perfectly audible in any environment. The speaker is capped with a red protective mesh, slightly different in appearance from the homologous element in E8. The back panel also sports a different inscription. The phone is equipped with a very mediocre 2 Mp camera, its lens is rather easily soiled. A microSD memory card slot can be found under the battery, which effectively stands for no hot swapping, which is a bad thing for a music phone. The SIM card rests in a slot just next to the memory card. Keyboard Motorola ROKR E8 is the first handset to feature a Morphing keyboard, where in the camera mode, the numerical buttons are automatically swapped for four virtual buttons controlling the camera and gallery. The new EM30 uses a conventional mechanical keyboard, and the dedicated player controls are placed between the rows of numerical buttons and are only rendered active in the corresponding mode. Outside the player, these buttons don’t do anything. The keyboard has a bright neon backlighting, the dedicated player buttons and the joystick button are backlit red. On the whole, the keyboard of EM30 is fully analogous to the keyboards of the ZN5 and Nokia N78 models, which also offer dedicated keyboard layouts for different operational models. The buttons are very handy and responsive, providing more comfort than the touch keypad of E8. The company varies the number of alternate keyboard modes depending on a model’s positioning, in our case only one complementary keyboard layout is available, activated when you enter the player (rewinding, play/pause, random and looped playback on / off buttons are on this list). E8 has a second alternate keyboard layout active in the camera mode, and ZN5 lacks the player dedicated controls but includes an alternative set of controls for the gallery. The idea is going to have a prolific development in the future models, the number of alternate key functions is going to grow, producing individual keyboard layouts for all sorts of applications. Imagine application-specific sets of controls for the file manager, radio, PIM and so on. This is yet to be seen in the future products, don’t expect that much from a budget handset. Another simplification is the lack of the FastScroll touch wheel which is available in E8. In EM30, it was substituted with a standard joystick button, so the user has to forget about quick playlist scrolling and track rewinding. That’s a great pity, for FastScroll enormously contributes to ergonomics in E8 and you get used to it in no time. Screen The device sports a 2” screen (31×41 mm), the matrix is powered by the TFT technology and has a palette of 262K colors. The most unusual thing about it is that the screen is position horizontally which may lead to an impression of the screen being too small, which is partly true when you compare it to the overall dimensions of the device. The horizontal positioning of the screen hardly presents any practical discomfort and in some cases only makes handling certain functions easier. The resolution is the standard 240×340. Up to eight lines of text can fit into the field of view at the same time. The screen is supported with a mirror backing which helps to minimize the glaring while exposed to the direct sunlight. The screen quality is very high, it’s one of the best of its class, the colors are maximally natural and vivid, brightness level is high. The relatively small size could be a matter of complaints, but in general it’s no big problem. The screen brightness and backlighting period are customizable in the options.

All in all, the screen of EM30 appears
identical to the screen of E8 as far as the quality and diagonal go, so
we didn’t bother to stage the same comparison for a second time. The
view angles are maximized, the Sharp matrix offering an amazingly high
quality. Nokia 5310 has a screen of a slightly lower quality, the
colors aren’t as natural and the brightness isn’t as high.

Battery

A BK60 970 mAh battery is hidden beneath the
back panel. A full charge is sufficient to provide a two days’
continuous duty cycle (about 40 minutes of talktime, two hours of
listening to the music, an hour of menu interaction and working with
miscellaneous functions). Such a score is all right for the current
generation of phones and won’t annoy anyone.

As a music player, EM30 displays average
results in battery life tests, there’s virtually no difference from E8
at all. A looped mp3 sample had been playing for about 15 hours until
the charge level reached zero. That’s a normal result after all. The
latest offers by the competitive brands offer longer battery lives,
though the difference is negligible – 5310 and W880i can stay online
for 16 hours.

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Model	Motorola EM30	Nokia 5310
Regular Duty	2 days	2,5 days
Multimedia cycle, video(3GP)	3:42	3:34
Multimedia cycle, audio(MP3)	15:51	18:45

Connectivity

Motorola ROKR EM30 is a four-band phone
operating at GSM 850/900/1800/1900 frequencies, the Class 12 EDGE is
supported, the WCDMA support is missing – that’s a standard limitation
applicable to all devices that make use of the Linux Java platform.
Wireless data transfer protocols are represented by Bluetooth 2.0 +
EDR. It works just the way it should, – without any problems, – and the
options include the on/off status, the list of currently accessible
Bluetooth devices, the storage folder customization setting (selectable
from the following options: phone memory or memory card), the network
name of the device and a number of miscellaneous settings.

The detection interval is locked on a three
minutes’ period and can’t be customized by the user. The standby mode
features an option granting quick access to the Bluetooth menu and the
Bluetooth device detection feature.

While searching for Bluetooth devices, you can specify the exact type of device to look for:

If the All setting is activated, then each
detected device will be market with an icon corresponding to the type
of that device.

The following profiles are supported:

The wire communication protocol utilized by
the phone is the usual USB 2.0, the actual data transfer speed is
rather high – on the same level with the V8 model. The microUSB data
cable is included in the sales package, however none have been spotted
sold separately. The following data exchange modes are supported:

The ‘Ask Upon Connection’ setting is missing
in this model. You have to select an appropriate mode prior to
connecting the phone to PC. When engaged in the Mass Storage mode, the
phone has both its onboard and flash card memory accessible. The data
transfer speed and the available set of options are identical for the
onboard memory and the flash card storage.

Audio quality and Voice Control

Let’s check out how
well voice control works. Similar to numerous Motorola models
supporting this feature, the device has a zero learning curve to adjust
itself to the user’s voice. Recognitions errors are rather rare, it
proved that the phone easily adjusts to all kinds of voices. In order
to engage the voice control mode, hold the dial button pressed for a
few moments and you will be prompted to say aloud a voice command or a
person’s name from the contact book. The list of supported commands is
rather long, comprising most of the phone’s functions. When you are
asked for a phone number to dial or add into the phonebook and the
recognition fails or yields an error, you can say the number once again
since the action will only be carried out if the user pronounces an
acknowledgement command. In addition to the standard set of functions
accessible with the voice control, a special setting dubbed Talking
Phone comes with the phone as well. Here you can utilize the full power
of the speech synthesis engine, for example make it so the phone will
pronounce the digits of the number you’re looking up in the phonebook -
along with the recipient’s name once the record is found. The menu and
submenu titles can also be pronounced, the SMS and E-mail messages can
be read aloud by the phone itself. The implementation is rather nice,
the Talking Phone function is by no means another kitschy addition but
rather a useful feature. It enjoys a certain degree of customization
that, for instance, allows you to limit it to speaking the phone number
only and mute the rest of hints. However some of the aspects of this
functionality are disputable. There are no options customizing the
characteristics of the synthesized speech – language selection, speed
and so on – everything is fixed. Because of this the feature looks
cheaper than the same functionality found with some of the Nokia phones
like 5500 Sport.

Let’s also mention
the brand CrystalTalk technology in this chapter; it’s implemented in a
vast number of the manufacturer’s solutions. In fact this stands for a
high quality voice rendering and lets you be heard better even in noisy
environments. In the beginning the feature was exclusive to the more
expensive Motorola products like V8, but now it’s used in the budget
solutions like W175, W180, W206, W213 and similar ones. We were glad to
learn that Motorola are going further in the field of user friendly
product design – you see, a budget phone whose only main function is to
transmit voice over distances is something that would need a feature
like that badly and finally it gets it.

The EM30 model isn’t an exception either, we
noticed the enhanced voice signal quality at once and everything was
heard well enough not to ask twice even when one was walking along the
noisy streets. The CrystalTalk signal processing algorithm adjusts
itself to the current environmental noise level; the noisier it is out
there, the harder the signal is filtered to extract the wanted signal.
The voice signal quality of the U9 and U8 model easily beats competing
solutions by other brands, and that’s a small victory of Motorola in
this particular technical domain.

Hardware Features

The Motorola ROKR EM30 model shares a lot in
common with the previous handsets basing off a single-core Freescale
MXC275-30 CPU running Linux-Java software, e.g. U9 and E8. Here comes a
feature list describing the main specifications of the platform:

MXC275-30 Platform Features

Key Multimedia Features

The most interesting entry on the list is the
CPU frequency, amounting to 532 MHz, which is enough for maintaining a
pretty high performance in all menus and applications. An integrated
Imaging Processing Unit is available, being a canonical part of the
MXC275-30 platform. Models like EM3 and E8 (as well as a number of
other models) don’t require much computing power for image processing,
so a small dedicated chip easily copes with the task. It takes a few
fractions of a second to switch between photos in the gallery, the
absolutely smooth yet fast zooming appearing especially pleasant to the
eye. The only exception to this rule is MotoZINE ZN5 which employs a
secondary IPU to help the standard chip out because the system has to
deal with heavyweight 5 Mp photos.

The interface is
based off Linux Java 7.1 and can indeed be named one of the best
interface solutions currently available on the market. No difference
from the E8 model is observed in this aspect (we aren’t discussing the
preinstalled software package yet, which is actually not the same with
E8) It lacks the numerous limitations often found in many conventional
phones. Up to the recent times, the company promoted Linux-based
solutions on a number of markets (including the models E2, E6, A1200
and others), but the operating system was a bit different. Many
customization possibilities normally found in the Linux system were
blocked, only Java applets were officially supported. It would never
let you use a native Linux application. Even at that, the devices
remained very remarkable for their peculiar user interface. On August
7, 2007, Motorola officially announced MOTOMAGX – the next generation
platform based on Linux. Unlike the previous Linux-based platforms
(e.g. EzX), this system opened a new epoch characterized by vast
support for third-party applications. Currently the platform is only
100% compatible with Java ME, but widget and native Linux application
support is rumored to be added in the foreseeable future, making the
platform comply with the latest requirements. The MOTODEV Studio SDK
currently allows for Java applet creation; Linux application and WebUI
SDKs are planned to appear this year.

The initial release of the MOTOMAGX platform
includes such features as ARM 11 chipset support (allowing for lower
power consumption rates), hi-res screen support, a full-fledged
Phonebook applications, an easy Phone-to-PC synchronization for media
files, a friendlier interface and a variety of miscellaneous
applications which ought to make the user’s life easier. Of course,
several limitations are still persistent, stemming from certain
specific aspects of the software and hardware architecture. For
instance, no 3G-compatible device based on the LJ platform is planned
for release in the near future, effectively explaining the choice of
operating system for V8 (LJ) and V9 (P2K) models.

User Interface

As we have already mentioned, Motorola EM30
sports but a marginal difference from E8 in software and hardware
alike. The user interface was preserved intact, the system of icons and
menus is identical with ROKR E8. Once you’re through our review of E8,
you won’t find anything new in EM30 – save for several minor changes in
controls and memory.

In the standby mode, the top bar displays a
variety of status indicators ranging from battery charge to Bluetooth
activation status. The two functional buttons provide access to menu
and misc functions (the same thing is called the Active menu in Nokia
phones). The quick menu contains the following items:

The current revision of the firmware won’t allow changing the order of menu items.

The user interface
can be customized with a number of themes, three of which are
preinstalled, yet the user is free to customize them further. Also
there’s an option to build your own theme from scratch by playing with
all sorts of settings: pick a wallpaper (any image, camera photos as
well), set a template (mosaics, fullscreen), customize the splash
screens, and change the font and menu template – colors, the style of
interface elements, font size and type, etc. Then you’re prompted to
specify a title for the newly created theme as well as finalize it by
selecting an appropriate set of ringtones, message alert signals,
E-mail, voice mail and calendar event sounds.

Sounds can be further customized in the call
profile settings – the ones specified upon creating a theme are just
default ones. The profile settings offer you a possibility to create an
unlimited number of user profiles – though the system won’t allow
deleting the three preset ones. Four tabs with a few fields in each
need filling when you’re about to create a create or modify a profile -
there you are asked to set the title, ringtone, message alert type
(including Melody, Vibro, Combined, Vibro followed by Melody, and
Silent), the sound volume (from 1 to 7) and also set the signals for
each type of calendar events and reminders.

If you modify a preinstalled theme, you can
always switch it back to default; part of the settings of an existing
theme can be copied into a newly created theme’s template. The theme
creation interface is very comfortable. Only the latest Samsung
products may slightly overcome Motorolas in terms of theme
customization.

Aside from the aforementioned settings, there
are options setting the screen backlighting interval, splash screen
duration, brightness (from 1 to 6), switching the clock style (analog /
digital) and the quick launch key icons. A similar system is utilized
in Nokia phones based of Series 40 3rd edition, four application icons
are displayed on the screen during standby, each of them corresponding
to a direction of the navigation button. The icons can be turned off,
and the functions associated with them can be selected from a long list
of available applications. Two or more shortcuts to the same
application can be bound to different button directions, no limit is
observed here.

While running the mp3 player in standby, part
of the player window is displayed on the screen, where icons of control
elements are shown along with the song title, the name of the performer
and the play time. Pressing the navigation button upwards will force
the window to its regular size at once, so it’s always too easy to
control the player and switch songs.

Another handy feature is the automatic
phonebook search by the initial digits of a number in the standby mode.
This function is to a certain extent similar to the same feature
observed with Samsung phones, yet the model in question doesn’t look
through phone numbers which aren’t saved as contacts. If you remember
some of the digits from the person’s phone number, you can easily look
their contact up simply by typing them on the keypad right away – then
their contact info will be brought up.

There’s no real support for multitasking, save
for a negligible minority of allowed combinations like web browser +
messaging service. The mp3 player can be running in the background as
well, but such a feature is common with most modern cell phones today.

Main menu

There are two traditional view modes available
for the main menu – icons or list, a total of 9 icons or list items
fall in the field of view simultaneously. The third viewing option, an
enhanced Spinner menu is an endless looping row of icons with the
active one in the center, indicated by its larger size. The icons are
neatly drawn and come with decent animation. Quick navigation with the
help of numeric keys is available, the submenu of each menu item
viewable as a list only. Aside from Motorola V8 and numerous other
Motorolas, this model won’t let you create a new folder in the menu -
we’re still guessing if this is just a limitation only found with the
presale sample. But we were able to rearrange the order of icons in the
menu in any imaginable fashion to fit our liking. The customization
possibilities offered are something that left us deeply pleased – the
mobile devices are becoming increasingly more personalized.

The main menu comprises the following items:

Call service

The contact book can be viewed in two modes:
list and list with icons. Contacts stored on the SIM card and those
from the phone memory can be viewed either separately or on a combined
list. In the latter case each contact comes with an icon indicating if
it’s stored on the SIM or not. To the right from the recipient’s name
there’s also a symbol indicating the phone type (work, home, mobile,
etc.). If more than one number is associated with a contact, the
default one is shown. You can browse through a person’s phone numbers
by selecting the corresponding record in the phonebook and consequently
pressing the joystick button sideways.

Filtering can be done by:

You can also add custom categories to the list
to do filtering by. When you engage the Frequently Dialed filter, the
more frequently called people will reside at the beginning of the least
and the less attended ones will show at the bottom. The settings
include an option to select a number of phonebook records at a time,
copy or send them to the SIM card and vice versa, send a message and so
on. Sorting by name or surname is possible. The frequently called
contact lists can also be reset here (for calls, e-mails and SMS
messages)

The speed dial has nothing very special about
it, keys from 2 to 9 can be used as shortcuts to user-defined phonebook
records, the 1 key traditionally serves to access the voice mail
server. The contact list supports quick search by the first nine
letters of the name or surname.

Upon creating a new contact, the user is
prompted to select the storage location – SIM card or the phone memory.
A newly created or edited contact can be given a name and a surname (50
symbol limit for each field), up to four phone numbers (selectable from
Mobile, Home, Work, Fax and Misc), an e-mail address, a short text
note, a unique ringtone, image or video. Any photo, image or preset
icon can be used for the personal contact image. The preset phone
number categories can’t be renamed, there’s no option to increase the
maximum number of simultaneously stored numbers per person either,
which is a technical limitation. Two e-mail addresses can be stored in
a contact record, selectable from the Work, Home and Misc types. The
call picture is rather large, occupying about two thirds of the screen.
A contact can be associated with any preset or custom user group.

The Extra information that can be attached to
a contact record includes two addresses selectable from the three
types, a personal ringtone that will play every time the person
associated with it calls, a short text note (or a voice message),
personal data sheet, the Zodiac sign. If the Talking Phone feature is
active, the device speaks the recipients’ names aloud as you browse
through the list.

Likewise Samsung and Sony Ericsson phones, the
birth date is automatically transmitted from the contact record to the
calendar, and the user is prompted to specify the preliminary reminder
period – one day before, two days, a week in advance and so one. Once
you mark an Anniversary type event in your calendar, the same option
becomes available. That’s really very useful if you’re forgetful about
presents.

Up to 1000 contacts can be stored in the
phonebook, which is frankly speaking is more than enough for the
majority of users. You can create custom groups to place the contact
records in, each group can be set to have a unique ringtone and call
picture. The maximum number of groups is limited to ten, up to 20
persons per group. Contacts and business cards can be sent over SMS,
MMS, E-mail and Bluetooth.

The call log stores all the call records
comprising dialed, received, missed and frequently performed calls (up
to 20 records per category). The summary list comprises all the types
of calls, the individual call type is indicated by a small icon for
each call. Switching between the logs is done by pressing the
navigation button sideways, that reminds of Nokia and Sony Ericsson
phones. Any number can be extracted from a call record and associated
with an existing contact record from the phonebook, or saved in a new
contact record.

Each call record stores useful information
regarding the date and time of call, the duration, etc. There are the
stats timers showing the overall incoming and outgoing call time, data
traffic counters and so on.

On the whole, the phonebook and the call
service are just as good as they should be – at least no worse than
with the popular Nokia and Samsung solutions, we’re sure really very
few people are going to ever get disappointed with what Motorola has to
offer with the model.

Messaging

Following the established tradition, the
device utilizes a combined messaging system and defines the type of the
message judging by its contents. An SMS to which a picture is added
automatically converts to the MMS type. Message templates are
available, you can customize the existing ones or create a number of
your own – that’s very useful regarding the ability of the phone to
send such template response while the casing is closed, with the help
of the exterior screen. So you can always send a ‘I’m busy, darling’
message right in the middle of a gunfight because you don’t even have
to open the phone. Besides the text templates, there are a number of
MMS templates that can also include images and audio files.

The maximum number of messages is solely
limited by the amount of free memory, just like with the rest of
Symbian-based smartphones. A separate messaging log is available,
looking much like the call log. You can always choose a recently
contacted person and send another message to them suing this list. If
your SMS messaging is locked on a close circle of people, you can
always use that to look the names of the recipients up instead of using
the phonebook. A message can be sent either to a single person, a few
persons or a bunch of carbon copies can be dispatched to a whole
contact group. If you’re sending a message over to a number of people,
their exact number is to be specified alongside the small icon to the
left from the addressee field.

The list allows for custom folder to be added
by the user, or move and arrange the items in a custom fashion. The
message list also displays info about the delivery dates, the name and
the number of the recipient, and a short piece of the message text.
Messages can be sorted by one of the four criteria: date, sender, size
and storage location (SIM / phone memory)

Upon creation of a new text message, the text
input mode can be selected from a number of options – you can switch
between using the context menu or the # button. Options include
automatic word input based on the initial letters of the words that you
type manually, – the phone can learn and extend its vocabulary, which
is a normal feature for a present-day mobile device; the traditional
text input with no automation features; special symbols and digits;
switching between the available input languages is done by pressing the
* button. Getting back to the vocabulary, it’s worth mentioning that it
sports a number of alternative functioning modes. So, you can set it to
guess the word endings all the time or wait and memorize what you’re
typing and only help completing known letter combinations later.

The message attachment types include photo,
video, contact book record, audio, hyperlink – once something like that
is attached to the message, it’s automatically converted to the MMS
type. You can either select a photo or a video from the gallery or
transmit it to the message editor right from the camera application.
There’s no clear message size limit yet an artificial one can be
enforced by checking the corresponding option. Possible variants
include strict limitation (which forces the enclosed image to be
resized once the message becomes too large), message size alert (you’re
warned that the size is too big yet no action is taken automatically,
leaving that to the user), or the unlimited mode. Once you attach
something its actual byte size is indicated, and you can always preview
a composed message prior to sending.

The MMS options also include the delivery and
read notices, the message expiration date, the number of pages and page
timing switch if a message consists of more than one page. Delayed MMS
delivery at a customizable interval is something really new and
interesting, for example you can have your New Year greetings arranged
to be delivered on time a few hours beforehand.

The E-mail service enjoys a sound
implementation, the maximum length of an e-mail message isn’t
technically limited yet you can always turn the optional limitation on.
A number of delivery settings are available alongside. For instance,
you can set periodical mail checks at a certain specified interval
unless you prefer to do that manually; delayed delivery is supported;
the mail download options are Headers Only, Message Only or Fixed
Fragment (some initial lines from the message, actually a number
customizable by the user).

There’s an optional limit for listing older
messages, the ones deleted from the phone can still be kept at the mail
server if the user wishes so. The additional settings include the
possibility of choosing the mode of response (with auto quoting the
original post or not), the default address, the signature and so on.
The messaging system of the device looks worthy – even if it’s not the
best implementation of such features on the present-day market, it
doesn’t yield to the majority of comparable products in this aspect,
either. The well-designed interface also contributes to the overall
positive impression.

PIM

This feature is titled Office Tools including
such applications as Calendar, World Clock, Calculator, Tasklist and
Download Manager.

The calendar application is quite typical of a
latest generation product by Motorola, it’s indeed very functional.
Three viewing modes are supported – by day, by week or by month. If
viewed by day, each day is graphically represented as a schedule by the
hour, two, three or a half – the interval is defined by the user. The
calendar settings include an option to reset the viewing mode
parameters back to default, set the number of weekdays, the starting
day of the week, the beginning and the ending time of a day.

There 12 event types available, including
Meeting, Presentation, Call, Lunch, Anniversary and so on; each event’s
properties include four tabs: the first one allows to specify event
type, subject, location, date, start and end times, reminder interval
(how early before the event the alert signal should be played – 5, 10,
30 minutes, an hour, two hours beforehand and so on) and the alert
signal (any type of audio and video files, voice records included). The
second tab stores a short description of the event; the third holds the
list of participants – each of those can be sent a reminder e-mail
message provided that you enter the e-mail addresses; if a person has
their e-mail address specified in your phonebook, it’s automatically
inserted in the appropriate field in this tab. The repeat interval for
the event is specified in the last tab (daily, monthly, yearly). The
interval can also be customized to uneven values like a fortnight,
three weeks, etc. Also you have to specify an expiration date for each
event.

The days which have an event associated are
marked in the calendar with a special symbol or color, which makes it
easier to spot things. Automatic purging of expired events is possible,
you have to specify the time interval for that.

Like we said earlier about the contact book,
the Date of Birth field is automatically synchronized with calendar and
is marked on its proper date, then you’re prompted to leave a reminder
and specify the date and time of operation. So there’s no way to miss
your beloved grandma’s birthday and you’ll be warned beforehand.

The tasklist is rather simple, each task
record features the following fields: subject, deadline, priority and a
text note. Tasks can be sorted by priority or by deadline date, a
shared access can be specified for the list. The viewing mode is also
customizable – all the tasks or expired, complete and pending as
separate lists.

MOTOSYNC is a menu item bringing you some
phone-to-PC synchronization settings where you have to specify your
synchronization profile:

The Notes are just notes, acting much like the
Notepad applications found in various Windows PC operating systems, but
its mobile counterpart imposes a 256 symbol limitation on each note.

The download manager is rather simple in the
terms of functionality, but that’s just a phone would need. It has a
log displaying your downloads history, the pause and cancel functions
are also accessible from here, each file on the downloads list comes
with an icon indicating whether it’s stored in the phone memory or on
the memory card. Besides the web downloads log, a similar log is
available for the Bluetooth downloads – should a Bluetooth file
transfer fail, the phone will display a warning and the file will be
marked with a ‘broken’ icon in the log. So you can always keep an eye
on the status of your downloads.

There are three alarm clocks which can operate
independently or all activated at the same moment. The settings for
each alarm clock include the operating time, the signal (selectable
from mp3 songs, voice records and other audio files) and the repetition
interval:

The days on which alarm clocks are set receive
a red-color highlight (maybe to look more intimidating). Then you have
to specify the interval between the continuously occurring alarm
signals and the volume. The alarm clock is easily configurable, the
three alarm clocks are quite capable of waking up everybody. In
addition to the alarm clock configuration menu, a quick menu for
setting an alarm in an hour or half an hour in advance is also
available.

Preinstalled software package

The device has a standard set of applications
on board. Let’s begin with games, there are two of them preinstalled -
soccer and sudoku. Games sport good graphics and the gameplay itself
isn’t bad, so it’s a fair chance to kill some time during a boring
trip. To install a new application, you only have to copy the Jar file
to the phone and launch it, then you are prompted to specify the
installation folder. There’s no support for Java multitasking, you
can’t run a number of applications at a time.

The world clock function has nothing very
special about it, it’s just a graphical representation of some three
adjacent time zones with corresponding cities indicated on the map.

The voice recorder is notable for a
comfortable and easy to use interface, but has a rather limited
functionality. There’s an option to limit the record length to 60 or
150 seconds or keep it unlimited. Memory cards are supported to serve
as storage location to which the records are saved, and, quite
expectedly, the integrated phone memory can be used likewise. The
default filename is also specified in this menu. The voice recorder can
record phone talks, too, the sound quality turns out to be at a level
above average. The record can be instantly sent via MMS, Bluetooth or
E-mail, or set as a ringtone.

The integrated calculator software works all
right, having all the necessary functions from the most basic maths to
square roots and such like stuff. The navigation button lets the user
choose the function with a small screen prompt showing for what
function each of the four directions of the button stands. The
calculator is combined with a measures converter which is a traditional
tool that serves for conversion of such values as currencies, measures
of length, weight, volume, area and temperature.

Browser

The phone is supplied with an Opera ver. 8.50 browser, it’s not bad at all, coming with a variety of options:

The bookmark service enjoys a very practical
implementation, you can classify your bookmarks and place them in
custom folders, sorting by name and date is present, there are three
viewmodes: list, list with details, thumbnails.

You can simultaneously work with the browser
and manage your messages. A really good addition is the option to
select custom content from an opened page and save it to a specified
location (memory card, onboard storage). You can instantly set a
picture from a web page to be the screensaver logo or the wallpaper,
attach it to an automatically composed message and so on.

Opera Mini remains the most widely used mobile
browser; it’s noteworthy that other LJ devices by this manufacturer
(e.g. V8, Z6) have a copy of Opera 8.5 preinstalled as the default
browser. The difference between these browsers is almost negligible;
few users will ever spot it. The page loading speed is slightly
improved, certain pages enjoy a more optimized formatting, though
neither of these two improvements can be counted for a real advantage.
The change of browser is probably the biggest change of the 6.3 version
of the platform as compared to the preceding 6.1 version. The most
important point is that no company would be happy about paying
royalties; Nokia and Motorola took the path of designing
non-proprietary open-source web browsers. From this point of view,
Symphony is regarded a very promising solution by the company, coming
at a lower cost.

Performance

Motorola RAZR V8 displays high performance
results, keeping with the rest of the latest Motorola products (for
instance, the U9 or U6). Evidently, the new solutions by Motorola have
a certain advantage in performance over the majority of competitive
products, they are roughly comparable with SonyEricsson phones and are
a few times faster than most Samsung handsets. The powerful hardware
used in the latest Motorolas (e.g. a 500 Mhz CPU) is combined with a
high level of code optimization, resulting in groundbreaking
performance increase.

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Model	Motorola EМ30	Samsung F300	SonyEricsson W880i
Jbenchmark 1.0.1 Score	6488	1568	8567
Text	1519	499	2243
2D Shapes	1605	383	2289
3D Shapes	1034	199	1395
Fill Rate	746	88	1024
Animation	1484	399	2110
Jbenchmark 2.0.1 Score	593	86	641
Image Manipulations	548	70	579
Text	992	94	922
Sprites	547	99	612
3D Transform	916	94	928
User Interface	267	76	365
Jbenchmark 3D HQ	350	75	408
Jbenchmark 3D LQ	361	84	420
Triangles ps	34102	9186	35391
KTexels ps	3377	948	3592
Jbenchmark HD Gaming Score	258 (8.6 fps)	50 (1,7 fps)	311 (7.2 fps)
Smooth triangles	81630	18953	104695
Textured triangles	62107	13455	71425
Fill rate, KTexels	1327	307	1340

The heap size counts 2.0 Mb, the maximum Jar
size is unlimited. Moto U9 displays a very high performance for an
image phone, the slight drawback in quality of U9 is most likely due to
a pre-sale firmware version, theoretically both should have equal
performance.

Camera

Motorola EM30 is equipped with a 2 Mp camera
module, commonly found with many of this generation’s phones. The
camera is rather cheap and offers only an average photo quality,
there’s no support for auto-focusing and the flash is missing. Shooting
at point blank however produces results slightly better than those
displayed by V8 and Z6, more to the side of U9. All in all, E8 hardly
makes a decent cameraphone and in essence isn’t supposed to be such.
The camera interface uses a landscape orientation, all the main status
indicators are shown in the viewfinder mode – the number of remaining
shots, the storage folder location, the shooting mode. The camera
application is launched by pressing the side button. There’s no lens
guard, it’s easily soiled.

The shooting can be done in delayed mode with
a timer set to 5 or 10 seconds, also the multishot function is
available – up to 4, 6 or 8 shots in a series. The digital zoom comes
with a maximum ratio of 8x, a number of FX image filters and lighting
presets (auto-adjust, nighttime, manual) are present here as well.
Качество (Good, Better, Best)

The following photo resolutions are available:

The photo quality is average, they look well
enough on the phone screen mainly due to the high quality thereof, if
you try viewing them on your PC you’re sure to get a bit disappointed.
If we look at other offers in the image phone market segment we’ll see
however that the quality of the camera module isn’t on the priority
list for that class of products, it’s generally regarded as a secondary
feature and little than that, so the mediocre photo quality
consequentially can’t be considered a drawback either – it’s up to the
standards of the market segment to which the product belongs. So, the
closest comparable competitor Nokia N76 has similar photo shooting
parameters, while Samsung U300 is clearly leading because of the
noticeable higher quality of taken pictures.

Image editing

The editor has a
very modest functionality and offers no outstanding options – though
this doesn’t matter a lot as long as the phone comes with a camera like
that.

Only two
resolutions are available for shooting video clips: 176×144 and 128×96.
The framerate is 15 fps, the maximum length of one record can be
optionally limited to the maximum length of an MMS attachment. The
video quality is rather poor, the clips don’t look good even on the
small phone screen.

A dedicated
application by ShoZu serves for direct blogging of photos,
unfortunately you can’t upload a photo right from the camera
application interface.

File manager

The file manager sports a good functionality,
the user can create, copy, rename and move folders and files in the
onboard memory and the flash card storage space alike. There are
several view modes available:

Content sorting is possible by file name,
size, extension and timestamp. An action can be simultaneously applied
to a group of selected object. Images can be sent for printing. The
file is quite handy and has a nicely drawn interface. When you are
viewing photos, corresponding markings appear on the keyboard, like
Zoom In or Zoom Out. Zooming is very smooth, the maximum zoom ratio is
200%. An indicator in the right side of the screen shows how much the
picture has been enlarged.

MP3 player

First of all, E8 has a 3.5 mm standard headset
jack which is equally suitable for plugging the bundled headset or any
3rd party headset in general. This kind of standardization has been
long known to produce a certain benefit for the end user, since they
are no longer confined to using the trademark headset only. The jack is
optimally positioned so no discomfort occurs when carrying the phone in
the pocket with headset plugged, much unlike the phones which have
their headset socket placed on either side of the casing. The jack is
protected with a fully removable plastic gag which poses no discomfort
likewise. The keyboard is also designed to provide maximum comfort:
once the player application is launched, the keys change their
functions accordingly and the key labels reflect these changes,
indicating which player function is activated on pressing a certain
key: Rewind, Cycled Track Playback On/Off, Random Track Playback
On/Off, switching between the modes. So basically it takes you only one
keystroke to activate or deactivate an option. There’s no need for
context menus, everything is totally simple.

Secondly, the audio quality is amazingly high.
It’s on par with such music phones as Samsung i450, Nokia 5310, N81.
More like the i450 model, not as loud as Nokias, but a bit more refined
and the basses are slightly better. The limited sound volume is
probably the only drawback of E8, in some environments you’d wish it
were louder. Nokia 5310 and N81 appear to have some 15% extra sound
volume or about so as compared to the maximum sound volume of E8. The
high quality of sound in E8 is due to the presence of quality audio
processing modules and the codec pack. Besides the phone is powered
with a set of flexible equalizer controls and the trademark Spatial
Audio technology which first appeared in the E2 model.

The Spatial Audio technology introduced by
Motorola has little to do with sound processors, but no matter how it
works (and it appears to be a close alliance between a high-quality
audio chip and some sophisticated software techniques aimed at
filtering and improving the sound signal), it provides a next-gen audio
quality which is to be the standard of 2008 and 2009. We can’t really
say that Nokia and Samsung handsets utterly fail in comparison with
Motorola’s achievements, but the very fact that Motorola managed to
obtain such a high audio quality without introducing any additional
sound booster chips is quite a good explanation for our excitement.

The player interface is both a nice thing to
look at and comfortable to use. It’s not the best option around
however, since the latest Nokias offer independent themes and skins,
and a bit more options, yet it’s not bad at all, being somewhere high
above the average with a distinct stir towards the top. During the
playback, the screen shows the track title and the performer’s name,
the Album Arts feature is supported, the playbar supports progressive
rewinding, all the control and playback option indicators are in their
places.

Playlists support sorting by performer, song
title, genre, recency and frequency of use and so on. The search
function is especially remarkable: in addition to the usual searching
by title, you can use the performer name, album title and other
categories as search criteria which will surely be appreciated by
people sporting an extensive music library.

Any of the songs can be instantly sent via
MMS, E-mail or Bluetooth. The Flight Mode is in its place, you might
want to check it out if you are badly needing to extend the battery
life while listening to the music. The playlist management is extremely
simple, a name and a storage location are specified upon creating a
playlist, then you just add some of your songs to the list and press
play.

The device supports the following multimedia file formats:

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MP3	+
WMA	+
Polyphonic	+, 64 voices
XMF	+
AMR (Voice Tag)	+
AAC	+
AAC+	+
e-AAC+	+
i-Melody	-
SMAF	-
Midi (SMF)	+
SP-Midi	+
RA	+

The player can run in the background, part of
its window stays in sight even while the application is minimized
during standby, once you press the navigation button up the window
maximizes back. You can launch any other application with the player
running in the background.

The settings include:

Here surfaces another major difference from
the V8 model – the availability of the powerful equalizer which affects
the audio in a big way. In addition to all the equalizer features, the
Bass Boost option is also available and does exactly what its name
suggests – a sevent-point scale indicates how much extra power the
basses receive. The previously mentioned Spatial Audio feature can also
be turned on in the same menu. Unfortunately, there’s no way adjust the
existing equalizer presets or create custom ones, a limitation
completely beyond our understanding.

As for the radio, it sports an interface
similar to that of the mp3 player, only a few options are available
though. The current frequency band is selectable from FM 1, FM 2 and FM
3 where a number of bookmarks can be saved. The sensibility of the
radio module is very high, apparently better in comparison with the
competitive solutions. The headset sound is loud and has a high quality
- clearly the best on the market so far.

Track identification service

Motorola EM30 (as well as any of the following
models) comes with a preinstalled SongID Java application (an evolution
branch of the ShazamID service). This program offers an online track
identification service. Once you have recorded a ten second’s fragment
from an external sound source, you can send the fragment over to the
server for identification. The track database is immense, meaning high
identification chances for almost any imaginable song.

The number of options is maximized as well:
once the track title and performer’s name were identified, you are
prompted to view the album cover, the performer’s bio or the band’s
history, as well as find albums belonging to a similar genre. The Song
ID can be sent over via SMS.

A chart listing the most popular IDs is
available, it’s updated on a weekly basis. All in all, the application
interface is pretty convenient, it is no worse (if not actually better)
than Sony TrackID, though sporting a relatively smaller and not so
frequently updated database, yet most user will never find that out on
their own. This is a great addition to the music functionality of EM30.

Track ID demonstration:

SMAPE’s opinion

Motorola EM30 is a nice reincarnation of the
successful ROKR E8; the E8 model is too expensive for a music phone to
become a mass market offer, it stays more on the fashion side. The
model sports expensive materials and a great touch keyboard
complemented with a FastScroll wheel. The EM30 model lacks certain
elements for the sake of a lower price; it still retains its fine music
playing capabilities and the predecessor’s good looks, thus targeting a
mass audience.

The model is going to cost 100 dollars less
than E8, and is going to start retailing in September or October. About
the same time, the market will be offering Nokia 5220 XpressMusic, Sony
Ericsson W302, Samsung M3510, having a comparable price and
functionality. The main advantages of EM30 over its competitors are the
powerful and flexible Linux-Java platform, the best screen, audio,
assembly and material quality. The obvious downside is the large size
of the handset. Similar to E8, EM30 doesn’t look well-proportioned, the
width is bordering on clumsiness. Nevertheless it’s hard to make a pick
in this group of competitive products, each of the devices has its
proper advantages. We would personally prefer the Motorola handset for
its fresh and unusual looks and the power of the platform (should we
mentioned the fine audio quality once again?)

For a summary, we offer a list of differences form Motorola ROKR E8:

Author: Anton Spiridonov, playdead1@gmail.com

SMAPE.com

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