Moto announces, then retracts, release date for Moto X Pure Edition
After the announcement last month of Motorola’s newest devices, there were questions surrounding the actual release date of the Moto X Pure Edition. All that we were told was that it would be released sometime in November. Talk about vagueness.
Well today, Motorola may have accidentally announced the release date of their flagship device for 2015. Motorola had tweeted out, stating:
On Sep 3, you’ll see what real love is like. Choose #MotoX for a more powerful connection.
After this tweet was found, it was quickly deleted, with no rhyme nor reason as to why. We can only hope that their mistake is our luck, and that the 3rd is really the release date for those in the US to get their hands on this device.
As a recap, let’s take a quick look at what the 2015 Moto X is bringing to the table for everyone:
- 5.7″ QHD Display
- 3000mAh battery
- 21MP Rear-facing camera
- 5MP Front-facing camera
- 3GB RAM
- 16GB/32GB/64GB internal storage with microSD card support
- Snapdragon 808 Processor
- Turbo Charging
Now, not many folks have been able to get their hands on this device, however, we can only hope that the device is as good as it looks on paper. What I’m looking forward to the most, is the camera performance. Hopefully the camera on the Moto X Pure Edition blows the one found on the Moto X 2014
Drop us a line in the comments below, and let us know if you’re looking forward to picking up the Moto X Pure Edition once it finally rolls out. If you aren’t getting the new Moto X, what device are you looking forward to?
Source: Droid Life
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eBay back to school deals: smartphones from Samsung, Sony and others at under $299!
Getting ready to go back to school? You probably need a new cellphone to stay connected and ease your way to success. Remember, smartphones are not always a distraction; these advanced little gadgets are also great research tools and knowledge machines. And if you don’t want to break the bank for a new handset, checking out the back to school deals on eBay would be the best idea. All these discounted phones cost under $299 off-contract.
Not bad at all, right?! I know I would recommend some of these to my friends, so let’s take a look at some of our favorite deals.
- Verizon Motorola Droid Ultra only $99.99
- AT&T Samsung Galaxy S5 only $249.99
- Verizon Samsung Galaxy S5 only $234.77
- Amazon Fire Phone only $139.99
- Verizon LG G3 for $219.95
- HTC Desire 816 only $149.99
- Verizon Moto X (XT1060) only $119.77
There’s plenty of other deals in eBay’s back to school page, but these just happen to be the ones that stood out to us. You can also look around the site to find other good deals. We really just wanted to pass on the good news and make sure you are in the loop.
Are any of you buying one of these handsets? Hit the comments and let us know!
Motorola reveals plans for Stagefright patch rollout
Worried about the Stagefright vulnerability that affects 95% of all Android phones? Surely, you don’t want your phone to be taken control of with a simple MMS message. Google, Samsung and LG (among others) have already gotten to work, and Motorola wants to let you know they also have your back.
The manufacturer is now getting ready to update its entire line-up, going back to phones released as far as about 2 years ago. New handsets like the Moto X Style, Moto X Play and Moto G (3rd-gen) will be updated at launch, meaning all new users will be protected. As for other devices and previous generations, Motorola has provided a neat list, so just check and see if your phone is to get this crucial update.
- Moto X Style (patched from launch)
- Moto X Play (patched from launch)
- Moto X (1st Gen, 2nd Gen)
- Moto X Pro
- Moto Maxx/Turbo
- Moto G (1st Gen, 2nd Gen, 3rd Gen)
- Moto G with 4G LTE (1st Gen, 2nd Gen)
- Moto E (1st Gen, 2nd Gen)
- Moto E with 4G LTE (2nd Gen)
- DROID Turbo
- DROID Ultra/Mini/Maxx
These patches will begin rolling out soon, but Motorola warns that some of you may have to wait a bit more due to carrier delays. The manufacturer is planning to begin sending upgrades to their carrier partners beginning August 10th, so tomorrow. After that, the ETA is all up to the service providers, which need to test and verify all updates before pushing them out.
Don’t want to wait until the update comes around? There are other ways to stay protected. We have detailed all the methods in our Stagefright attack prevention post, so go give it a read if you want to stay on the safe side.
Also, you may notice the Nexus 6 is not listed. Don’t worry, remember that phone gets all its updates from Google, and the Search Giant has already taken care of business.
With all that said, all we can do is ask you to stay secure and sit tight for your update to come. That is a very good list, so most of you should be covered. If your phone is not included, you should probably be worrying about getting an upgrade by now!
Motorola launching Stagefright fixes, but no word on future strategy
Motorola has announced their plans to address the Stagefright video security flaw on their devices. According to Motorola, the fix will be made available for all devices produced from 2013 onward. This will include devices like the original Moto X and the Droid line of devices produced for Verizon. Although no timeframe other than “soon” is given, Motorola also said the new Moto G that just started shipping after Motorola’s launch last month will get the fix. Motorola plans to release the upcoming Moto X Style and Moto X Play with the patch already applied out of the box.
Recently some manufacturers like Samsung and LG, along with Google’s own branded devices, have announced plans to implement monthly security update strategies to keep things patched up on user phones. Motorola has not said whether they are going to commit to a similar monthly schedule, but they are reportedly working with both Google and carriers to “simplify the process” of getting patch code, presumably with a focus on security patches, onto consumer devices.
If you happen to have an older Motorola device that is not covered by their plans to patch the Stagefright vulnerability, the company indicates you should turn off the auto download capability for MMS messages in order to ensure only trusted messages get downloaded. Motorola provides some instructions on how to do this for several messaging apps.
source: Motorola
via: Engadget
Come comment on this article: Motorola launching Stagefright fixes, but no word on future strategy
How Motorola began putting their trust in the consumer
Motorola has had an interesting career since the introduction of the smartphone. Before the smartphone, Motorola was king of the communication world. I mean, Motorola was the communications source for the Apollo 11 for crying out loud. Everyone remembers the Motorola Razr flip-phones. All the cool kids had them. Enter the iPhone, and subsequently the HTC Dream, and Motorola quickly dropped to the bottom. Remember the Motorola Atrix (*shudders*)?
Then, Motorola was purchased by Google. It is not quite clear exactly how much of a hand Google had in Motorola’s creation of their next smartphone: we’ve seen some reports that they worked very closely, and recently we’ve seen Motorola reps say Google kept them at arm’s length. However much involvement there was, one thing’s for sure: Motorola’s next phone changed the industry.
The original Moto X was representative of consumer feedback they had received:
- It had near-stock Android, with no bloatware
- Features that enhanced the user experience, not blocked it
- Control over design choices, particularly color
- A form factor that was comfortable to hold
What’s more, Motorola proved that consumers didn’t necessarily need top-of-the-line specs. While the Moto X was no iPhone or Samsung S in terms of sales, it definitely took the Android community by storm (including myself). They noticed that users loved the lack of a UI overlay, and that devices flew off the shelves when they sold the device at a sub-$400 cost.
This leads to the release of Motorola’s famous budget phone: the Moto G. The Moto G managed to bring a good user experience to an unbelievable price – $180. The phone certainly wasn’t breaking any speed records, but it held favor with consumers. Motorola would later announce the Moto G as their most popular phone, ever. This would lead to the introduction of the even cheaper Moto E.
Still, the Moto X did have its share of problems: poor camera, not great battery life, and while the hardware proved a point, it was still lacking. Further, they saw the trend of phones getting bigger (even though many, including myself, appreciated the smaller form of the original Moto X).
So, Motorola announced the new Moto X (which, by the way, is owned by Lenovo at this point):
- Bigger, better resolution screen
- More focus on camera, with a ring flash
- Better, updated hardware
- Improvement on beloved features, with a couple of new additions
- More options in Moto Maker to customize the phone the way you want
This, combined with an updated Moto G that had even more unbelievable specs (for the same price of $180) led to one of Motorola’s best quarters – 10 million smartphones sold in Q4 2014.
Add onto that the Moto 360. The Moto 360 was the first round smartwatch to be released. And, was touted as the best looking smartwatch for awhile (still is considered to be by many). While smartwatches haven’t really “caught on” yet, the Moto 360 was the best-selling Android Wear watch in 2014, and I’m sure still is with its recent price drops (another thing Motorola noticed consumers liked).
“You can see it through each iteration of the Moto X – Motorola is listening to its consumers.“
Even still, the Moto X wasn’t quite there yet. Many people still complained about poor battery life (although this was mildly solved by the Moto X (2014) being one of the first phones with Quick Charge), and the camera being poor. That being said, many were praising it for its continuance of a slim OS, useful features, and control over its design.
Fast forward to present day, and we have seen Motorola’s newest addition to the flagship line: the Moto X Pure Edition. With this announcement, Motorola focused on four things:
- Bigger, better battery
- Bigger, better camera
- Better, smaller price
- Absolutely Pure: no carriers involved
The truth of those claims has yet to be seen, but one thing is for sure: Motorola is listening. You can see it through each iteration of the Moto X, and the mere idea of the Moto G (not to mention the addition of a SD card slot). Motorola is listening to its consumers.
Think about it for a second: Motorola is giving all the carriers one nice, big middle finger, all for the sake of the consumers. How else can a mobile phone company place their trust in a company?
The post How Motorola began putting their trust in the consumer appeared first on AndroidGuys.
OnePlus 2 vs Moto X Pure Edition, which OEM did it better?
We’ve been bombarded with back-to-back flagship announcements in the past 24 hours. But now that the dust has settled, we can start asking ourselves, which OEM is offering a better deal?
Although the OnePlus 2 is dubbed as a “Flagship Killer”, the true sense of it is value. Motorola went with a similar ideal on their next Moto X. The retail price of the Moto X (Pure Edition) was reduced from $500 last year to $400, all whilst making significant improvements. Therefore, in my head this makes for a good dogfight.
Storage
If you do fine on 16GB of storage, then the OP2 will win out here. It is priced at $330, compared to Motorola’s starting price of $400 for the 16GB Moto X.
But if you care about ample storage space, the two phones close in on each other. This is because the Moto X has microSD card expansion, while the OP2 does not. The top-tier, 64GB OP2 is $390. Considering a 16GB Moto X with microSD card, the price difference isn’t too far apart. Plus, the Moto X is expandable by up to a 128GB card.
Design/Build
While design is subjective, these phones include their own customization methods. The OP2 has several backings to chose from (wood, sandstone finish, kevlar).
Motorola have used Moto Maker to bring phone customization to a level not seen before. It has been evolved it to allow for even more choices. Back cover materials include leather, wood, and textured plastic. You also are able to alter the frame color and accents around the phone.
Both devices sport a metal frame, for that premium feel. Although the back of the OP2 is removable, it is specifically for the switching cover, as the battery is non-removable. The Moto X’s back cover is not removable.
Chipset
It’s a toss-up on which chipset to prefer. The OP2 uses the unpopular Snapdragon 810, tuned to avoid overheating concerns. The Moto X uses the Snapdragon 808, a slight step down to a hexa-core CPU (also used in the LG G4). Both phones should be blazing fast.
The 64GB verison of the OP2 has 4GB of RAM, while the Moto X makes do with 3GB.
I’ll make the point here that the OP2 does not have Qualcomm’s quick charging on-board, while the Moto X does. This is a huge blow IMO. Quick charging has spoiled those of us who’ve had the pleasure. The omission of quick charging on the OP2 is due to the USB Type-C port, because of incompatibility. While I want the latest tech as much as the next guy, not sure this gamble was the smartest.
Display
The displays on these two phones are fairly close on paper. OnePlus maintained a screen size of 5.5″ on the OP2, while Moto bumped up the Moto X to 5.7″. Very small difference. However, the Moto X makes it a point to keep bezel down, with a screen-to-body ratio of 76%. The OP2 has a body-to-screen ratio of 73.3%.
The OP2 sticks with a 1080P res, while the Moto X moves up to QHD. Which approach is better is arguable. Some say that QHD does indeed look better, while others say that the gain isn’t worth the battery life loss. Both phones use an LCD. But the OP2 uses more current IPS technology, while the Moto X uses TFT. We have to reserve our opinions until we can see both displays.
Camera
Again, this is another feature that needs some real-world testing. Spec-wise, the Moto X’s camera bests the OP2 by 8 megapixels. And the Moto X camera was ranked 2nd best to the Galaxy S6 by DxOMark.
But the OP2 camera specs are nothing to scoff at. OnePlus has added a laser super fast auto-focusing. They have also made a point to counter low-light situations, by using a sensor with 1.3 micro pixels. And the OP2’s camera has something important that the Moto X is missing, optical image stabilization.
Both phones use a f/2.0 aperture on the rear lens, have dual-LED flash, and wide-angle, 5 MP front facing cameras.
Other Important Factors
- The OP2 has a fingerprint scanner. The Moto X does not.
- The OP2 let’s you chose between capacitive or on-screen buttons. The Moto X has on-screens buttons.
- The OP2 has a larger 3,300 mAh battery vs. the 3,000 mAh battery on the Moto X.
- The OP2 uses the latest connection standard, USB Type-C. The Moto X uses the old microUSB.
- The Moto X has a water repellent nano-coating. The OP2 is not water resistant.
- The Moto X is compatible with all U.S. carriers. The OP2 only works with GSM carriers (AT&T and T-Mobile).
- The Moto X has dual, front-facing speakers, while the OP2 has a mono, bottom speaker.
- The Moto X runs nearly stock Android with minimal additions, while the OP2 uses OxygenOS 2.0
- Neither phones have wireless charging.
- And last but not least, the OP2 does not have NFC, which the Moto X does have.
Considering the overall package, it is my opinion that Motorola’s offering edges OnePlus slightly. I think microSD expansion, quick charging, NFC, QHD, dual-front speakers, win over a fingerprint scanner, 3,000 mAh more battery, OIS, an extra Gig of RAM, and USB Type-C.
Also, we can’t ignore the fact that you need to obtain an invite before you can purchase a OP2. The Moto X will be available for all through Motorola, Amazon, and Best Buy. And for Verizon and Sprint customers, the OP2 isn’t even an option.
Do you agree that Moto takes the cake, or are these two actually more neck-and-neck? Let us know in the Comments!
Moto X Pure Edition Product Page
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What is the Moto X Pure Edition?
Today we saw the announcement of three new devices from Motorola: the Moto X Style, Moto X Play, and the new Moto G. However, for consumers in the US, we are only getting the Moto X Style. For whatever reasons, Motorola is not advertising it as such here in the states.
A quick trip to motorola.com/us/home leads you to some new banners and such, advertising the new Moto G (seeing as it’s the only phone of the aforementioned three available now). Glancing down the page you see something that says “Express yourself with Moto X Pure Edition” with a link to “Learn More”. After today’s announcement, many Android blogs and websites seem to be confusing things for consumers here in the US regarding what exactly they should be looking forward to. Hopefully I can clear that up!
What is the Moto X Pure Edition?
“Moto X Pure Edition” is not a new term used by Motorola. For last year’s flagship, that was the version of the phone purchased directly from Motorola’s website that was unlocked, off-contract, with no carrier branding, ready to use on any carrier using GSM radios (mostly nerd-talk, if you don’t understand that just ignore it). That is essentially what is happening with the newest Moto X, except this time Motorola is taking it a step further.
Now, in the US at least, the Moto X Pure Edition is the only Moto X you can buy, and refers to the Moto X Style announced this morning. This means that Motorola’s newest flagship will not be available in carrier stores, only on motorola.com, amazon.com, and bestbuy.com. The only brick-and-mortar store the Moto X Pure Edition will be available in is Best Buy stores. Furthermore, the Moto X Pure Edition can be used on any carrier. Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, or any other carrier that sells SIM cards can be used with this phone.
Motorola says that most consumers care more about their Android smartphone being “pure” than anything else. So, Motorola is taking this to the furthest places it can, by selling the Moto X Pure Edition.
Any other reason I should care?
Short answer: yes.
Motorola’s new flagship is openly embracing the no-contract model carriers have been introducing, and are essentially snubbing any carrier’s desire to have a version of their phone made specifically for them. No longer do you need to have the right Moto X to use on your carrier, because that doesn’t exist. The implications are huge.
For those concerned about how much this will cost, don’t fret. The new Moto X Pure Edition starts at $399. No, that is not a typo.
For those concerned about dropping $399 right away, you also shouldn’t fret. Motorola for awhile has been offering ways to set up a payment plan for their phones, and Best Buy has similar options as well.
Too Long; Didn’t Read: The Moto X Pure Edition is the only Moto X available in the US (the one announced as the Moto X Style this morning), and is not being sold by individual carriers, but rather is available online and in Best Buy, unlocked and ready to use for whatever carrier you’d like.
Thoughts? Drop us a comment below.
The post What is the Moto X Pure Edition? appeared first on AndroidGuys.
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.
Engadget: The mantra for some parts of the tech community is that “software is eating the world.” What’s Motorola is doing in software that sets you apart from everybody else making a cheap smartphone?
Chau: That’s something we put a lot of thought into. The crazy thing about the mobile ecosystem is that 90% of smartphones that are being sold are on Android, and when everybody’s on Android, Google basically levels the playing field every time. They keep adding more capability, not only to the Android platform, but to Google’s mobile services. As a software leader at Motorola, I’m trying not to compete with Android. The reason why we call ours a “pure Android experience” rather than just “pure Android” is because we make a lot of changes that aren’t visible. What really enables the software that’s eating the world is fantastic hardware.
Now we have our services too, but those kinds of things — especially software-only features — are relatively easy to mimic or copy, or they get sucked into the platform eventually anyway. Accelerometer-based wake up got sucked into [Android] L and the Nexus 6. We had Bluetooth unlocking too as these things get sucked into the platform, we have to remove them! We try not to focus too much on software-only features now. What we do — and see people try to copy — is focus on our always-on capability.
We’ve got Moto Voice, where you just talk or make motions and gestures or you just approach it and wakes up — those kinds of things, you can’t copy in software and if you try, you’ll just kill your battery. We put a lot of effort into always-on, and I think that’s where we’re going to continue focusing a lot of our software efforts.
Engadget: Between Siri, Alexa, Google Now and Cortana, there’s been a seismic shift in how we interact with our devices. What’s your take on how the future of interaction looks for something like a smartphone?
Chau: I think Cortana is getting there. I think Google Now is starting to get there. Cortana from a context-awareness standpoint — by the way, full disclosure, I just came here from Microsoft in January — the context-based search that’s available on Bing and Cortana is something that’s not quite there with Google and Siri and those kinds of things. Natural language processing — NLP — is going to be where people are going with search and smartphone capability and interaction. I’m talking to you, I should be able to talk to it [gestures to phone] and it knows that “Oh, he might be talking to me now, and if it makes sense, I’m going to do it.”
For us, it’s going to be even more about context, figuring out the user’s context and helping them so that it’s not interrupting you when you don’t want to be interrupted. Right now we’re sitting here, it knows I’m talking to someone, so it won’t bother notifying me because I’m busy. Notify me later!
Engadget: Actually, let’s circle back to something you mentioned a little earlier. Stuff that Motorola has done in software have been subsumed into Android as a larger entity, so does it feel like you’re still sort of a mobile skunkworks for Google?
Chau: Well, you know what’s interesting? I wasn’t there during the Motorola/Google period, but what I’ve been told is Google kept Motorola kind of at arm’s length because they didn’t want any of the other OEMs to feel like they were giving Motorola any special treatment. What I’m told now is our relationship with Google is better, because now they just treat us like any other OEM and they’re not trying to avoid us! The chance of favoritism isn’t there so now we’re back to a good relationship with Google and the Android guys, which is fantastic! Subsuming the functionality into Android — it’s fine. We’ll just focus on the other thing. It makes the whole ecosystem better, and we’re OK with that.
Engadget: Speaking of the ecosystem, you’re starting to do something interesting stuff with this direct-to-consumer sales approach–
Chau: But it’s not just a sales approach, right? We had to think about how we were banding it as well. We decided we were going direct-to-consumer because all the carriers now are moving toward this T-Mobile/UnCarrier model where they’re not subsidizing anymore and contracts aren’t there and people can move between carriers as they see fit depending on who’s got the better price. Not only are we trying to get a better relationship with consumers, we’re going to give them a better relationship with their carrier. You buy one phone and now you can stick any SIM you want in it in the US.
Going with that retail and distribution model is fantastic for us. And the big impact for software is, I don’t need carrier approvals anymore to push out updates! So now I can push out updates and upgrades like Android M quicker because I don’t need to go through a carrier’s submission process. I still go through all my quality checks and all that, but I don’t need a carrier to tell me I can upgrade my phone.
Engadget: So are carriers going to sell locked-down versions of the Moto X Style?
Chau: Moto X Style will be exclusively available online and in Best Buys. There are no preloads, no other versions in the US. Isn’t that great? Because we can cut out the middleman, we can deliver a better price too.
Engadget: It seems like figuring out distribution is one of the last things that happens when you make a phone, but you’re saying the decision to sell straight to us happened early and informed other decisions.
Chau: You know, Moto X has always been our flagship and we wanted to make it as available as possible to as many people as possible and have a direct relationship. What we found was people who used MotoMaker to customize their devices really loved the experience, so we really wanted to open that up to everybody and allow us a faster upgrade path. Our online sales were doing well enough that we said “You know what, for our flagship, for the thing we want to customize the most that has the best design and specs — let’s go direct-to-consumer.” We’ve been doing so well in Brazil and India, we figured since the US carriers are starting to move in that direction anyway, let’s shoot ahead of the duck.
Edgar Alvarez contributed to this report.
Filed under: Mobile
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 in-between a Moto G and a Moto X. It’s got the specs of a mid-ranger like the original Moto X, but 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-blowingingly so. In my limited time with it, the 1.6Ghz 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 laud over Style owners is the phone’s enormous 3,630mAh battery, which Motorola claims is good for two days use, and supports quick charging.
I couldn’t test either of the Play’s cameras extensively, but I can — very, very tentatively — say that the photos it captures seem better than I’ve ever seen from a current-gen Moto X, and the wide-angle selfie camera is indeed a wide-angle selfie camera. Software-wise, the Play comes with a fairly vanilla 5.1.1 Lollipop build, with only a couple of tagged-on features like Moto Voice and Moto Assist. Motorola has already committed to a “brisk” update to Android M when Google’s latest and greatest launches later this year.
But who is this phone for? The 16GB version will cost £299 ($467) in the UK, and Motorola is quiet on whether the Play will ever come to the US. It seems Motorola is scared that the Style’s £359 ($560) price tag will put off the sort of customers that have opted for Moto Xs in the past. The problem with that strategy is that the Moto G is getting better and better, and if it continues on the upwards trajectory it’s on, it may well cannibalize the Play’s market. We’ll have proper analysis of its merits when the Motorola X Play launches this August in the UK, Canada, and 53 other countries.
Filed under: Mobile
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.
Filed under: Cellphones, Lenovo
Source: Motorola
AIVAnet 