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Verizon soak test for Android 4.4 KitKat on its way to Moto X owners

Screen Shot 2013-11-18 at 4.07.40 PM

Verizon Moto X owners take note as feedback from Motorola’s forums confirm the newest soak test is in fact Android 4.4 KitKat. Considering that Verizon is often the last to see a major Android update, we’re pleasantly surprised that they are moving fast to squash bugs by putting this out in a soak test.

Motorola hasn’t specified when testers will see the update, at least they didn’t explicitly state the rollout would happen today only that the OTA should be available “very soon.” There’s already a release notes and subsection up on the forums so you can check out the full list of included features with the soak test:

  • Android™ 4.4, KitKat®: Android 4.4, KitKat, is the latest release of the Android platform. KitKat includes enhancements such as restyled status and navigation bars, a new full-screen mode, color emoji support, improved closed captioning support, stronger security, smarter power use, and more tools and capabilities for better app development.
  • Phone dialer: Improved the phone app with the ability to look up contacts directly from the dial pad, see and tap frequent contacts, and search your corporate directory easily.
  • Camera – Focus and exposure: Enhanced the “touch to focus” option with a new circular, on screen control that can be dragged by your finger around the viewfinder to adjust a photo’s focus and exposure.
  • Gallery – Photo editing: Added new photo editing options to the Gallery app including new filter effects, draw on your photos, advanced cropping, and adjustments to color, exposure, contrast and more.
  • Hangouts – SMS/MMS support: Incorporated a new version of Google Hangouts that supports integrated SMS/MMS messaging. Hangouts can be set as the default SMS app under Settings > Wireless > Default SMS app.
  • Touchless Control – “Find my phone”: Added a new “Find my phone” command to Touchless Control. Just say “OK, Google Now—find my phone” and your Moto X will ring loudly to let you know where it’s hiding when you’ve misplaced it nearby.
  • NFC – Host card emulation: Enhanced support for NFC Host Card Emulation (HCE), to improve experiences such as contactless payments, loyalty plans, transit passes, card access and more.[Editor’s note: this means we can use Google Now for tap-to-pay!]
  • Accessory support: Added support for Square credit card reader

via Phandroid

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