Motorola have announced the new Motorola ROKR E2 - another Motorola iTunes phone, but this time with real storage (2GB), and, er, no iTunes! Instead, the ROKR E2 abandons iTunes in favour of Motorola’s own iRadio.

Looking much better than the dismal ROKR E1, the new Motorola ROKR E2 also offers much more features as well. However, the original ROKR is not the phone this thing has to beat: the competition currently is Sony Ericsson’s Walkman range of mobile music phones, such as the W800 and W900, not to mention Samsung and Nokia’s hard-disk-enabled mobile music phones.

So what does the new ROKR E2 have to offer? Can it beat the competition? Read on for more details of the Motorola ROKR E2 after the jump.

[Source: Motorola, Engadget, Gizmodo]

The Motorola ROKR E2

Before rushing headlong into the features list, let me just say the ROKR E2 is the phone Motorola should have released in the first place, instead of the original ROKR. It’s also not a patch on the competition. But to let you see for yourself, here are the key features:

• Based on a Linux operating system to enhance speed and flexibility
• Users make a fast connection from the device to a compatible PC using a USB 2.0 cable
• Up to 2GB of optional removable SDâ„¢ mass memory
• ROKR E2 lets you store as many as 500 of your favorite tunes, as well as create and manage playlists
• Built-in FM radio functionality.
• Dedicated music keys on the handset’s side and front let you navigate playlists, as well as play/pause, skip backward/forward, and hold.
• 1.3 Megapixel camera

So what have we got? A good looking mobile music phone without the baggage of the iTunes brand, with Motorola’s new iRadio service out of the box, but with a lousy camera, and features that trail the competition. Nice try, Motorola, but a year too late.

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