Moto X

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMrZmSPpIRw&w=600&h=400]

Grabbing the attention of customers in the wireless industry these days requires some slick moves and a creative mind. Well, Motorola has done exactly that with a brand new interactive ad in January’s Wired magazine.

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If you’re looking to Google-yourself into a holiday spirit, open yourself to the Android world with “let’s go caroling.” Just grab your phone, open Google Now/search and just say “let’s go caroling.”

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Some of us never thought this day would come as Motorola quietly updates Moto Maker to include Bamboo backplates for the Moto X. We know at least four versions of the backplate are planned according to a leaked shot courtesy of @evleaks in early November.

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It’s been a long time coming and even after a brief spout where we thought they would never arrive, Motorola is yet again teasing the wood backing for the Moto X. Advising followers to “Put this DIY project on hold. Trust us” with an image of wood back, we can only hope Motorola has plans to push this out in the next few days.

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-Manual control of focus and exposure

-Locked exposure during Panorama capture

-Enabled additional language support

-Bug fixes

As the Moto X continues to be all the rage and with another Cyber Monday sale beginning in just under 2.5 hours the company has updated Active Display. The last of the two extended days caused by a severe Motorola.com outage on Cyber Monday, the company is selling the Moto X for $349 beginning at 12pm ET/9am PST today. As we wait for the clock to strike noon, a new update to Active Display should make existing Moto X owners a tiny bit happier this morning.  Available through Google’s Play Store, the update to Active Display is brief but important:

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Update: Motorla has just detailed the full process for obtaining a Moto X at $350 on its blog. The company will now issue coupon codes to obtain the device at a discount, and customers will have one week to redeem the code and design their device with Moto Maker. Visit Motorola’s blog for the detailed instructions.

While plenty of retailers and online stores will take the time this week to discuss the great sales they had, Motorola will likely be a lone sad face as they apologize for their website downtime. Originally planned as a sale for the Moto X with a $150 Cyber Monday discount, the Motorola website was slammed to the point of oblivion and the company even missed its self-imposed deadline to come back online.

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As we’ve already begun the 48 day countdown to Black Friday, Motorola is already shifting attention to Cyber Monday. A Google+ posting indicates the company will discount their excellent Moto X by $150 for one-day off contract. That’s a $350 price tag this upcoming Monday and what is arguably one of the best device deals I’ve seen on an Android device in a long time.

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I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately as I recognize that when it comes to smartphone buying, I’m stuck in a crossroads about my next device. Yes, it’s true that my position as a tech blogger affords me the opportunity to try the latest and greatest, often at the same time. However, with a 10 month old my primary methodology for selecting a smartphone lately comes down to camera, camera and camera.

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From 9to5Toys.com:

Future Moto X buyers take note as Amazon just dropped the price on both AT&T and Sprint variants to match the existing $0.01 price on Verizon. The deal lacks Moto Maker customization, but that’s a small “price” to pay for the opportunity to be among the first non-Nexus Android owners to have KitKat.

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Just yesterday, Motorola began rolling out Android 4.4 KitKat to the T-Mobile variant of the Moto X, which was preceded by the Verizon model earlier this week. Today, the company has announced that the AT&T variant of its flagship will be the next device to receive the update.

Motorola says that the update will begin rolling out to Moto X users on AT&T today. The update will take the device to version number 140.44.5.ghost and includes all the features expected from KitKat, including the new design and much more.

• An improved phone dialer. Now you can search for contacts directly from the dial-pad and easily see and tap on those you contact frequently.
• More gallery goodies. KitKat packs in some cool, new gallery effects—such as Posterize, Highlights, and Edges. You can even use the Draw feature to annotate your photos freehand with your finger.
• New Hangouts app. All of your conversations now in one place—texts, video calls, and other chats all together in one app. Plus, you can now send animated gifs and share your location.
• Color emojis. For when words aren’t enough, the Google Keyboard now includes colorful characters to send in text messages and other communications.
• Drag to focus and expose. An updated camera app lets you control both the focus and exposure of your photos. Simply drag your finger to set just the right exposure and focus point.
• And more… Restyled status and navigation bars, new full-screen mode, and enhancements to Motorola features like Touchless Control.

We’re still waiting for a plethora of other devices to receive the update, including the Google Edition HTC One and Nexus 10. Motorola, however, finally appears to be on top of its game, and that’s certainly a good thing.

From 9to5toys.com

We are seeing one of the best deals yet on Motorola’s Moto X, now that Amazon is offering the device for just a penny with a two year contract.

For a little while there, Verizon was offering the Moto X for just $50 along with the use of its online customization tool, which allows users to choose the color of the device and its accents along with an inscription. Even though today’s deal doesn’t allow for the use of the Moto Maker customization app, with the half off promo now over, Amazon’s offer is not one to be missed for those in the market for a Moto X. It also comes on Verizon, which means customers will be able to upgrade to KitKat right away.

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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.

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Motorola’s world may be concentrated on the release of the Moto G this week but Big Red is working to shift some attention back to the Moto X. The carrier is offering a $50 promotion on customized orders through Moto Maker until November 18th.

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Motorola’s Moto G announcement just ended as the company truly introduced something very aggressive and perhaps exactly what the smartphone market has needed for a very long time. There’s little question that a lot of customers are turned off by the high price of today’s smartphones and that’s exactly the mindset Motorola is aiming to change. The company hopes to convince customers that aggressive pricing featured with specs that match “high-end” smartphones don’t require a $500+ price tag.

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Motorola’s live-stream announcement of the Moto G is taking place as I type these very words, but a special announcement for Moto X users was just announced. Dennis Woodside, CEO of Motorola since its acquisition by Google in May of 2012 just told the world his company will be updating all Moto X devices to Android 4.4 KitKat in a “matter of weeks.”

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Update: Republic Wireless now has the Moto X available on their website for purchase beginning this morning, November 14th. 

Republic Wireless is making good on their promise to release the Moto X to the public in November with the expected to hit shelves this week according to a Mashable report. The device will retail at $299 from the Republic Wireless store and features all the tricks we’ve come to expect from Motorola’s first true “Google” smartphone.

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When Motorola launched its first smartphone as a Google company with the Moto X back in August, the big stand out feature for the device was the ability to apply over 2000 customizations at the time of purchase. Motorola let users pick the front, back, and accent colors, match headphone and case colors, and more all though its MotoMaker.com online ordering tool. Unfortunately, until today the MotoMaker tool was exclusive to AT&T with other carriers only selling white and black models of the Moto X.

The good news is AT&T’s exclusivity window has now officially ended and starting today you can order a customized Moto X through Moto Maker from all major US carriers including AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon.
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When the clock strikes November 13th, all eyes will be on Motorola and the announcement of their upcoming Moto G. We’ve just learned via Motorola’s Twitter and G+ pages that the device will be launched from Sao Paulo, Brazil. What that might indicate is that it is a mid-range smartphone meant for global emerging markets. Sao Paulo is an unusual venue for a high-profile smartphone launch and we’re hypothesizing that means the specs won’t be blowing anyone away. The tweet from Motorola this morning informed the world of the new launch details and provided a link to a Google+ page where it’s likely more information will be released as the announcement goes down.
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Moto X fans take note as prolific mobile leaker @evleaks has indicated that the wood-based model is still very much alive. It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything out of Motorola regarding the wood units, but where there’s a will there’s a way and @evleaks is providing the goods. It was back in August that @evleaks first previewed and teased the four variants of the wood-based cover. There’s still the extra $50 cost associated with the wood and we’ll just assume that extra cost is simply the price of going up to your friends and bragging you have a “wood” smartphone.

The image itself comes from a screen-grab taken from MotoMaker and shows off Teak, Ebony, Rosewood and Bamboo wood tones. The styles are expected to arrive anytime in the fourth quarter which began at the beginning of October so any.day.now.