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.
Good morning, you lovelies! We’re coming at you live from the Altman Building in Manhattan, where Motorola will show off a slew of new goodies for us to lust over.
By “we” and “us,” I mean me, Chris Velazco, Terrence O’Brien and Edgar Alvarez on photo duty (poor guy).
Anyway, we’re about 10 minutes away from the start of the show! Hang tight for much, much more.
“You can tell the [Droid] Turbo is a notch lower than the [Moto] X” — some Motorola employee sitting behind me. No context, just bringing the juicy bits as I hear them.
I’m trying to nonchalantly lean back and eavesdrop on more of their conversation, but it’s starting to look pretty awkward.
Aaaaand there go the lights. 4 minutes early, no less!
Moto’s head of North American sales, Jeff Miller, is on-stage now laying things out. We’ll here from Rick Osterloh from Brazil, and CMO Adrian Hayes from London (among others).
US specifics will come toward the end of the show, since this is a global event.
Rick Osterloh will kick off the show proper in just a few minutes. In the meantime, more dance music!
Quick reminder: the Moto G is confirmed incoming http://www.engadget.com/2015/07/28/motorola-moto-g-third-gen-india/
And a brief aside: I will be heartbroken if the new Moto X doesn’t have that lovely finger groove. Sort of glad the fingerprint scanner thing didn’t pan out.
Now we’re turning it over to Rick Osterloh in Sao Paolo, who’s currently thanking us for tuning it. At this point, we’re basically just watching a screen. Great.
Talking up the Moto G, the company’s best selling smartphone ever — and a sales winner in Brazil for a full year.
And the Moto X, which was “often cited as the best Android smarpthone in the world” when it launched. I was probably one of those people.
Rick is talking more accolades, including 85% global customer satisfaction, and a 118% surge in Motorola sales.
The takeaway: tailoring phones for humans seems to be a winning strategy. Now, onto Moto’s CMO in London.
(CMO Adrienne Hayes, btw, has the best Twitter handle).
60% of people have slept holding their phones in their hands, while 17% have used them in the shower.
Smartphones “aren’t nearly as devoted to us” — they die, they break, they get slow. Only 39% of people say they’re actually happy with their device.
“You deserve a better mobile relationship, one that listens, is responsive.”
To that end, five principles go into making a great phone.
First, meaningful exchanges — no skin, and the best Google experience possible. Motorola only added features that built on the experience.
Nothing new so far, just running through Moto Voice and Touchless Commands (or whatever they’re called these days).
Next principle: making and sharing memories. The biggest addition on this front is the inclusion of “best-in-class” cameras. FINALLY.
Customization is obviously a big deal too, and you’ll still be able to use Moto Maker to make a phone that’s uniquely yours. “But it doesn’t matter if your phone doesn’t make it past 5PM.”
“We’ll deliver the fastest charge possible,” more details coming later 
“No relationship is healthy if you have to empty your wallet for it.”
THREE NEW MOTO PHONES. Is it the E? IS IT?
Oh, wow, someone’s actually on-stage here in New York. (It’s Jim Wicks, SVP of Design).
“There’s one more area where Moto X stands out against the competition: The design.”
Moto X style — a phone that’s beautiful inside and out. Still available with that wooden back, and the big honking finger groove is indeed gone.
(And seriously, it’s called the Moto X Style.)
5.7-inch Quad HD screen with a teensy bezel make for a “leading edge” screen-to-body ratio.
Front-facing stereo speakers! Can’t wait to make some BoomSound comparisons.
New silicon finish for the Moto X Style: “soft feel with a warm look”.
Or upgrade to natural materials, like Horween leather or the usual slew of “smooth wood backs”. Seven metallic accents to choose from, and three metal frames.
TurboPower: Moto X Style is the “world’s fastest charging phone.” Screw the competition, Wicks says it’s the fastest solution yet.
It’s “up to 50% faster” than the Galaxy S6’s charging speeds.
They’re also “extremely excited about the camera,” and have apparently revamped the thing entirely.
These cameras collect more light, capture images faster and focus faster.
The Moto X Style has a 21-megapixel rear camera. One analyst called it “one of the top three smartphone cameras in the world.”
There’s a photo of waves crashing up on screen now, and it looks pretty impressive — we’ll see how it holds up to closer scrutiny.
And to close out the photo series, a wide-angle selfie. Of course.
Here in the US, the Moto X Style will be available as a Pure edition, unlocked and sold straight from Motorola.com. Best feature: Universal LTE banding, so it’ll work on *every* carrier.
(Guys, I want it.)
We’re coming to the price, don’t be a tease Jim.
Moto X Style will cost “$200-300 less” than the latest devices from Apple and Samsung.
Back to Adrienne in London for the next product announcement — here comes the G!
Welp, no Moto E — the second device is the Moto X Play, with a 21-megapixel camera and a big battery. Should cost $300 or $400 less than other premium devices.
The battery is HUGE: 3,630mAh, or 42% more battery than the Galaxy S6.
Up to eight hours of power after 15 minutes of charger. Seems it uses the same 21-megapixel camera as the Moto X Style, but they haven’t come right out and said it.
Sadly, it has a slightly smaller 5.5-inch HD display.
Hayes is running through Moto Assist now, which will shush your phone while at home and let the phone talk to you in bars.
She *really* means the phone will talk to you: Moto Assist will read your messages out loud and transcribe your spoken responses.
Keep those performance expectations in check though: the Moto X Play has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 1.7GHz octa-core chipset.
OK, now it’s Moto G time for real.
Talking sales moment for the original and 2nd-gen Moto G, which have been big sellers worldwide. Some cheap rivals were dubbed “Moto G killers,” which only validated the G’s position.
“Less than a third of the cost of other flagship smartphones.”
Turns out the Moto G has a best-in-class camera, too. Motorola took the 13-megapixel camera from the Nexus 6, tweaked it a bit, and dropped it in here.
The camera packs an IR filter, and captures more light — finally. Oh, and there’s a 5-megapixel selfie camera up front, too.
We knew it was coming, but the Moto G is IPX7-rated too so it’ll safely handle splashes or immersion in up to a meter of water for up to 30 minutes.
The new G comes standard in black or white, along with a metal accent around the camera. Those colorful Moto shells are back too!
And, to top it all off, you can customize your Moto G in Moto Maker for the first time.
Moto G will remain one of the best values in the industry — a savings of about $400-$500 from normal flagship costs.
Just got a quick glimpse at the silicon, the G has a Snapdragon 410 chipset clocked at 1.4GHz with 512MB of RAM.
5-inch HD screen, too. This thing is going to sell like *crazy*.
And we’re back to Rick — “regardless of the phone you phone you’ll get the “best possible mobile relationships.”
Let’s talk availability. The Moto G can be ordered around the world today. The Moto X Style is unfortunately coming in September, but the Play will be launch in 55 countries in August.
Moto Maker is available in Brazil now, too! (Insert Portuguese word for “HOORAY” here).
Aaaaaaand that’s it for Rick, and the livestream. Nice and abrupt.
Uh-oh — looks like only the G and the Moto X Style are coming to the US.
The 8GB Moto G will set you back $179.99, and you can buy it from Amazon, Motorola, or BestBuy.com today.
Ah, “at this time we’re not making announcements” about Moto X Play availability.
We’re talking Moto X Pure Edition now, and this dude is namechecking all the blogs.
People — normal people! — apparently hate bloatware too. The Pure Edition is meant to bring a clean experience to those people.
The Pure Edition is unlocked with universal LTE support, pure Android experience and lifetime product support.
Direct-to-consumer, online-focused approach! The Moto X Pure will be sold through Motorola.com, Amazon.com, BestBuy.com, and available in Best Buy store in September.
WHOA. $399. HOT DAMN.
Repeat, that’s $399 for an apparently amazing phone from a known player — less than what you’ll pay for the ZTE Axon.
If you’re into Bluetooth headphones, we’ve got Moto Pulse — a $59.99 folding pair of over-hear headphones — and the around-the-collar earbud called the Moto Surround.
Moto Pulse will last for about 18 hours of tunes, while the Surround only lasts for 12 (size being the limiting factor, obviously). Both are available today.
OK, that’s about it for the show — we’re being directed to hands-on stations!
Thanks for watching, reading, and being generally lovely people. Stay tuned for hands-on impressions!
Filed under: Mobile
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