August 5, 2008 11:23 AM PDT

Moto rolls out new Rokr phones

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Motorola expanded its music phone lineup Tuesday with three new Rokr cell phones. The handsets offer a wide range of designs and features, though all put music squarely at the center.

Rokr EM30

(Credit: Motorola)

The EM30 is the most high-end model of the trio. It offers a traditional candy bar design in an appealing black and red color scheme. The keypad offers the same ModeShift keypad that we saw on the Motorola Rokr E8. As you move between different functions, the backlighting on the keypad changes to illuminate only the relevant buttons.

In addition to the Rokr music player, the EM30 offers an FM radio, text-to-speech technology, an airplane mode, Moto's CrystalTalk feature, a micorSD card slot, a 2-megapixel camera, an FM radio, a 3.5mm headset jack, full Bluetooth, a speakerphone, mass USB storage, and compatibility with Windows Media Player 11. The EM30 is a quadband GSM handset that supports GPRS and EDGE networks.

Rokr EM28

(Credit: Motorola)

The mid-range EM28 is a flip phone that comes in two triband versions (GSM 850/1800/1900 and GSM 900/1800/1900). Both models support GPRS and EDGE networks. The music player on the EM28 offers 3D sound effects, spatial audio with bass boost, and an equalizer. Other features include an FM radio, a 1.3-megapixel camera, text and multimedia messaging, Moto's CrystalTalk feature, an airplane mode, external music controls, full Bluetooth, USB mass storage, a memory card slot, and a speakerphone.

Rokr EM25

(Credit: Motorola)

For slider phone fans or callers who need only the basics, there's the EM25. The handset has a slider design that's vaguely Sony Ericsson in appearance. The phone includes support for just two bands (GSM 850/1900 and GSM 900/1800) with data speeds maxing out at GPRS.

Inside the EM25 you'll find the Rokr music player, an FM radio, a speakerphone, a 3.5mm headset jack, a microSD card slot, a 1.3-megapixel camera, full Bluetooth, USB mass storage, and Moto's CrystalTalk feature. Of course, like its new siblings, the EM25 also makes calls.

Availability details were slim at the time of this writing. The EM30 will go on sale first in Taiwan for an undisclosed price. It will expand to other markets later in the year along with the EM28 and EM25.

Kent German is a senior editor for cell phone reviews at CNET. When he's not testing the newest handsets on the market, he's blogging about cell phone news for Crave. In his On Call column, he answers reader questions and gives his take on the rapidly changing mobile industry. E-mail Kent.