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Cingular Launches Motorola SLVR L7 Music Phone

6:00 am on February 1, 2006 | Category: Cell Phones, Mobile Devices

Despite its decision to create its own mobile music service, Motorola has chosen to hedge its bets and take another shot at creating an iTunes-compatible cell phone.

The newly launched SLVR L7 is being offered by Cingular Wireless, at a cost of $199.99 with a two-year contract.

This new phone features a thin and stylish design, similar to that of the wildly successful RAZR. It is Motorolaâ€™s second attempt at an iTunes phone, after the ROKR E1, launched last September, failed to catch on with the consumer market.

“(The ROKR) kind of came out of the chute with some real flaws in it,” said In-Stat wireless analyst, Neil Strother. “I wouldn’t say it was a complete disaster but they clearly had some real problems.”

Motorola only sold about 84,000 ROKR phones last year, which is dismal in comparison to the tens of millions of RAZR sales. This is largely due to several notable limitations, such as limited song capacity and long transfer times.

The SLVR L7 doesnâ€™t exactly address these issues, with the same USB file transfer technology, and the same capacity of just 100 songs. Its only strength over the original ROKR is the design, which mimics that of the wildly popular RAZR in a number of ways.

“The L7 is really in what we call our ‘self-expression portfolio,’ where design and style is the key premise behind the product,” said Motorola executive, Steve Lalla.

Whether this approach will pay off will be interesting to see, as it will be a demonstration of the importance of style and design in the world of mobile phones.

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