Motorola E1000

Status: ⚫️ No battery

Specs

Launch date: 2004
Software platform: Motorola P2K
Display: 240 x 320 pixels, 262K colors
Connectivity: Bluetooth 1.1, USB, 3G (WCDMA), GPRS, EDGE
Storage: 16 MB internal, TransFlash (microSD) card support
Camera: 1.2 MP rear + VGA front (video calling)
Supported media formats: MP3, AAC, MIDI, AMR
Third party apps: Java MIDP 2.0
Internet: WAP 2.0, GPRS, 3G
Other notable features: dual cameras, video calling, stereo speakers

I can confidently say about this phone that if it’s not the king of freaks, then it’s certainly the prince-regent. Its appearance caught attention on any magazine cover. Mighty, capable, and at the same time very strange.

It seems to have been crafted from two ideas: the Siemens SX1, where most buttons were placed on the sides of the display, and IBM Thinkpad laptops, with a trackpoint in the middle of the keyboard. Despite unique design approaches, the phone looked cohesive and complete. Except for the crater-shaped front camera, which was made enormous, probably to emphasize the phone could operate in 3G networks and thus make video calls.

I got to hold the Motorola E1000 in my hands only when I added it to my collection. During the model’s peak, getting this phone was very difficult, if not impossible. Again, the device was much more expensive than similar models without 3G support. The new communication technology was just gaining momentum at that time.

All photos from Vintage Cellphone and PDA Museum by Azer Abdullaev are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International.