Moto X scores perma-price cut with the dawn of 2014

 As everyone awakens bleary-eyed from a celebratory night of ushering in the new year, Motorola has announced a permanent price cut for its no-contract Moto X flagship handset. Whilst a bit too late for those of you who grabbed one of these customizable phones for the holidays, the holdouts among us who have been waiting for a price drop can get the device for $399 USD off contract.

Motorola is inviting all to "ring in the new year" with a sans-contract Moto X, the price of which is now $399, with the handset maker promising it applies to any color combination. This under cuts some of Motorola's competitors' handsets, with the company taking a direct jab at the iPhone 5s and GALAXY S 4 pricing -- both are higher than the new Moto X pricing.

This contrasts with yester-year's $499 pricing, and brings it closer to the Nexus 5, financially speaking. You'll still need to drop another $100 if you want to get the fancy wood backing, and this price drop applies to the 16GB model. If you want to get the no-contract 32GB model, you're going to be shelling out $449.99 instead.

At the end of the day, the price drop gives consumers another solid handset option -- off contract -- that doesn't break the bank. Whether buyers will be jumping aboard the Moto X ship this new year or going with the slightly-less-expensive Nexus 5 is yet to be seen, but for those dreaming of a special color scheme or some polished bamboo goodness, Motorola has used the dawning of the new year to make its wares a bit more attractive.





SOURCE : slashgear

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Moto G Android 4.4.2 KitKat upgrade surprise release today

Motorola has released Android 4.4.2 KitKat for the Moto G, surprising users with an early upgrade for the mid-range smartphone. The company had previously promised to begin its KitKat update program sometime by early 2014, but got in on the game early with the surprise best-seller Moto G.

The update, which begins rolling out today, is initially for unlocked Moto G handsets bought either on Amazon or through Motorola's own webstore in the US. Those who bought a Moto G through a carrier, or in a different region - whether through a carrier or not - will get the update "soon" Motorola promises, though there's no public timeline as yet.

It's not the only Motorola device which has been getting some delicious KitKat today. Verizon began distributing an update for the DROID Ultra, the DROID Maxx, and the DROID Mini earlier, part of Motorola's earlier commitment to release more timely updates.

The update for the DROID Ultra, the DROID Maxx, and the DROID Mini also started to roll out in Brazil for retail handsets, Motorola confirmed, with more carriers and regions set to follow soon.

Android has been broadly criticized for the breadth of OS versions handsets launch running, with many existing users still languishing one or more versions behind, and new devices still on sale with out-of-date software preinstalled. It's in marked contrast, many have observed, to Apple's iOS update process; over 70% of iOS devices now run the latest iOS 7 recent figures suggested.



SOURCE: Slashgear

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Motorola 'Project Ara' modular smartphone prototype nears completion

Motorola CEO Dennis Woodside has confirmed that a Project Ara prototype is nearing completion. Project Ara is a collaboration between Motorola and 3D Systems to produce “Phonebloks” — modular smartphones whose components can be replaced like Legos. The confirmation occurred yesterday in a Google+ Hangout.

Project Ara harnesses the technical expertise of Motorola and the vibrant development community fostered by 3D Systems. The two companies have already collaborated in the form of “make-a-thons” on the MAKEwithMOTO tour, which took the creative process to engineering and design schools. Motorola has also invited feedback and inspiration from potential users of Project Ara phones via its dscout page.

The project was commenced because smartphone components tend to wear out one at a time, and because different components are upgradeable at different times. Normally when a smartphone user wants just one aspect of the phone to be better, faster, shinier, they replace the entire smartphone. This leads to material and monetary waste on the consumer level. With a Project Ara phone, modules can be replaced one at a time. Want a new Bluetooth model? Just snap it in. New battery, camera, processor? Easily done.

If the project becomes a consumer-level reality available to billions of users, the effect on the smartphone industry as a whole could be very interesting indeed to witness. For one, it could affect the rate at which manufacturers release new models. Assuming the prototype functions well enough to continue, and assuming the public launch is received well — which is still a long ways off — this could be a major win for consumers over the long haul.



SOURCE: The Next Web

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Moto X benchmarks leak specifications in black

Right here a the start of another week of Moto X leaks leading up to the official August 1st device reveal comes Motorola’s next hero phone spilling essentially in full, complete with specifications, benchmarks, and all. The device is captured by a leakster who has decided to photograph the phone with benchmarks running hot, 3DMark and AnTuTu included. BONUS: The FCC has been so kind as to drop some additional details on this machine here as well, dimensions galore!

The Moto X has been all but confirmed here by the FCC to be working with a body thats 128.5mm by 65mm large, this containing what’s almost certainly a non-removable battery that’s 2200 mAh space-wise. The FCC has spilled the full-on next-generation abilities of this machine to go 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, Wi-fi full-speed-ahead!

The iteration of this device appearing through this leak appears to be the GSM version – that being one of the basics that’ll be sold directly through Motorola complete with customizations on its outer hardware. This exact model likely has slightly less-than-final software aboard, but we can tell from here that it’s essentially running the newest version of Android available: 4.2.2 Jelly Bean.

That means that the final device will either be running this newest Android as it exists on the Nexus 4 and Google Play editions of the Galaxy S 4 and HTC One, or it’s simply a tester (it really is, don’t fool yourself) that’ll eventually get an upgrade to a newer Android, 4.3 more likely.

Inside you’ll find the device-code XT1058 “Ghost”, this pointing toward it possibly being along AT&T’s line of innards. Inside you’ll also find 16GB of internal storage, working with NFC, and sporting two cameras. The front-facing camera comes in at 2.1-megapixels while the back-facing camera comes in at a cool 10.5-megapixels.

This next-generation camera should be encouraging for those guessing that this Motorola smartphone will ONLY be winning out on hardware customizability, not specifications market topping. That said, this machine wont be killing the rest of the market for processing abilities, running here a Qualcomm S4 Pro MSM8960DT 1.7GHz SoC with Adreno 320 GPU.

That’s dual-core and essentially one-upping the Nexus 4 without growing so powerful as the HTC One or Galaxy S 4, each of them working with the quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600. This Moto X and its S4 Pro hit 18753 in AnTuTu in this tester’s leaks along with a 3DMark Ice Storm Extreme score of 7143 – not half bad!

ALso you’ll find this 4.3-inch display’s processor to be rolling out with 720p – aka 720 x 1184 pixels in this case, with a screen density at 320 dpi. Or at least that’s what AnTuTu says. It’s quite possible the machine’s display is 4.5-inches without on-screen buttons or 4.7 counting said buttons – but it’s all still up in the air until we see the final product!



SOURCE: Android Police

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Moto X benchmarks leak specifications in black

Right here a the start of another week of Moto X leaks leading up to the official August 1st device reveal comes Motorola’s next hero phone spilling essentially in full, complete with specifications, benchmarks, and all. The device is captured by a leakster who has decided to photograph the phone with benchmarks running hot, 3DMark and AnTuTu included. BONUS: The FCC has been so kind as to drop some additional details on this machine here as well, dimensions galore!

The Moto X has been all but confirmed here by the FCC to be working with a body thats 128.5mm by 65mm large, this containing what’s almost certainly a non-removable battery that’s 2200 mAh space-wise. The FCC has spilled the full-on next-generation abilities of this machine to go 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, Wi-fi full-speed-ahead!

The iteration of this device appearing through this leak appears to be the GSM version – that being one of the basics that’ll be sold directly through Motorola complete with customizations on its outer hardware. This exact model likely has slightly less-than-final software aboard, but we can tell from here that it’s essentially running the newest version of Android available: 4.2.2 Jelly Bean.

That means that the final device will either be running this newest Android as it exists on the Nexus 4 and Google Play editions of the Galaxy S 4 and HTC One, or it’s simply a tester (it really is, don’t fool yourself) that’ll eventually get an upgrade to a newer Android, 4.3 more likely.

Inside you’ll find the device-code XT1058 “Ghost”, this pointing toward it possibly being along AT&T’s line of innards. Inside you’ll also find 16GB of internal storage, working with NFC, and sporting two cameras. The front-facing camera comes in at 2.1-megapixels while the back-facing camera comes in at a cool 10.5-megapixels.

This next-generation camera should be encouraging for those guessing that this Motorola smartphone will ONLY be winning out on hardware customizability, not specifications market topping. That said, this machine wont be killing the rest of the market for processing abilities, running here a Qualcomm S4 Pro MSM8960DT 1.7GHz SoC with Adreno 320 GPU.

That’s dual-core and essentially one-upping the Nexus 4 without growing so powerful as the HTC One or Galaxy S 4, each of them working with the quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600. This Moto X and its S4 Pro hit 18753 in AnTuTu in this tester’s leaks along with a 3DMark Ice Storm Extreme score of 7143 – not half bad!

ALso you’ll find this 4.3-inch display’s processor to be rolling out with 720p – aka 720 x 1184 pixels in this case, with a screen density at 320 dpi. Or at least that’s what AnTuTu says. It’s quite possible the machine’s display is 4.5-inches without on-screen buttons or 4.7 counting said buttons – but it’s all still up in the air until we see the final product!

SOURCE: Android Police

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Moto X press image leaks ahead of August event

The cat’s finally out of the bag, and we’ll be getting our first official look at the heavily-rumored Moto X come August 1, but there are a still a few days left before that happens, leaving the door wide open for even more leaks and rumors to make their way to the front. This time around, we’re treated with a clean press shot of the Moto X.

This isn’t the first clear photo that we’ve seen of the device, as Google chairman Eric Schmidt modeled off the phone in a few “spy” shots a few days ago. That provided us a good look of the back of the device with the glossy curved shell. However, today’s press image gives us the first clear look at the front of the handset.

There’s nothing too surprising in the press image above, other than that it appears Motorola did away with the obnoxious logo on the upper-left corner that we saw in a Verizon leak earlier this month. The device also looks identical to what we saw in a leaked promo video for the Moto X.

We’ll be seeing the phone’s unveiling on the first of the month, and the only evidence we have for a public launch date is US Cellular’s leaked release date of August 26. From that, it’s probably safe to say that other major carriers will follow suit and launch the phone towards the end of the month.

What’s perhaps the most interesting tidbit is how Motorola will be conducting the unveil event on August 1. From the invitation that we received, it looks like the company might not have one grand keynote, but rather multiple sessions detailing different bits about the phone. Plus, these details will have embargo times that are lifted later in the day. It’ll be interesting how it goes, but we’ll be there to bring you the latest about the Moto X, so stick around.

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Motorola Mobility job listing hints at future wearable technology ambitions

Google is no stranger to wearable technology, having created Glass and all. But a job listing that has cropped up for Google-owned Motorola Mobility hints at a larger picture of the company’s wearable technology ambitions, with things like “the new Motorola” and its “future in Google” being mentioned alongside a description for the prospective hire.

Motorola, likewise, has more than dabbled in the areas of wearable technology, with one of its examples visible in the image above. Where it is heading with its new ambitions is yet to be seen. What we do know from the looking at the job listing, however, is that whatever it is will be aimed at the consumer in a way that has mass appeal.

The job listing calls for someone who has extensive experience in design, and one of the requirements for the position is “7 years plus in a senior position of Industrial Design,” with it being preferred that the candidate have “15+ years of work experience in design of tech, consumer product and/or apparel.” We also get a glimpse of the larger picture: “The wearables design team will lead the establishment of our brand in the massive competitive and growing space of wearable connected products.”

The question as this point is where Motorola – and Google by proxy – is heading. Smartwatches are one area of wearable technology where companies are scrambling to get their own devices onto consumers’ wrists, but the potential extends beyond that and smartwatches have received more than a bit of criticism, among them being claims that the younger generations won’t want to wear them.

At the D11 conference, we got a good look into how the company sees the next generation of wearable technology. Motorola’s Advanced Technology and Projects Group chief Regina Dugan showed off an electronic tattoo that would decrease authentication processes, for example. Also discussed was a “smart pill” that transforms one’s body into an authentication token.

Says the job listing: “Our ambition is to make Motorola a recognized leader in design of all things mobile. We will do this by creating product experiences that are lead by consumer insight and intuition, keen design sensibility and cutting edge technologies. We want our products and brand to be experienced and loved by millions of people worldwide. We want to create the new Motorola.”

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