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984 'Motorola' stories May 2011 - August 2015
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Big and small: Upcoming Moto 360L and 360S surface in leaked photos

Avatar for Cam Bunton Aug 27 2015 - 8:22 am PT
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Recently we revealed that Motorola’s new smartwatch passed through the Brazilian equivalent of the FCC. In it, the filings indicated that Motorola is clearly working on two sizes for its next generation Moto 360 smartwatch. Moto 360L and Moto 360S will seemingly keep the same ‘flat tire’ on the bottom of the screen, and similar round metal cases but there are clear differences. Today, both big and small versions of the Moto 360 have popped up in individually leaked photos.


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Moto X Play unboxing and first impressions [Video]

Avatar for Cam Bunton Aug 25 2015 - 1:18 pm PT
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Motorola announced a handful of new devices at an event just last month. The now Lenovo-owned company unveiled the new Moto G and two versions of the Moto X: Play and Style (or Pure). The Moto X Play is Motorola’s attempt at bringing a competitively-priced phone to the market with near-flagship specifications. For just under £280 in the UK you get a device with a full HD (1080 x 1920) 5.5-inch display, an octa-core processor and a gigantic 3,630mAh battery. It’s water-repellent, has a 21MP camera and — best of all — runs an almost vanilla version of Android 5.1.1 Lollipop.


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Droid Maxx 2 back cover appears in leaked images, possible US variant of Moto X Play

Avatar for Tom Maxwell Aug 24 2015 - 8:42 am PT
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Motorola’s recently announced Moto X Play isn’t coming to the United States — not with that name, at least. It’s widely believed to be coming to the states exclusively on Verizon as the Droid Maxx 2, and the widely-sourced Hellomotohk has released new images of what is purportedly the back cover of the phone.

The most notable thing about these images is how the Verizon and DROID branding blends in with the rest of the cover — Verizon tends to plaster the back of its DROID phones with prominent logos. It depends on how the covers are manufactured and at what stage these were taken off the line to be pictured, but hopefully this is what the back will look like at its consumer release.

The reason it’s believed that the Moto X Play will come to the US as a re-branded Verizon phone is due to simple pattern-matching: Motorola builds all of Verizon’s DROID line of smartphones, and save for modifications to outward appearance and features, they tend to follow Motorola’s phones closely in terms of their baseline platform. Last year’s Droid Turbo, for example, was a tuned up Moto X. And in particular the Moto X Play compromises in places where Motorola’s other recently announced phone, the X Style, doesn’t, in favor of a larger battery. The Droid Maxx is traditionally Verizon’s line targeted at those who want large batteries.

Based on the sight of two different back plate covers, it seems possible that Moto Maker or something similar will be available for this phone, but we wouldn’t get our hopes up. Nothing pictured has been confirmed by Motorola or Verizon, and could be fake.

2nd-gen Moto 360 allegedly shows up in the wild, complete with “flat tire” and regular watch strap lugs

Avatar for Cam Bunton Aug 23 2015 - 6:12 am PT
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Not long ago, we revealed that Motorola’s next generation smart watch has made its way through testing and registration with the FCC in Brazil. That was after Motorola itself ‘accidentally’ leaked it. Now it seems, people testing the device in Chicago are just walking around and hopping on public transport wearing the unreleased wearable. Google Plus user, Gerrit Gödecke spotted one being worn while riding a Chicago commuter train and managed to snap a few shots.

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Moto X Play available in Canadian retail stores this Friday, August 21 (Update: $420 CAD)

Avatar for Tom Maxwell Aug 18 2015 - 2:47 pm PT
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Update: Canadian mobile operator TELUS has just posted its pricing for the Moto X Play, and it will be $50 CAD on a 2-year plan or $420 CAD unlocked.

Are you a Canadian eagerly awaiting the day when you can finally get Motorola’s new Android-powered Moto X Play in your hands? Well, this weekend is going to be great for you, as Motorola Canada has just announced that will be available in retail stores starting this Friday.

[tweet https://twitter.com/Motorola_CA/status/633735528110649348 align=’center]

Earlier today we saw Motorola begin to accept orders for the Moto X Play online through its Moto Maker personalization tool for approximately $400 USD. Orders through that system have been displaying an estimated delivery date of the 26th and 27th for some of the 55 countries (Europe, Latin America, and Canada) that the new phone is being sold in. Motorola Canada’s website has yet to be updated with pricing information, and the company has traditionally only sold its phones through carriers in Canada — not unlocked. There’s no word on when the Moto X Play will make it to retailers in the other 54 countries.

The Moto X Play is quite similar to the Moto X Style, also unveiled at the same time, but compromises on internal specifications in favor of a water-repellent design and quoted 48 hours of battery life. Where the Moto X Style is more beastly than the X Play is in its display, processor clock-speed, and total RAM — the X Style has a 5.7-inch Quad HD display, a 1.8GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 808, and 3GB of RAM, whereas the X Play has a 5.5-inch Full HD display, a 1.7GHz Snapdragon 615, and 2GB of RAM. You still get the same 21 megapixel camera, 5-megapixel front-facing camera, and the battery capacity is 3630 mAh versus 3000 on the X Style.

As with all Motorola smartphones these days, expect a very light Android experience (Lollipop until Android Marshmallow comes out) with almost no Motorola-preinstalled software save for well-regarded features like Moto Assist. That is, after all, one of the main selling points of Motorola phones today aside from their reasonable prices off-contract.

Motorola Canada’s The United States was left out of this phone’s release, but Motorola says that it will be bringing more new offerings stateside sometime in the near future.

Motorola shows off its new manufacturing facility in India with Moto E cameo [Video]

Avatar for Tom Maxwell Aug 18 2015 - 10:27 am PT
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Motorola and its parent company Lenovo recently opened a new manufacturing facility in India that is predicted to output as many as 6 million smartphone units annually. Motorola India published a video to YouTube today showing off the plant — in it you can see some of the individual steps that go into putting together a 2015 Moto E, much of which still seems to be done by hand.

The new plant has been created in support of a “Made in India” campaign that the government there has been pushing in order to get more companies manufacturing in India. The campaign so far has attracted big names including Microsoft, Xiaomi, LG, ASUS, and several others. India’s government hopes increased manufacturing investment in a handful of sectors including electronics will spark job creation and GDP growth, a good measure of living standards that is still low in the country. Lenovo earlier today tweeted a picture from a press event celebrating the company’s new plant.

Maybe this means India will finally get access to Moto Maker?

Moto X Play begins showing up for order in Moto Maker, August 26 delivery date

Avatar for Tom Maxwell Aug 18 2015 - 9:21 am PT
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Motorola’s Moto X Play, its midrange, water-repellent Android smartphone unveiled a few weeks back, is now beginning to show up on Motorola’s international sites in countries where the company announced it would be selling the phone. We first spotted it in Motorola’s Moto Maker smartphone personalization tool on the German and UK sites.


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Mysterious Motorola ‘360S’ and ‘360L’ products pass through Brazil’s FCC

Avatar for Tom Maxwell Aug 14 2015 - 3:04 pm PT
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Two products with the model numbers 360S and 360L have passed through the telecommunications agency Anatel in the past week. While much information has been omitted from public eyes, a couple details lead us to believe that Motorola is reaching the launch of a successor to last year’s Android Wear-powered Moto 360 smartwatch — and in two sizes.


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Did Motorola just accidentally reveal the new Moto 360? (Update: Deleted) [Photo]

Avatar for Tom Maxwell Aug 14 2015 - 11:46 am PT
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Update: This post has been updated to include prior knowledge regarding a leaked image of Moto 360 prototypes by Lenovo’s CEO.

Update 2: No surprise, the tweet has since been removed after a couple hours.

What does the smartwatch in the above image look like to you? Yes, it looks like a Moto 360 except, wait — it doesn’t exactly. The watch pictured above just appeared in a video tweeted out by Motorola Mobility, and its differences with Motorola’s first Android Wear watch have led some to believe that it’s an inadvertent leak of the company’s much anticipated successor to the 360. The tweet is still live as of writing.


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Motorola says the new Moto X Pure Edition will be available September 3rd

Avatar for Stephen Hall Aug 12 2015 - 9:58 am PT
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The 3rd generation Moto X, also known as Moto X Style, also known as (officially, in the United States) Moto X Pure Edition, is set to become available for purchase in the US on September 3rd.

The phone, announced a couple of weeks ago alongside the Moto X Play, packs a 5.7-inch Quad HD display, a Snapdragon 808, 3 GB of RAM, 4G LTE, a beastly 21-megapixel main camera, a 5-megapixel front cam, and a 3,000 mAh battery.

Moto X Style, known as the “Pure Edition” stateside, will cost $399 for the base model. The Moto X Play will be available in 55 countries starting August (but, unfortunately, this doesn’t include the United States).

https://twitter.com/Motorola/status/631502920295534592

Project Fi customers can get their Nexus 6 replaced for $100

Avatar for Cam Bunton Aug 12 2015 - 8:04 am PT
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If you bought a Nexus 6 from Google during your Project Fi setup process, you may be surprised to know that the company will replace that device once for a fee of just $100. That means, if you dropped your phone and damaged it somehow, all you need to do is make a quick call to Project Fi customer support and they’ll arrange the replacement (via Android Central).

It’s pretty straight-forward, and given the no-questions-asked policy, you can literally swap your Nexus 6 for any reason within the first 12 months of ownership. If you manage to avoid any serious damage to your Nexus and it’s getting a little worn and old, you can ring up and swap for a fresh, shiny new one, as long as you’ve owned it for less than a year.

Of course, if a handset goes faulty during regular warranty period, your usual warranty terms apply. This hidden perk is more of an insurance policy against accidental damage, or things not normally covered by the product warranty. If your screen cracks on your Project Fi-powered Nexus, you know now that you don’t have to spend a fortune on getting your display replaced, or having to make do with a terrible backup phone.

 

4.7-inch Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 available in US and Canada from Friday

Avatar for Cam Bunton Aug 10 2015 - 6:00 am PT
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Months after its initial announcement at MWC in Barcelona, Alcatel OneTouch is finally making the smaller, 4.7-inch Idol 3 available to buy in the US and Canada. You will be able to order the device for $179 from the company’s online store or  Alcatel’s official Amazon store from Friday, August 14. In terms of design, the 4.7-inch model looks virtually identical to its bigger brother. But it does come with different specifications.

Instead of housing a full HD display panel, the smaller phone comes with a 1280×720 resolution screen. Thanks to its size, that still pushes it over the 300ppi mark. It has a 13MP rear camera, 5MP front camera and has a 2,000mAh battery to keep it going all day. What’s more, it’s powered by a Quad-core 1.2GHz processor paired with 1.5GB RAM and with 16GB of internal storage. Like the bigger model, you can expand the memory using a MicroSD card, but only up to an extra 32GB. Surprisingly, for a phone this small, it still manages to pack in a pair of stereo front facing speakers powered by JBL audio, just like the 5.5-inch model.

On the software side, it runs Android 5.0.2, what’s more, a security update to patch the Stagefright bug will be available to download OTA as soon as you power the device on.

Overall, it’s a promising device but it will be interesting to see how well it compares to Motorola’s latest Moto G. At the same price point, and similar-ish specs, these two devices are clear competitors.

Motorola confirms StageFright bug fix coming to 11 smartphone lines including new Moto X and Moto G

Avatar for Cam Bunton Aug 10 2015 - 3:15 am PT
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Motorola has joined several other Android OEMs in confirming that it will be rolling out a StageFright software fix for many of its popular smartphone lines. As you’d expect, this includes the newly announced Moto X and Moto G handsets as well as a number of older devices.

The new devices will be patched from launch, while others may be subject to the usual carrier approval and testing. Carrier partners will receive the software and start testing on August 10th. In all, there are 200 variants of software to be patched, tested and released. So it could take time for you to get your fix.

The list of devices includes:

  • Moto X Style (patched from launch)
  • Moto X Play (patched from launch)
  • Moto X (1st Gen, 2nd Gen)
  • Moto X Pro
  • Moto Maxx/Turbo
  • Moto G (1st Gen, 2nd Gen, 3rd Gen)
  • Moto G with 4G LTE (1st Gen, 2nd Gen)
  • Moto E  (1st Gen, 2nd Gen)
  • Moto E  with 4G LTE (2nd Gen)
  • DROID Turbo
  • DROID Ultra/Mini/Maxx

As I’m sure you’re now aware, it recently came to light that Android had a serious, gaping hole left in its coding. Dubbed ‘Android’s worst vulnerability in Mobile OS history‘ StageFright would essentially allow anyone with the ability and motive to include malware in any video MMS message. It could potentially affect your phone before you even open or see the message. To be safe, be sure to read our guide on how you can protect yourself against it until your software fix arrives.

Google adds 40 new companies to the Android for Work program

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jul 30 2015 - 9:22 am PT
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Google’s Android for Work program already has more than 10,000 businesses that are “testing, deploying or using Android for Work” in some capacity, and now the company has announced 40 new partners. Notably, several Android handset OEMs are joining the group, as well as 8 cellular carriers.

The Android for Work program took off with the help of our partners across the Android ecosystem, and today we’re expanding the family to 40 companies to continue the momentum, including new device manufacturers, application makers and management providers.

AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, T-Mobile, HTC, Sony, LG, Huawei, Lenovo, Motorola, Dell, and HP are among some of the notable additions. Google makes note of Blackphone as one of the newly-partnered companies that brings the enhanced privacy and security features on top of the Android platform.

Moto G 2015 36-hour review: This is the perfect $179 smartphone…for my kids

Avatar for Seth Weintraub Jul 30 2015 - 8:31 am PT
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I’ve long been a fan of what Motorola has been doing with their smartphones and peripherals, and this week’s announcements are no exception. Both of the headphones Moto released, the Moto Surround and especially the Moto Pulse are top notch. I’ve been using the Pulse exclusively since the event and couldn’t be happier. They are so light that you forget they’re even on your head, while at the same time they have a mic for calls, a battery meter on your phone ,and they swivel so they pack flat. Oh and the sound is excellent – comparable to a $200 set of heavy cans from other mid/high tier vendors. At $60, the Pulse headphones are a no-brainer if you need light over-ears for a reasonable price.

But the Moto G 3rd edition is what we’re here to talk about…
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Poll: OnePlus 2 and Moto X Pure Edition compared – which is your pick?

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jul 29 2015 - 7:36 am PT
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Both the OnePlus 2 and the Moto X Pure Edition were announced this week, showcasing the best that these two Android OEMs have to offer this year. Both of these devices were horribly-kept secrets in their own ways, so there weren’t many surprises — we already knew almost every detail about both phones before they were announced.

But now that they’re here, which one do you think you’ll be getting? Or if you’re not in line for an upgrade right now, which one would be your pick? Let’s take a look at a few of their differences…
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Motorola’s SVP of Software talks about the new Moto X and future development

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Jul 29 2015 - 7:27 am PT
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In an interview in Engadget, Motorola’s SVP of Software Seang Chau spoke briefly about the focus the company had chosen for the development of its latest Moto X smartphone, and where he saw the next generation of smartphones heading.

Chau said that Google “levels the playing field every time” by adding to Android features that were once device-specific. It’s for this reason that Motorola has chosen to focus on the ‘always on’ capability of the Moto X Style (or Moto X Pure Edition, as it is known in the U.S.).

We’ve got Moto Voice, where you just talk or make motions and gestures or you just approach it and [it] wakes up — those kinds of things, you can’t copy in software and if you try, you’ll just kill your battery. We put a lot of effort into always-on, and I think that’s where we’re going to continue focusing a lot of our software efforts.

The future would, he said, be in making intelligent assistants like Google Now, Siri and Cortana significantly more capable. So far, he considers them to be at the “getting there” stage … 
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Hands on with the Moto X Pure Edition Android phone [Video]

Avatar for Seth Weintraub Jul 28 2015 - 11:53 am PT
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The Moto X Style — called Moto X Pure Edition in the US — phones we got to play with at the end of today’s event were obviously very pure Android and with their much larger displays and heavy batteries very much reminiscent of the Nexus 6 that I’m carrying around. The one big and important difference is the Sony 21MP shooter on the back that in limited testing makes all the difference.


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PSA: ‘Moto X Style’ is simply ‘Moto X Pure Edition’ in the US

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jul 28 2015 - 9:49 am PT
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Motorola announced two new Moto X variants this morning, but the company didn’t do a great job of clarifying in its multi-national livestream exactly how the phones would be marketed in the United States. First, as we mentioned, there aren’t any plans to bring the Moto X Play to the US at all at this point. But secondly, and perhaps more confusingly, the Moto X Style isn’t really coming to the US, either. In the United States, the equivalent of the Moto X Style will simply be called “Moto X Pure Edition”.
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Motorola announces Bluetooth headphones: on-ear, and sports-oriented in-ear

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Jul 28 2015 - 7:21 am PT
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As part of a launch event for its new Android smartphones, Motorola has announced two new Bluetooth headphones compatible with most Android devices.

The $59.99 Moto pulse are stylish-looking on-ear headphones with beefy 40mm drivers, fold-flat ear cups for portability and a claimed 18-hour battery life. The $69.99 Moto surround earbuds are aimed at sports and fitness use, being both waterproof and sweatproof and equipped with a collar band designed to be light yet remain in place during exercise.

A companion Android app provides easy pairing, battery notifications and a location function to reunite you with either pair of headphones if you lose them.

3rd generation Moto G gets unboxed early, comes with 2 swappable back covers

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jul 27 2015 - 8:46 am PT
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Motorola has at least a few major announcements scheduled for tomorrow, but it looks like there aren’t going to be many surprises when it comes to the new Moto G. We’ve seen almost a dozen leaks already (including renders, more renders, real photos, more real photos, and even more real photos), but now we have what is essentially a full reveal. The packaging is in another language, but this unboxing is probably the clearest look we’ve had yet at what the company is going to be showing off tomorrow…
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