Motorola ROKR ZN50. Yay? Or Nay?

We’re undecided about the Motorola ROKR ZN50. Not about the phone itself, of course, experts that we are. To be brief: this is a typical mid-range phone with nothing much to write home about apart from a decent music player, an interesting Android-like user interface and above average looks. (Read this Motorola ZN50 review for a more in-depth summary of everything on offer here). No, what we can’t work out about the Motorola ZN50 is whether it suggests that Motorola themselves are going to survive, because (and we forgive you for not knowing this) they are up poop creek without a paddle, and its raining heavily in the toilet mountains all around.

Despite this not-too-shoddy list of Motorola phones, the manufacturer is not in a very good way at all. Too much past reliance on the RAZR, too little investment in new products and a whole bucket full of other mistakes has seen them slip into dangerously unprofitable territory. So, is the ROKR – a decent phone, without doubt – the sign that they’ve turned the corner, or is it part of the final death hacks from this beast?

Well, we haven’t a clue to be honest. We know that they’ve a couple of Google Android based phones on the way (the ROKR is running on a kind of faux-Android user interface called, strangely, ‘Panorama’), and we know that if they make a few more phones like this one, then things might be alright. But we also know that they’re arsed things up too many times in the past to trust them as far as you can throw them. And trust us on this, if nothing else: trying to throw a multi-national corporation is very, very hard indeed, try as we have done many a time.

Have a little look at this terrible video while you’re making up your own mind: