The Linux-based Motorola Rokr E2 fixes what was wrong with the original, non-Linux-based E1 model, according to a short yet effusive online review of the device that also includes an ample photo gallery.

Motorola announced the linux-powered Rokr E2 at the Consumer Electronics Trade show this week in Las Vegas. The E2 phone is expected to become available later this year in the US, and work with GSM networks such as that maintained by Cingular, and possibly T-Mobile in some regions.

According to MobileBurn editor Michael Oryl, the E2 eschews iTunes, and with it the artificial 100-song limitation imposed by Apple. It also moves to SD memory card storage, which has become even less expensive than CompactFlash in recent month, with 1GB cards available at retailers such as Wal*Mart for about $50. A 1GB SD card could hold about 250 4MB songs.

Additional improvements include the addition of a 1.3 megapixel camera, rather than the E1's VGA (640 x 480) camera, and the new Motorola Linux phone user interface that debuted in the A910. Orly calls the new interface “a major step forward in usability.”

A few other details, and lots of nice photos, can be found in Oryl's brief review, here.

 
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