Add T-Mobile to the ROKR support group, at last

T-Mobile subscribers will soon join those able to use the Motorola ROKR E8 mobile phone, which initially debuted at the Consumer Electronics Show in January.

The new E8 model has an interesting mode-shift technology that lets it convert from a phone into a music player with a single touch. When the phone is sitting idle, it has a smooth screen without visible keys on its surface. But after powering up, a virtual number keypad appears, and then one touch of a button can transform it from a phone into a music player.

This is the first Motorola ROKR phone to include this new mode-shift technology.

Users can transfer songs between the phone and a PC using Windows Media Player 11. Supported file types include AAC, AAC+, MP3, WAV, and RealAudio. It's possible to listen to music through a speaker, wired headphones, or Bluetooth headphones.

The phone has 2 GB of internal memory but has a microSD slot so users can expand music storage that supports cards up to 8 GB in size.

Aside from its music capabilities, the phone also features a 2 Mp camera, Web browser, Bluetooth, and an FM radio. The impressive 2-in. screen offers a 262,000-color display with a 320 x 240 resolution.

The first Motorola music phone in the ROKR family, the ROKR E1, was announced by Apple and Motorola during an event in San Francisco in September 2005. Notoriously, it was Apple's first active experiment in the mobile phone space outside of the iPod, being the first phone to support iTunes. But the pairing of the two companies was never very copacetic, as then-CEO Ed Zander managed to out-shout even Apple CEO Steve Jobs, with Motorola's PR left at one point trying to explain how citations of Zander's reference to the word "screw" were taken out of context.

Each new ROKR phone offered since then has added new features and improved both its hardware and music playing software, with the ROKR E8 having been one of the most anticipated MP3 phones of the year.

The only immediate downside of the E8 is that it is on the EDGE network rather than 3G. Most new flagship phones being released this summer are able to use 3G networks because of the much higher download speed, but T-Mobile at the moment does not have any services available to user for the 3G network. But once new features begin to roll out, E8 owners may not like the slower connection speed.

Aside from the Apple iPhone, Sony Ericsson also has a line of music phones designed to compete with the Motorola ROKR. Both Samsung and Nokia also have music phones that offer similar music playback.

The key distinction between the ROKR E8 and competing products has to be the modeshift keypad that changes depending how an owner wants to use the phone.

Interested T-Mobile users will be able to get the phone on July 7 after paying $199 with a new two-year service agreement.