ROKR E8 ships first as Oscars gift

Motorola today drummed up attention by announcing that the ROKR E8 music phone would ship first to the US as a gift at the Oscars. Echoing its practice from last year with the RIZR Z3, the nominees for the top directing and acting roles get a special version of the phone with a special blue (male) or red (female) false iguana-print box as well as a ROKR S9 HD Bluetooth stereo headset. Each box is personalized to include the actors' and actresses' individual names and their potential Oscar wins.

Despite the luxury treatment, the ROKR E8 itself is untouched and features the same changeable interface, direct Windows Media Player 11 sync over USB, and stereo Bluetooth audio as the reference version. Motorola has not said when the E8 is likely to appear beyond the February 24th Hollywood event, though last year the RIZR Z3 launched with T-Mobile roughly a month after the cellphone maker first introduced the phone through its Oscars gifts.

Filed under: gadgets
Other story tags: Motorola, ROKR