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The Incredible, Hackable Phone? Playing with the MOTOROKR E6I got a Motorola MOTOROKR E6 a few weeks ago. While the phone's name might lead you to believe that it's but a sequel to the ill-fated MOTOROKR E1 (aka The iTunes Phone) and the less well-known ROKR E2, the E6 actually represents the furthering of an entirely different arm of Motorola's mobile telephone division: The hackable Linux handset.
While the E6 is a music-centric handset - part of what attracted me to it was the 3.5mm stereo headphone jack, but more on that later this week - it's also the newest member of Moto's Linux handset line. Like the MOTOMING A1200, the E6 runs on the EZX platform, a Linux-based operating system that's open to third-party application development. Though Moto isn't making the source code easy to come by, it is technically open source and at least one developer has successfully gained access to the innards of the EZX operating system. Me, I've been happy to follow some hacks outlined by the knowledgeable folks at Motorolafans.com, including a relatively easy one that turns the tri-band GSM E6 into a more U.S.-friendly Quad-Band phone. While my ultimate goal is developing a new virtual keyboard interface for better touchscreen message composition, that may ultimately prove a bit beyond my reach: I "bricked" my E6 while attempting a mere load of a Theme Manager application. Thankfully it seems that Motorola has fixed the phone and I should have it back soon for another round of "n00b haxoring" (that is, low-level hacking by a 'newbie'). A general Web trend towards community-based open source development is gaining some momentum — see thinkcycle.org, illuminator.mophie.com, and dellideastorm.com, to name just a few examples. It'd be great to see a robust open-source community grow around a mobile handset or platform. Motorola's EZX has that potential, and the MOTOROKR E6 is just the slim, sexy touchscreen phone to generate some interest in the project. Unfortunately the phone isn't officially designated for the US market and thus only available through importers and on ebay (Moto wouldn't send me a review sample since it's a non-US model, hence my buying one online). If the forthcoming Chumby "widget clock" (chumby.com) and Neonode N2 open-source phone (neonode.com) catch fire, we may in fact see a surge in "hackable" products designed to leverage their users' ingenuity and programming skills in order to extend their capabilities. I, for one, would be much more excited to this - technology truly in the hands of its users - than more crippled feature sets and watered down "innovation" courtesy of the major service providers. All about Closely Related StuffMonday, May 12, 2008where can i get software update and free software applications for my motorokr e6. Monday, April 28, 2008Hi Devan
I no longer have an E6, but everything I used to hack it I found on motorolafans.com. Try looking there and hopefully you can find what you need to make the phone quadband. Good luck!
http://motorolafans.com/
Saturday, April 26, 2008hello noah, im wondering if you could assist me in hacking the rokr e6 into a quad band i have tried with a progam called radio common but it doesnt reconize the linux operating system wat should i do? Thursday, April 10, 2008is it easy to make it quad band? Wednesday, November 28, 2007Hi Noah, Please send me the link from where i can download the iphone theme for my motorokr E6...... reply will be highly appreciated.... Thanks and regards, Prateek Sunday, November 25, 2007where can i find its themes and loadable software applications? or can i build on my platform like cygwin or a linux distro? Monday, October 29, 2007David: I sold my ROKR E6 a few months back and so can't really speak to playing games on it. I didn't do much gaming on the handset when I had it. My best suggestion is to do some Googling and check out the forums at motorolafans.com - they have a great E6 forum. Thursday, October 25, 2007Can some one plz tell me how to install skins onto my ROKR E6 ??? Thnx in advance Tuesday, October 23, 2007have you had any success with games on the rokr e6? Saturday, October 13, 2007goto some forum at china, i learned how to install themes and GBA ROM overthere, actually u can do lots thing by e6, try to figure it out yourself Thursday, September 13, 2007noah, where can i find iphone themes for my motorokr e6.please answer me back. Saturday, May 05, 2007I have a Rokr E6 and I love it, its perfect for me, but I do desire the iPhone theme that you have installed... I have looked all around the motorola fans forums to find one that looks as clean as the one you have installed, could you possibly tell me where u got the theme, and how u installed it? including the startup animation and such.. Thank you Thursday, April 05, 2007No, sorry, it *will* work in the US on CIngular, T-Mobile, or other GSM network providers. It's just not being sold through a US carrier or officially marketed by Motorola in the US. The E6 has a tri-band GSM radio, though it actually can be hacked to become quad-band. As a tri-band it will work, but you will experience dead spots in some US markets. As a quad-band it should basically work as well as any phone carried by Cingular or T-Mobile. Wednesday, April 04, 2007You said it's not made fo U.S. Does that mean it won't work in the U.S.? Motorola ROKR-E6 in-depth review - Introduction & DesignIntroductionThe E6 is the newest edition to the Motorola ROKR series. The ROKR E1 which was the exact same as the Motorola E398 was nothing special and the fact that there was a capacity on how many songs you can load on it was disappointing. The ROKR E2 was a little better in terms of features but looked weird with its too rounded corners. Now the ROKR E6 has finally made advancements like the Linux operating system, touch screen display, SD memory card, 2 mega pixel camera and most...Motorola ROKR-E6 in-depth review - FeaturesFeaturesThe E6 has all the basic features that you would expect in a PDA phone. The E6 has calendar, appointments, alarm clock, calculator, tasks, notes and more. Although the E6 does not have office programs like Windows Mobile, it does have a Picsel viewer built in. You can view all your Microsoft word, powerpoint, excel files but do not have the ability to edit them. Advanced Features The E6 has many advanced features like a 2 mega pixel camera, Bluetooth 2.0, mini USB, built in...Motorola ROKR-E6 in-depth review - Display & AudioDisplayThe display has a 240 x 320 resolution and is 2.4 inches in size. The display is touch screen and is meant to be maneuvered by the built in stylus. The screen is great and is capable of displaying 256k colors. The screen is very bright and you can lower the brightness level for battery efficiency. Usually the touch screens are lower than the rest of the phone which protects it. The E6’s display is flat with the rest of the phone. AudioThe E6 is...Motorola ROKR-E6 in-depth review - Entertainment, Internet & StorageEntertainmentThe E6 has many forms of entertainment. The phone comes pre installed with 3 spectacular games; Need For Speed Most Wanted, The SIMS and AGE of Empires. All the games on the phone are Java based. You can also install programs onto the phone but the fact there are not that many programs available for Linux OS may be disappointing for some. Mostly the E6 is intended for music as a source of entertainment. InternetThe E6 only has standard GPRS and does not support EDGE, 3G and...Motorola ROKR-E6 in-depth review - ConclusionConstruction The E6 has excellent build quality and seems very durable. The phone’s material feels like metal and is very sturdy. Since the display is flat with the rest of the phone it is a good idea to get a screen protector. ConclusionOverall I liked the ROKR E6 a lot. Like most PDA’s the E6 does not have a keypad but has an on screen keypad. For some this may be an issue but in my opinion it takes a bit getting used to. The Motorola E6 is a tri-band GSM phone that is...The Incredible, Hackable Phone? Playing with the MOTOROKR E6I got a Motorola MOTOROKR E6 a few weeks ago. While the phone's name might lead you to believe that it's but a sequel to the ill-fated MOTOROKR E1 (aka The iTunes Phone) and the less well-known ROKR E2, the E6 actually represents the furthering of an entirely different arm of Motorola's mobile telephone division: The hackable Linux handset. While the E6 is a music-centric handset - part of what attracted me to it was the 3.5mm stereo headphone jack, but more on that later this... |
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