Motorola Readies Music-oriented Linux Mobile Phone

An anonymous reader writes "Motorola has announced several new multimedia-enabled mobile phones supporting music and video playback, including one new device based on embedded Linux, according to LinuxDevices.com. The Linux-based Motorola E680 could see US distribution, making it the first of Motorola's Linux-based mobile phones available outside the far East. The E680 will include multimedia playback software supporting a variety of formats, including MP3 audio, MPEG4 video, and RealPlayer multimedia content." The article notes: "Motorola's previous Linux-based phones have been based on MontaVista Linux, and have used the Qt/Embedded graphical application framework."

Uh oh..

[Channard]

.. so I'm guessing we can look forward to even more incomprehensible 'My Moto' adverts. My money's on a sheep with an afro on roller skates dancing to the birdie song in an open air club on top of a skyscraper.

Re:Replacement for iPod?

[Channard]

If I'm going to spend hundreds of dollars on a little electronic gadget, I'd like it to do more than just play MP3s. This device might get me to spend that kind of money... and I don't have to be embarrased by an Apple logo on it.

But not least of all, it'll presumably have a battery you can actually replace yourself.

Yes, but does it run Windows?

[MrRTFM]

Hey - I'm kidding!!!
Seriously, this is getting closer to what I call my dream mobile device. I was hanging back until they had decent memory and connectivety - and I'd also like the other bells and whistles, but this is pretty cool.
(People always bag out the FM radio, but it is *really* nice if you have to get a bus/train to work for an hour each day)

Re:Small problem with this phone

[xxx_Birdman_xxx]

easy.
switch to a console!
Real geeks dont use user interfaces! :-)

Re:Small problem with this phone

[whovian]

Funny, +1.

Here's a replacement link [linuxdevices.com] since the original link gives a 403 error. Hint: Study the picture carefully.

OGG

[Oliver_Etchebarne]

Does anybody know if this new toy supports OGG? I mean... in these times when patents and sues are a daily news, I don't wanna have problems with Fraunhofer...