Ketchup

Motorola haven’t really had much to say after the Razr lost its kudos, but maybe things are about to change for the brand if this is anything to go by.

The Rokr E8 is the latest music handset, and features something that sounds deceptively simple and obvious that some might think could rival the iPhone (nope, still don’t want one.)  It’s called “localised haptic feedback” which means pushing a button on the touch screen feels like actually pushing a button.  This is achieved through means of science and technology that I don’t really care about, but results in a small vibration under the spot where you touch.

It sounds almost insignificant, but it might be much more important than that.  One of the things that I love about any of my gadgets is the tangible experience whilst using the thing; be it how smooth and flush everything is or how solid the buttons feel.

So taking the iPhone as an example here, even though it uses touch-screen technology (something Bill Gates is also banging on about), using it leaves me feeling cold as there is no pleasure in pressing a flat screen.  And I also like to know that the button I’m trying to push has actually been pushed.

The handset also features a touch-sensitive scroll arc (big contribution toward the iPod’s success), and keypad buttons that automatically switch between numbers and icons depending on which features (phone, camera, music player) is in use.

For me its down to little details like this to differentiate between a large number of things that essentially do the same thing; so many phones have the same phone/camera/music features that user experience is really vital.