Motorola Z10 and ROKR E8 officially announced.Motorola, Inc. today expanded its ROKR family of music products with the introduction of the ROKR E8 mobile device, the EQ5 and EQ7 wireless speaker systems and new stereo headsets at the 2008 International Consumer Electronics Show (Booth #8545, Central Hall).

Summary of key features in ROKR E8:

• ModeShift technology transforms the device from phone to music player with the touch of a button
• Innovative haptics technology provides tactile response when a virtual key is pressed
• FastScroll navigation wheel allows for scrolling through thousands of songs with the slide of a thumb
• Patented CrystalTalk technology delivers outstanding call clarity even in noisy environments
• Windows Media Player 11 compatibility enables easy transfer of tunes from the PC to the device

Motorola designed ROKR E8 to deliver an uncompromised consumer experience for music or talk. Using breakthrough ModeShift technology from Motorola, the quad-band GPRS/EDGE device presents users with only the controls they need, at the time they need them, instantly transforming from music player to phone with the touch of a button.

When powered off, the surface of ROKR E8 is smooth, with no visible keys. Power on the device and it presents a virtual numbered keypad on the front surface. With one “press” of the virtual music key, the phone keypad disappears and control keys for the music player — play, pause, fast forward and rewind — appear in its place.

Yet, ROKR E8 is more than just a “touch”-operated device. Using innovative vibrating haptics technology, the device provides the tactile feedback consumers expect from a traditional keypad, providing confirmation they have pressed a virtual key.

ROKR E8 also marks the debut of the new FastScroll navigaton wheel from Motorola, a variable-speed touch control that lets consumers easily scroll through all of the content stored on the device. With a gentle slide of the thumb, the wheel quickly scrolls through your music (music mode), contacts (phone mode), calendar (phone mode), or multimedia (imaging mode) content. Information is easily viewed on the landscape 2.0″ QVGA display.

In music mode, ROKR E8 delivers great sound through a three-dimensional stereo feature that enhances two-channel audio and an on-board equalizer. Music can be enjoyed on the built-in speaker, with a compatible Bluetooth enabled stereo headset, or through a wired headset plugged into the 3.5mm jack.

ROKR E8 also helps consumers discover new music with a built-in FM radio and support for Song ID . The 2GB internal memory can store up to 1,500 songs, and the external memory is expandable up to 4GB with an optional microSD card. Music transfers quickly with USB 2.0. The device is compatible with Windows Media Player 11 on the PC, which also provides access to more than 200 online music stores.

ROKR E8 is expected to be available in Q1 2008. The Motorola EQ5, EQ7 and new wired and wireless accessories are expected to be available in Q2 2008.