The next Moto X may pack a smarter, metal-clad design
Way back in December, rumors suggested that Lenovo’s next big Motorola phone would go in a very different than ages past, including a metal chassis and a curious camera bump. Well, those rumors just got some validation. HellomotoHK has posted images of what appears to be both the next Moto X and its Droid-branded Verizon equivalent. Sure enough, they hint at a flatter, metallic body with a more elaborate camera array — are those dots on the side a clue to laser autofocusing? There’s also a fingerprint reader on the front, which puts the kibosh on the Pure Edition’s front-facing stereo sound… sorry, folks.
As for what’s inside? That’s less than clear, but supposed benchmarks from late last month hint that the top-end Motorola phone will carry a Snapdragon 820 processor and 4GB of RAM. It’s par for the course among 2016 Android flagships, then. You might not have to wait long to see how accurate these leaks are, though, as Lenovo has been teasing the launch of new Motorola devices on June 9th. The only question is whether or not you’ll see this particular phone among them. Although a high-end Moto seems like a good fit for that event, we won’t be surprised if you see something else on stage (such as the next Moto G) in a month’s time.
Source: HellomotoHK (Google+), Evan Blass (Twitter)
Lenovo launching new metal smartphone at MWC 2016
Lenovo India has teased a new metal smartphone to be launched at MWC 2016 next week, promising a “gorgeous new device” “engineered from scratch”. The teaser says to “brace yourselves” for the “knockout punch”. The top of the pictured device looks an awful lot like the Lenovo Lemon 3 which was launched in China last month, leading to speculation it will now see a release in India.
If so, the knockout punch will be the price. The Lenovo Lemon 3 retails for about $100 in China, meaning it would carry a price tag somewhere around 7,500 INR in India, or less than half the price of the OnePlus X. The Lemon 3 is a clear competitor for the Xiaomi Redmi 3, which retails for around the same price in China.
A gorgeous new device has been engineered from scratch to deliver the #Knockout punch. Brace yourselves. pic.twitter.com/PKwuxkaJEg
— Lenovo India (@Lenovo_in) February 12, 2016
http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
The Lenovo Lemon 3 specs include a 5-inch Full HD IPS LCD display, octa-core Snapdragon 616 chipset, 2 GB of RAM, 16 GB ROM with microSD expansion, 13 MP primary camera and 5 MP front-facing camera, 2,750 mAh battery, Android 5.1 Lollipop, LTE, dual-SIM and dual rear-facing stereo speakers.
Lenovo renames Moto’s Twitter account
As part of their rebranding efforts related to Motorola, Lenovo updated the name on the company’s Twitter account. The account is now @Moto_USA and is named “Moto US” to reflect the dropping of the Motorola brand.
To kick off 2016, Lenovo announced that they would be dropping the Motorola name from their branding efforts. This does not mean the company is dropping Motorola’s line of devices though and they are keeping the Moto brand name for what will become the company’s higher end devices. The Moto devices will join Vibe devices in Lenovo’s branding portfolio.
Lenovo has already announced they have plans for a new Moto smartphone to be launched this summer. Leading up to that Lenovo will be working to implement a variety of changes to effectively purge the Motorola brand so that Moto can stand on its own. This move to rename the Twitter account is one of those steps.
source: Moto US (Twitter)
Come comment on this article: Lenovo renames Moto’s Twitter account
Lenovo Vibe P1 Turbo announced, but its basically still the Vibe P1
Lenovo doesn’t seem to quite know what the term “Turbo” generally means when attached to a new smartphone. The Lenovo Vibe P1 Turbo has just been announced in Indonesia, but it’s almost identical to the Vibe P1 which was announced at IFA 2015.
Sure, the Vibe P1 Turbo has a massive 5,000 mAh battery, but so did the P1. It also supports Quick Charge 2.0 to get 60% charge in 30 minutes, but so did the P1. You can also use the P1 Turbo to reverse charge other devices, just like the P1. It also has the same processor, internal storage, Android version, fingerprint scanner and display. So what’s actually new about the P1 Turbo?
That’s a hard one to answer actually, because the product listing on Lenovo’s Indonesian site is so inconsistent. The splash page says the P1 Turbo has a 13 MP camera (the same as the P1) but the specs page says 16 MP. The splash page says 3 GB of RAM but the specs page lists 2 GB, just like the P1. It looks like the P1 gets dual micro-SIMs this time rather than nano-SIMs, but I wouldn’t guarantee it.
See also: Best dual-SIM Android phones
As confusing as this all is, the Vibe P1 Turbo also (probably) comes with NFC, LTE, Bluetooth 4.1 LE, GPS and FM radio. That’s on top of a 5.5-inch Full HD IPS LCD display, 64-bit octa-core Snapdragon 615 (with four cores clocked at 1.5 GHz and four at 1.1 GHz), 32 GB internal storage, fingerprint scanner, Android 5.1 Lollipop, microSD expansion up to 128 GB and tri-color flash on the whatever-it-is-MP camera.
You can pre-order the Vibe P1 Turbo for 3,999,000 IDR (~$295) via the link below. Probably.
Latest Android Wear update is on its way to the Moto 360 (2015)
Good news for anyone currently wearing a Moto 360 (2015)! It looks like Motorola is pushing out the Marshmallow update to the smartwatch, bringing all those newly announced Android Wear features to the stylish wearable. Things like Doze support, improved gestures, and alternate messaging platforms are all on board, plus all the things that Motorola has baked in. While that update does enable speakers on watches that have them, the Moto 360 does not include any kind of speaker, so don’t get your hopes up there.
Motorola is enabling support for six new languages in the update, plus tons of bug fixes related to step counts, audio playback, and the mandatory stability and performance improvements.
The update should be rolling out over the next few days, so keep an eye out for it.
source: Motorola
Come comment on this article: Latest Android Wear update is on its way to the Moto 360 (2015)
Lenovo reveals new Moto branding position with Q3 financial results
Lenovo announced their third quarter financial results revealing they had returned to profitability for their smartphone division consistent with a commitment made after acquiring Motorola. In addition, Lenovo also revealed what their branding strategy would be for the Moto line of devices after it was recently revealed they would be dropping Motorola branding.
When Lenovo acquired Motorola, they indicated they had plans to achieve at least a breakeven status for their Mobile Business Group within four to six quarters. Lenovo combined restructuring efforts with strong performance in markets outside of China, notably emerging markets in India and Indonesia, to achieve a pre-tax loss for the business unit of only $30 million USD, which was a loss margin of only 0.9 percent.
Lenovo indicated smartphone volume declined to 20.2 million units for the third quarter, down 18.1 percent compared to the same quarter a year earlier. However, sales outside of China increased by 15 percent year-over-year driven by sales increases of 206 percent and 318 percent in India and Indonesia respectively. Lenovo says the share of sales volume outside of China increased to 83 percent during the third quarter.
Looking forward, Lenovo says they will employ a new dual-brand strategy for their smartphone portfolio. The brands will include Lenovo Moto and Lenovo Vibe.
Outside of the smartphone business, Lenovo saw quarterly revenue fall to $12.9 billion USD, an eight percent decrease year-over-year while pre-tax income was $397 million USD. Net income was also up at $300 million USD. These results exceeded analyst’s estimates. Lenovo noted that the company is dealing with issues like a general business slowdown as well as a decline in the PC market. Thanks to diversification into so many areas, Lenovo is weathering the situation.
source: Lenovo (BusinessWire)
Come comment on this article: Lenovo reveals new Moto branding position with Q3 financial results
Lenovo mobile breaks even after Motorola purchase
Lenovo’s acquisition of Motorola has led to some major changes at the company, including a notable shift in how the two will be branded. The purchase also cost Lenovo a handsome sum at $2.91 billion, but the company’s mobile division is now on the cusp of making money again.
In total, Lenovo has announced a $300 million net profit for Q3 2015 and the company’s mobile division is also almost back to making a profit after some major restructuring. Lenovo stated that it would take four to six months to return the division to a profit after purchasing Motorola.
.rvs_wrapper
width: 350px;
.rvs_wrapper.align_left
float: left;
.rvs_wrapper.align_right
float: right;
.rvs_wrapper.align_center,
.rvs_wrapper.align_none
width: 100%;
.rvs_wrapper.align_center
text-align: center;
.rvs_wrapper.align_center.cbc-latest-videos ul li
float: none;
display: inline-block;
vertical-align: top;
.rvs_wrapper.cbc-latest-videos:not(.align_none) ul li:nth-child(2n+1)
clear: both;
.rvs_title
font-weight: 600 !important;
margin: 0 !important;
font-size: 24px !important;
.rvs_wrapper.align_right .rvs_title
padding-left: 20px;
.rvs_title a
font-family: ‘Roboto Condensed’;
color: #3a3a3a;
.rvs_wrapper.cbc-latest-videos ul
padding-top: 10px;
.rvs_wrapper.align_left.cbc-latest-videos ul li,
.rvs_wrapper.align_none.cbc-latest-videos ul li
padding: 0 15px 0 0;
.rvs_wrapper.align_right.cbc-latest-videos ul li
padding: 0 0 0 15px;
float: right;
.rvs_wrapper.align_center.cbc-latest-videos ul li
padding: 0 7px;
.rvs_wrapper.cbc-latest-videos ul li > a
font-weight: 400;
.rvs_wrapper.cbc-latest-videos ul li > a .yt-thumbnail
margin-bottom: 0;
@media only screen and (min-width : 480px)
body #page .rvs_wrapper.cbc-latest-videos ul
width: 100% !important;
@media only screen and (max-width : 480px)
body #page .rvs_wrapper.cbc-latest-videos
width: 100%;
float: none !important;
overflow-x: auto;
overflow-y: hidden;
body #page .rvs_wrapper.cbc-latest-videos ul
overflow: auto;
max-height: none;
body .rvs_wrapper.cbc-latest-videos ul li
float: left !important;
clear: none !important;
Looking at mobile, shipments have fallen by 18.1 percent over the year resulting in total sales of 20.2 million units. This is partly due to a halt in the Chinese smartphone market, which barely grew at all last year. Lenovo has been improving its performance outside of China though, with other sales growing 15 percent year-on-year and sales in India up a huge 206 percent. Motorola has been doing well too, with a 25 percent jump in sales quarter-to-quarter.
In terms of cash, Lenovo’s Q3 revenue came in at US$3.2 billion from its mobile division, of which US$2 billion was contributed by Motorola. The company made a small pre-tax loss of US$30 million, an improvement on the $217 million loss in the previous quarter. The division managed to break even in terms of operating costs, only amortization pushed the group into a small loss.
See also: Motorola monitor: what’s going on behind the scenes?
Other aspects of Lenovo’s business are rather mixed. Its PC group continues to slump, with PC profits declining 18 percent from last year, falling to a US$405 million. Although that is still a pre-tax profit for the division and the company still leads the industry with a 21.6 percent market share. The company’s enterprise division saw an 8 percent year-on-year sales boost, but still posted a small loss of US$14 million.
With a return to profitability, all eyes will now be firmly focused on the products coming out of the combined Lenovo and Motorola smartphone division.
Lenovo finally profitable on mobile after buying Motorola
Lenovo is making money in PCs despite a flaccid market, and declining mobile sales apparently aren’t bothering it, either. The company made a solid $300 million in net profit this quarter, even though overall sales were down eight percent over last year. And its mobile phone business finally stopped losing money, fulfilling Lenovo’s vow to return to mobile profitability within four to six quarters after buying Motorola. Sales of Motorola devices (soon to become Lenovo Moto) jumped 25 percent over last quarter.
Its bread and butter PC sales aren’t doing bad, either. Even with the “Superfish” security PR disaster, Lenovo increased its PC share to 21.6 percent, though the overall PC market declined 10.9 percent. That was helped in large part by sales in its home country of China, where Lenovo dominates with a 40 percent chunk of the market.
Despite the profits, PC and mobile sales dropped dramatically this year for Lenovo, as they did with every other company, including Apple. The Chinese company managed to make money by running a tight ship and is on track to cut $1.5 billion in costs for the year. Its other saving grace is the server business, which it expects will reap $5 billion this year. In any event, the company’s string of 24 consecutive profitable periods was broken last quarter, so it’s no doubt glad to be back in the black.
Source: Lenovo
Apple focusing on yet another Android “innovation”
Apple fans will soon have a new “innovation” to crow about according to new reports coming out of China. Sources are reporting that Apple has requested their largest camera supplier, Largan Technology, to provide dual-lens camera samples. Reportedly Apple is asking other camera manufacturers in Japan and China to also provide dual-lens camera samples. The dual-lens setup is believed to be targeted at a version of the next-generation iPhone Plus. Android fans will quickly recognize that use of dual-lens cameras was pushed heavily by HTC in the past and more recently companies like Lenovo, ZTE and Huawei are adopting the technology.
The report from DigiTimes is not the first hint that Apple is looking at dual-lens technology. The news coming from upstream component manufacturers comes on the heels of a report from investment analyst Ming-Chi Kuo with KGI Securities outlining potential plans by Apple to include a dual-lens camera in the iPhone 7 Plus. Kuo suggested Apple may produce two variants of the iPhone 7 Plus, one with a dual-lens camera and one that uses their traditional iSight camera.
Although dual-lens cameras have their fans, many Android manufacturers have found consumers were not enamored with the technology and it tends to fall flat as a unique selling point. That may not be as big a problem for Apple which has a very effective marketing regime regardless of how innovative a particular feature may be.
Come comment on this article: Apple focusing on yet another Android “innovation”
New in our buyer’s guide: Lenovo’s Yoga 900 and Samsung’s Gear VR
It’s been about two months since Engadget’s updated its buyer’s guide — we were busy eating holiday cookies, preparing for CES, going to CES and then recovering from CES (phew). Fortunately, though, even in those nine weeks, we haven’t actually reviewed much that we think is worth of our shortlist. The only two exceptions would be Lenovo’s thin-but-well-performing Yoga 900 and Samsung’s latest Gear VR headset, which we think is a great deal at $99. That’s all we’ve got today, but keep checking back in soon –after all, we’ll soon be pretty busy reviewing the products that just debuted in Vegas.
Source: Engadget Buyer’s Guide
AIVAnet 