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.
Motorola’s ultra-afordable Moto G finally became available in the United States earlier this week from the company’s website, and now the device is available via Amazon (via Android Central). The online retailer is selling the device in both 8GB and 16GB capacities for $179 and $199, respectively.
Features of the Moto X include:
A brilliant 4.5-inch HD display – the sharpest in its class – that goes edge to edge so you can enjoy movies, photos, video chats and more.
The newest Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 400 processor featuring a quad-core CPU for seamless multitasking and enjoying the web, videos and games, with all-day battery life.
Android 4.3 Jellybean, the most up to date Android of any phone in its class, with a guaranteed upgrade to Android 4.4 KitKat in the beginning of 2014. No skins to clutter or slow the experience and great performance with Google’s unbeatable mobile services such as Gmail, YouTube, Google Maps, Chrome and Hangouts.
Stylish design with a comfortable curved back and 19 customization options, including interchangeable backs (coming soon) – Motorola Shells and Flip Shells in seven colors as well as Grip Shells in five colors.
The Moto G will ship on December 4th, should you order it from Amazon.
I love good news in the morning and that’s why the opportunity to purchase the Moto G direct from Motorola’s website well before January has us smiling. Our very own Seth Weintraub was able to successfully purchase the device and receive a shipping order for two days. It’s a great surprise from Motorola, especially when the company originally indicated the US would be a part of “Wave 2” and ship sometime after Christmas.
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.
Fresh from the Motorola Blog, it appears that Motorola will launch its first Android 4.4 KitKat update on Verizon first, with rollouts starting today. The KitKat update brings:
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.
I say ‘unusual’ because Verizon is usually the last of the four US carriers to roll out Android updates, usually owing the increased wait to Verizon’s lengthier testing process.
Motorola and Verizon have an unusually close bond however with the Google-owned manufacturer now making all of the carrier’s Droid products as well as pioneering the Droid brand. I anticipate that other carrier versions will follow close behind.
Note that I’m still waiting on the 4.4 update to hit the Google Play edition HTC ONE, and even my Nexus 4 and 10!
I guess Google and Motorola are finally tearing down the firewall. Expand Expanding Close
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.
For all the things the Moto G may be, there’s little question that the Moto G isn’t the phone for the individual who cares most about smartphone photography. With a $179 price tag, we understand some compromises will have to be made and even if a 5 megapixel camera, f/2.4 lens and flash combination are present, we know some tradeoffs are at hand in overall quality.
As I spent a good portion of the week considering the impressive move Motorola made by introducing a well-specced $179 smartphone, I realized they were doing something Nokia has been talking about doing for years. Never-mind for the moment whether Nokia should have gone all-in on Android before their risky and as-of-yet market share boosting bet on Windows Phone. In fact, I see that the thoughts I had in my head already being echoed by Stefan Constantinescu at Mobile Industry Review.
The Moto G news train continues this morning with the very first commercial already hitting YouTube showing off the customizable backs, display, processor, and Android 4.3 with “guaranteed upgrade.” In total, the sixty-second spot doesn’t show us a whole lot we don’t already know and only mentions “exceptional price” without mentioning the actual dollar amount.
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.
Motorola’s Moto G announcement is going down and the company is making no bones about wanting to produce a smartphone that is affordable while providing a premium experience. Motorola has done exactly that and there’s little question they are making some aggressive moves that dare I say will be called…”game-changing.”
Motorola’s set to kick off their Moto G announcement in just a few minutes and you can catch the stream from Sao Paulo, Brazil live on YouTube. Motorola, now a Google company will of course use YouTube for its live-streaming and we’ve got the link embedded above so keep your eyes on 9to5Google as we break down all the Moto G news.
There has been much talk of Motorola’s upcoming Moto G smartphone in recent weeks, the rumored “mini” follow up to its Moto X flagship launched earlier this year. After making a brief appearance on Motorola’s website, the company started teasing a November 13th live online announcement for the device, and now we get what look to be official specs from a German retailer already listing the Moto G.
The Phone House, a german retailer, today quickly posted and then removed a listing for the Moto G that was caught by The Unwired. On top of listing what we assume are official specs (below), it also quoted a price of £149 (approximately $235 US). That seems a little pricey to be the on-contract price for what many assume will be a budget version of the Moto X, so it could very well be the off-contract price, which compares to the $499 Motorola and carriers charge for the Moto X without a two-year contract. The Moto X currently sells for $99 on contract.
It’s no secret that Google thinks big when it comes to crazy, innovative technologies, and that appears to be just what the company is doing with its latest patent filing (via The Register). Google’s Motorola Mobility division, a year ago, filed for a patent relating to a temporary neck tattoo that can serve as a lie detector and includes a built-in microphone. It’s an incredibly out-there concept. Essentially, Motorola says you will be able to apply the tattoo with a sticky substance to your neck and wirelessly connect it to a mobile device.
The patent application suggests a couple of potential use cases. For one, Google points out that it could be used by security personnel that work undercover or in noisy environments. The application reads:
Mobile communication devices are often operated in noisy environments. For example, large stadiums, busy streets, restaurants, and emergency situations can be extremely loud and include varying frequencies of acoustic noise. Communication can reasonably be improved and even enhanced with a method and system for reducing the acoustic noise in such environments and contexts.
Google also suggests that it could be used in conjunction with a lie detector to tell when a user is speaking falsely, based on skin response.
Optionally, the electronic skin tattoo 200 can further include a galvanic skin response detector to detect skin resistance of a user. It is contemplated that a user that may be nervous or engaging in speaking falsehoods may exhibit different galvanic skin response than a more confident, truth telling individual.
Obviously this Google neck tattoo is still in the early stages of development, but it does raise some interesting questions as to what else Google is secretly working on. Expand Expanding Close
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. Expand Expanding Close
Usually reliable @evleaks has struck again, with a claimed photo of Motorola’s mid-range Moto G handset, due to be launched on the 13th.
The specs are rumored to comprise a 1.2GHz Snapdragon processor, 8GB storage, 4.5-inch 720p screen and a 5MP camera. An off-contract price of £135 ($217) has been suggested in the UK, which would make the handset an appealing proposition for those who want decent specs at an affordable price.
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. Expand Expanding Close
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.
Oh hi there Moto G teaser page with a November 13th launch date and live announcement sign-up.
After making a brief appearance on Motorola’s website, the rumored “Mini” version of the Moto X looks set for a launch a week from this Wednesday on November 13th. Current rumors peg the upcoming device as launching with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean, a 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon processor, a 5 megapixel camera and 8GB of storage. Outside of these potential specs, we’re pretty much in the dark on Motorola’s next budget smartphone.
Will it offer all the same features as the Moto X in a smaller, less expensive package? Should we spend lots of time misinterpreting the animation on the teaser page as some secret part of the device? We’ll know the answers to these questions and many more in just 9 days.
