Motorola has been chasing the success that it had with the Razr for years now. Since the Razr was the hot thing, Motorola hasn’t enjoyed as much success as it hoped. Today Motorola has announced three new handsets in its ROKR line that it is hoping will be popular.

The ROKR EM30 is the top-of-the-line for the new handsets. The EM30 uses Motorola ModeShift technology to illuminate the keyboard. When in phone mode the keys are blue and when in music mode, the keys are red allowing users to tell at a glance what mode they are in. Other features of the phone include a FM radio with RDS 4 technology and compatibility with Windows Media Player 11.

Wii-like controllers for Bluetooth phones? Did you ever think you would see the day? Well back in my day sonny… The Zeemote analog joystick controller for Bluetooth phones is now hitting the scene. That is, if you are a lucky Dutch W760 buyer.

If so, you’ll get it free as a promo package. It’s not exactly the Wii-like version the company was previously promising, but it looks nicer then the Wii nunchuk and it’s got color to it. No word on U.S. pricing or availability yet, but you’ll be acing first person cellphone shooters when you do get one.

Mobile phones are one of the hottest categories of electronic devices around the world. While the smartphone gets most of the press and is one of the biggest growth categories in the segment, most users still opt for basic phones.

According to research, firm IDC worldwide cell phone shipments grew 15.3% in Q2 2008 with 306 million phones shipped. In Q1 2008, 289.7 million phones were shipped total. In Q2 of 2007, 265.4 million cell phones were shipped for a 15.3% increase. Smartphones are still seeing year-over-year growth of 40%.

Mobile phone manufacturer LG Electronics is poised to be among the first to bring Dolby sound to handsets set for release on the global market. The electronics company and Dolby inked a deal which would bring “Dolby Mobile” to into high-end multimedia phones towards the end of the year.

Dolby Mobile is described as an audio processing technology platform optimized for mobile applications. Key features of this platform include surround sound, bass boost, restoration of high-frequency effects and mono-to-stereo conversion.

LG/Dolby Agreement

Nokia is now debuting here in the United States a new, very slim QWERTY smartphone. It is called the E71 and pricing is set around $500.

The Nokia E71 is just 0.39-inches thin, reportedly making it the slimmest QWERTY device currently on the market. It sports a stainless steel design and large screen, among other hardware features. It also includes integrated GPS and a built-in 3.2-megapixel digital camera.

We’ve seen E ink used on watch faces, but did you expect to see it on your phone? E Ink is thinking about introducing it’s E Ink Vixplex Imaging Film for the outer display in future clamshell handsets. Pretty cool idea and very easily done since e-ink only consumes power when the image changes.

The first two handsets that will feature the technology are the Hitachi W61 and the Casio Model G’zOne. The displays are said to be clearly visible even under direct sunlight, which gives the user a viewing angle of up to 180-degrees. It’s sure to be a big hit as users love to personalize their phones.

ZTC released the ZT598, a dual input phone with the touch display hiding behind the number pad, which flips open. Another strange but interesting feature are the 7 LEDs on both sides, which blink along with your music, attracting you like shiny bright consumer bait.

The ZT598 features a 2.8-inch display, 0.3-megapixel camera, Bluetooth, FM radio, dual SIM slots, microSD slot and integrated music player and is available for $134. It also has a very moving message on it’s face, “Enjoy your life”. Maybe I don’t want to enjoy my life. Maybe, just maybe, I was enjoying my life, but don’t like to be told what to do. Maybe I only enjoy Life cereal. What’s it to ya?

Sony Ericsson is celebrating the Walkman phone’s third anniversary by adding three new mobiles to the family as well as a small army of new accessories. All of these products will be available by the end of the year.

The mobile phone company is specifically debuting the W302, W902 and W595 Walkman cell phones to select markets around the world. It is also rolling out wireless and regular speakers as well as wireless and noise canceling headphones. More details on all of this and more can be found after the jump.

The Suo Xin ZT888 is a nice looking mobile phone from China that comes with an extra genuine leather case/battery for some reason. This caught my eye because of the call buttons. I’m pretty sure Apple doesn’t approve and I can only guess that they are trying to fool some morons into thinking that this is the new iPhone they’ve heard so much about.

This luxury phone comes in white and black, both with gold and sports a 2.4 inch display and 2.0-megapixel camera, Bluetooth, Dual SIM slots, microSD slot and other basic functions like Calculator, Calendar, Memo, Alarm, World time, stopwatch and games. It will cost you $115.43. Probably the cheapest phone with an Apple logo.

Disposable cell phones are everywhere. That’s nothing new. But disposable cells must have now reached critical mass if Bic, makers of disposable lighters for decades, is in the game. The company has teamed up with Orange France to launch their Bic disposable cellphone. It’s a prepaid phone that comes pre-charged and gives you an hour of free calls. It even comes with a SIM card already inserted, which needs to be activated to start making calls.

It’s manufactured by Alcatel and they kept it simple as the user can only make calls and send texts. You can get them in “Citrus Orange” or “Lime Green” for $80 starting August 7th in France. They probably should have thrown in standard Bic lighter for that price. It’s the least they can do. Then you would be covered for both making calls and lighting your smokes.

Verizon Wireless, following up on its announcement of some hot new mobile phones last month, said today the LG Chocolate 3 would be available shortly. This particular cell phone will price around $130 after rebate and two-year contract.

The LG Chocolate 3, said Verizon, has among its key features a new flip form factor, enhanced music subscription capabilities, a built-in FM transmitter and 2-megapixel digital camera and camcorder. It will be available in black or light blue body colors as well.

Virgin Mobile USA announced today a new flip phone developed for the mobile carrier by UTStarcom. This one is called the Arc and pricing is set around $50.

The Virgin Arc has what is described as a “trendsetting red soft-feel touch.” Sounds like lines from a porno - “a virgin arc with a red, soft feel touch.” Anyhow,  the phone measures 3.6- x 1.9- x0.8-inches and weighs around three ounces.

With the iPhone 3G set to hit the market this moth there are lots of gadget fans out there counting the days until they can get a new phone. If you aren’t with AT&T and still want a cool touchscreen device you have some options including the new unlocked device from Openmoko.

The Openmoko Neo FreeRunner is set to hit the market on July 4 and is an open device operating on GNU/Linux. Included software for the device allows it to dial calls, SMS and record contacts. The open nature of the device means that it can be upgraded with more features and functions. Openmoko says that the first upgrade will come in August and add location based services to the FreeRunner.

T-Mobile announced it’s own version of Motorola’s ROKR E8, a delicious candybar which is shiny, sleek, glossy and black. Okay, maybe it’s not that much of a looker. Some features are: a 2 megapixel camera, 2GB of internal storage, microSD slot that will get you 8GB more, stereo Bluetooth, 3.5mm headphone jack, FM radio, and the morphing keypad that makes keys invisible like magic.(If you are in the right mode) Not a surprise that there’s no 3G, but T-Mobile customers are used to that. You can get the E8 starting July 7 for $199.99 with contract.

Rumors of the Motozine from Motorola have been floating around for quite a while and the company today has finally made an official announcement for the new cameraphone. The Motozine ZN5 was created with a partnership with Motorola and Kodak to create a device that contains high-quality features of both a phone and a camera.

Kodak included a number of features on the camera-side of the mobile handset including a 5 mega-pixel sensor behind a sliding lens cover, Xenon flash, built-in integration with Kodak Gallery, on-phone image stitching capabilities to create large panoramic shots and an option 4GB of external storage.