Moto Demos ROKRs - Without iTunes

Promising analysts that Motorola is "going to be very, very big in music in the coming year," CEO Ed Zander demonstrated several phones to analysts and press on Monday night that will fall under the company's new ROKR line of music-enabled phones.

However, even through all the demonstrations, including one for a phone -- the e3680i -- that apparently powered the opening video for the event, the crowd remained noticeably quiet.

The same thing was likely on everyone's mind: where is the long talked about, yet often delayed iTunes phone? Zander, who has been known to have a tendency to leak new products ahead of their release, did not have much to say other than a statement from the company about the phone.

"Every time I say something about it, I end up putting my foot in my mouth," Zander joked. What followed was a rather brief, yet still ambiguous statement as to the status of the phone.

"We are not going to launch the iTunes phone today. Steve Jobs is not going to jump out of a cake, and we're not going to launch it tomorrow. But on one of the 66 days left in the quarter -- we're not saying which one yet -- Apple, Motorola, and our biggest operator partners around the world will announce -- and ship -- the first iTunes phone," read the statement.

Zander said both Motorola and Apple would hold a joint event for the phone by itself by the end of the quarter.

"It's real and it's happening, stay tuned for iTunes," he said. However, the answer didn't seem to please the crowd, who remained silent. Applause for the announcement didn't begin until Zander himself initiated it.