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Motorola's software chief on talking to phones and life after Google
Between showing off three new smartphones and two seemingly random pairs of Bluetooth headphones, it's safe to say Team Motorola had a pretty busy morning. Still, we wanted even more insight into the thinking that went into the new Moto Xs, the company's push into direct sales and the future of interacting with our phones, so we tracked down SVP of Software Seang Chau to help peel back the curtain covering the meat of Motorola's machinations.
Moto X Play hands-on: a little G, a little X
It's fair to say that the Moto X Play is the phone that no one expected from today's big event. Think of it as something between a Moto G and a Moto X. It's got the specs of a mid-ranger like the original Moto X, but has the pop-off covers and more practical design of the Moto G line. It's actually a fairly attractive phone; a little big for my tastes, perhaps, but everything feels well-built and sturdy, even if not mind-blowingly so. In my limited time with it, the 1.7GHz Snapdragon 615 processor seemed plenty fast enough, and its 5.5-inch, 1080p display looks very pretty (although it pales in comparison to the higher-end Style's Quad HD panel). Perhaps the only thing Play owners will be able to lord over Style owners is the phone's enormous 3,630mAh battery, which Motorola claims is good for two days of use, and supports quick charging.
The Moto X Play is the Style's more affordable cousin
While we expected Motorola to refresh the Moto X and revise the best-selling Moto G, we weren't anticipating a big-screened handset for those on a budget. The new water-repellent Moto X Play is designed to be exactly that: It's powered by a 1.7GHz Snapdragon 615 octa-core processor with 2GB of RAM and features a slightly smaller 5.5-inch full HD display, 21-megapixel rear-facing and 5-megapixel front-facing cameras and a whopping 3,630mAh battery that Motorola says will last around two days on a full charge. If you liked the Droid Turbo's longevity, then the Moto X Play could be your new favorite -- especially because its "TurboPower" quick-charging technology will get you back up and running in no time.
We're live from Motorola's 'Relationship' event!
Weeks of leaks and an early Moto G unveiling in India didn't keep Motorola from putting on a show here in New York (oh, and London too). And why should it? We're expecting to see a brand new Moto X take the stage this morning, and if we're really lucky, we might catch a glimpse of a shiny new Moto 360 to go with it. The most puzzling angle of all is Motorola's insistence that today will change our "mobile relationships," but hey -- it's still early and there's plenty of time for bizarre, corporate rationale. Bring it, Moto.
Watch Motorola's Moto X live stream here!
If you're a Motorola fan, you already know that the company is going to reveal a bunch of new stuff today. But did you know that you can watch a live stream of the whole shebang starting at 6AM PST/9AM ET? You can get your first look at the Moto X with its rumored 5.5-inch 1080p display and 21-megapixel camera, and possibly even a Moto X Sport version with a dustproof and waterproof body. You'll also see the new Moto G and possibly even see a refresh of one of the few Android Wear watches anybody likes, the Moto 360. You can check the live stream video below, but to get the real dirt, be sure to tune in to our live blog as well.
It looks like the next Moto G will work with Moto Maker
At this point, the Moto G 2015 edition is becoming one of Motorola's worst kept secrets. The latest piece of news, first reported by Evan Blass (aka @evleaks), is that the next Moto G is going to be compatible with Moto Maker for the first time -- following in the footsteps of its flagship sibling, the Moto X. A Reddit user is corroborating this info after breaking down a page on Motorola's website, which has now been pulled, revealing that people who buy the device via Moto Maker will have a variety of custom options to choose from. That includes being able to personalize the next G's front and back colors, plus choose its internal storage (up to 16GB) and memory (1 or 2GB). It also seems there won't be wood choices at launch, but that could eventually change -- we shall find out next week.
The Moto X and Nexus 6 have never been cheaper in the UK
Motorola's no stranger to flash sales in the UK, but its latest price drop could well be the one that clears its remaining stock ahead of a hardware refresh. Following the phone maker's two-day sale back in May, which saw it introduce healthy price cuts to the Moto X and Nexus 6, Motorola has gone even lower in an attempt to get you to buy a new phone. Third-party sites may have slashed its RRP briefly, but the company has officially cut the price of the Moto X by an impressive £166, pushing the 16GB model down to £229 and the 32GB version to £269 (with Moto Maker customisation included). The newer Nexus 6 gets an £80 reduction, meaning you'll pay £399 for 32GB and £469 for the 64GB model. It's a significant drop when you consider that you would have paid an additional £70 for the Moto X and £50 more for the Nexus 6 during last month's sale. If Motorola has piqued your interest but want a little time to think things over, it's giving you until the end of June to make your mind up.
Motorola's holding a two-day sale for its top devices in the UK
If the latest flagships from Samsung and HTC haven't impressed you, now might be a good time to reconsider a Motorola phone. Starting at midnight on May 18th, the company is holding a 48-hour sale in the UK with hefty discounts on the Moto X, Nexus 6 and Moto 360 smartwatch. The Moto X is being cut by £96, pushing the 16GB model down to £299 and the 32GB version to £339. The gargantuan Nexus 6, meanwhile, is being dropped to £449 (32GB) and £519 (64GB), which is just £30 less than the current asking price.
Here's what our readers think of the Moto X (2014)
In his review of the second-generation Moto X last September, our Senior Mobile Editor Chris Velazco called it "a huge step forward from last year's model." He complimented the seamless feel of the edges and thought its improved OLED screen was "one of the nicest smartphone screens I've seen in a while." But not everything was pure love with the 2014 Moto X. The battery can squeeze out a day at most, and the front camera fails to be "consistently good" and is often slow to focus, with photos full of grain. But in spite of these flaws, Chris felt that the new Moto X "earned itself a spot in the pantheon of smartphone greats." That's a pretty big proclamation to make; how well does it hold up? To find out, we turn to the discerning opinions of our loyal readers, who have taken to the product database page for the 2014 Moto X to share their own experiences with the phone. With a user average of 9.2, it was a definite improvement over the original Moto X (which averaged a score of 8.8), but would they agree with our reviewer's assessments?
Motorola returns to China with the Moto X Pro, a repackaged Nexus 6
After Lenovo's acquisition, it's a given that Motorola Mobility would eventually be making a comeback in China; and now we have confirmation of this, along with the announcement of a new, but familiar-looking model. After the Chinese New Year holidays (so toward the end of February), the phone maker will be launching the Moto X Pro, which is basically a rehashed Nexus 6: 6-inch QHD display, 2.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon 805, front-facing stereo speakers, a 13-megapixel main camera and a 3,220mAh battery. Interestingly, the Moto X Pro will be running on pure Android, but it'll obviously be lacking Google services as per local regulations. The latest Moto X and Moto G will also be headed to China, with the former launching in early February (with Moto Maker going live after the Chinese New Year), and the latter around the same time as the Moto X Pro.
Motorola slashes £100 off the new Moto X for a limited time
While Motorola's Nexus 6 is still missing from Google Play in the UK, there are plenty of Android flagship alternatives to choose from. However, the company's hoping you'll stay close to home and pick the slightly smaller and lower-specced Moto X, especially now that it's had £100 slashed off the asking price. As part of Cyber Monday, you can pick up the 16GB model for £319.99 and the 32GB variant for £359.99, or throw in an extra £20 for one of its various leather or wood backs. To claim the discount, you'll need to fill out this registration form between 8am on December 1st and 12pm on December 2nd; Motorola will then email you a promo code, which you'll need to submit online at the checkout for Moto Maker. Each discount code expires on December 16th at 5:59am, so if you claim now there's a still a couple of weeks for you to save up the cash or think about that pre-Christmas order. Of course, if you're still on the fence it's worth reading our Moto X review, where we placed it among "the pantheon of smartphone greats."
Motorola's march toward mobility
We owe a lot to Motorola and its team of inventors and engineers. The company made breakthroughs in portable radio and brought us one of the first-ever cellphones. It launched the flip phone, the clamshell and the wildly popular RAZR V3. There have been some ups and downs along the way, and the company's endured more than its share of corporate hand-changing, but with its Moto series and Nexus 6, it's now back amongst the smartphone elite. In this week's Rewind, we take a look at some of the milestones in Motorola's quest for portable communicators.
Meet Engadget's new buyer's guide picks: The iPhone 6, Moto X and more!
Here at Engadget, we make good on our promises. So when we say we're going to be updating our buyer's guide more frequently, well, gosh darn, we mean it. Roughly two months after we re-launched the guide, we're adding a bunch of new gadgets, including the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, the new Moto X, HTC One M8 for Windows, the Acer C720 Chromebook, the NVIDIA Shield gaming tablet and the Moto 360 smartwatch. Of course, we also had to remove some of our original picks to make room for the new ones: The new, 5.2-inch Moto X takes the place of the old 4.7-inch one, while the Moto 360 overtakes the Samsung Gear Live -- formerly our favorite Android Wear device. We're also getting rid of all the BlackBerrys for now. That's not to say BBM hold-outs should switch operating systems, but until we get to try the new BlackBerry Passport, we're going to refrain from including those older models. Check out our guide right here, and stay tuned for more updates next month -- who knows what we'll be adding then!
Create your own Moto X: Moto Maker now available in the UK
Motorola's new Moto X might not be sale in the UK yet, but that isn't stopping the company from letting customers create their own designs ahead of its release. Today, for the first time, Brits can get to grips with Moto Maker, Motorola's web-based customisation tool, allowing them to choose the finish, colours, cases, storage and even engraving options for their Moto X before putting down (at least) £419.99 to buy one. Moto Maker comes to the UK with a number of additional customisations in tow, including a new leather finish (that'll cost £20 extra and adds to the traditional plastic and wooden options) and a choice to include metal accents on the power and volume buttons, speaker grilles and that big Motorola logo on the back. On the subject of storage, you'll be forced to pay an extra £40 if you want the 32GB model, as the Moto X doesn't come with a microSD slot. Currently, you can only use Moto Maker to create your bespoke design and email it to yourself, allowing you to pick it back up and apply it when the Moto X eventually goes on sale later this month.
Motorola's UK store will now sell you the new Moto G and other devices
Although Motorola has offered phones in the UK for decades, the company has never let you buy direct. Even when it was owned by Google, it chose to point customers in the direction of retailers like Amazon. Now that Motorola is now part of Lenovo, however, the company has decided to take matters into its own hands by opening its first UK-focused online store. From today, you'll be able to order the second-generation Moto G in black or white for £149.99, although they both currently show pre-order availability. While it'll cost you £5 more to buy it from Motorola over Amazon, the online retail giant does note it could take between 1-3 weeks to reach your doorstep. Sure, only the Moto G is available today, but Motorola's UK launch does show that it's ready to handle the upcoming release of the Moto X and Moto 360. For the first time, Brits will be able to customise their Moto X using the company's Moto Maker tool, which is set to go live later this month.
Moto X up for pre-order and the 360 returns on September 16th
Eagerly awaiting the brand new Moto X? Well you'll have your chance to pre-order one on September 16th. Both the AT&T version and the unlocked Pure Edition will hit the web, with the carrier-free version setting you back $499. All the accessories announced alongside Moto's new flagship will also be available for pre-order on Tuesday, including tiny Moto Hint bluetooth earbud and the Turbo Charger, which cost $150 and $35, respectively. There's even good news for those of you upset that you missed out on the Moto 360 the first time around. The circular Android Wear smartwatch will go back on sale on the 16th as well. So set your alarm for noon (ET) on Tuesday and keep those credit cards warm.
Motorola will launch an unlocked bloatware-free Moto X this month
When it comes to Android crapware, AT&T's light-touch policy means that the new Moto X is already offering a close-to-stock experience. If, however, you want to be doubly sure that you're only getting what God Motorola intended, then the Pure Edition is likely to be the device for you. According to The Verge, the phone company will offer its homegrown equivalent to a Google Play Edition device on its store towards the second half of this month. Is it true? Probably, but that doesn't mean that we haven't reached out to the company for more information, and will update this to let you know what we find out. Update: Motorola have confirmed that the Moto X - Pure Edition will be coming, but declined to mention when it'd be arriving.
Moto X review (2014): from also-ran to amazing in one year
I'll be honest with you: When the first Moto X came out last year, some early apprehension soon gave way to unwavering fondness. It wasn't because of the sheer horsepower (there wasn't much of it) or a stunner of a screen (it was fine, at best). No, it was because the Moto X smacked of pluck. You could customize it to hell and back. It tried to improve on stock Android with software features that were actually quite useful. And the icing on the cake? It was a pure joy to hold. Motorola -- a company that basically jump-started the premium Android phone movement with the Droid before getting lost in an endless loop of modest annual upgrades -- seemed to have a pulse again. So here we are, one year later, and the X has finally gotten an upgrade to match the rest of the mobile big boys. Is it enough to make the new X a winner? Is Motorola really back? Read on, dear friends, and we'll see.
Hello Moto: when are Motorola's new products coming to the UK?
Like many other phone makers at IFA this week, Motorola has shown its hand, introducing a new flagship and a revamped version of its highly-rated budget smartphone. It's even told us when its circular smartwatch will go on sale. It's unleashed the Moto X, Moto G and Moto 360 on the world, but when are they coming to the UK and how much will they cost? Let us explain.
Feedback Loop: Camera advice, smartphone battery life and more!
Happy Saturday! Here's a fresh edition of Feedback Loop for your reading pleasure. This week we talk about suggestions for the best point-and-shoot cameras, battery life in the Nexus 5 and Moto X, streaming shows through TiVo's mobile apps and using Bluetooth with multiple devices at the same time.
