The new Moto E is the largest one yet
Motorola’s entire smartphone lineup is getting a refresh in 2016. Following the new Moto Z and Moto G families, the company has unveiled the Moto E3, an update to its most affordable handset. It sports a 5-inch HD display, up from the 4.5-inch panel in the last model, a quad-core processor and a 2,800 mAh battery, which Motorola claims will last you a full day. The rear-facing camera has been stepped up to eight megapixels, while a 5-megapixel selfie-snapper sits on the front. Internal storage is a mystery (don’t expect much) but it will come with a microSD card slot.
The phone is set to grace the UK in “early September” starting at £99 (roughly $132) in select retailers including Tesco, Amazon and Argos. An international release seems likely; the Moto E is an important phone for the company, given its position at the low-end of the market. With Lenovo in charge, the Moto team has a lot to prove with this year’s phones. The Moto Z and its modular accessories are a grand departure from the Moto X line, and initial reviews of the Moto G4 have been less than positive. Here’s hoping the new Moto E can continue the legacy of its capable predecessors.
Engadget UK giveaway: Win a Moto G4 courtesy of Mobilefun.co.uk
Summer is upon us, and as usual it’s a pretty underwhelming affair. Hopefully a brand new Moto G4 will keep you occupied on some of the many rainy days to come, however. The smartphone is one of a couple of recent additions to Motorola’s highly regarded G range, and thanks to Mobilefun.co.uk, we’ve got two of the things to give away this week. Better yet, the retailer has raided its accessory selection to pair each phone with no less than five different covers and cases. To be in with a chance to win, simply enter via the Rafflecopter widget below, but do us a favour and give the rules a quick scan first, would ya?
a Rafflecopter giveaway
- Entries are handled through the Rafflecopter widget above. Comments are no longer accepted as valid methods of entry. You may enter without any obligation to social media accounts, though we may offer them as opportunities for extra entries. Your email address is required so we can get in touch with you if you win, but it will not be given to third parties.
- Contest is open to all residents of the UK, 18 or older! Sorry, we don’t make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so direct your anger at our lawyers and contest laws if you have to be mad.
- Winners will be chosen randomly. Two (2) winners will receive one (1) Moto G4 and assorted cases.
- If you are chosen, you will be notified by email. Winners must respond within three days of being contacted. If you do not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen. Make sure that the account you use to enter the contest includes your real name and a contact email or Facebook login. We do not track any of this information for marketing or third-party purposes.
- This unit is purely for promotional giveaway. Motorola, Mobilefun.co.uk and Engadget / AOL are not held liable to honour warranties, exchanges or customer service.
- The full list of rules, in all its legalese glory, can be found here.
- Entries can be submitted until July 15th at 11:59PM BST. Good luck!
Source: Mobilefun.co.uk
Gene editing can end disease and fight global famine
We’re looking at the single greatest advancement in genetics since Mendelev started growing peas. CRISPR-Cas9 gene-modification technology is powerful enough to cure humanity’s worst diseases, yet simple enough to be used by amateur biologists. You thought 3-D printers and the maker movement were going to change the world? Get ready for a new kind of tinkerer — one that wields gene-snipping scissors.
CRISPR — clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats — is a potent genetic-editing tool. It’s called this because each CRISPR unit is made of repeated DNA base-pair sequences that can be read the same way forward or in reverse and are separated by “spacer” pairs. Think of it like an organic Morse code palindrome.
With CRISPR we can now edit any genetic code — including our own. In the three years since its advent, researchers have used CRISPR to investigate everything from sickle-cell anemia and muscular dystrophy to cystic fibrosis and cataracts. One group has even used it to snip off the cellular receptors that HIV exploits in order to infect the human immune system. If the disease is caused by your genetics — doesn’t matter if it’s due to a single malformed gene, as is the case with Huntington’s or sickle cell, or if it’s the byproduct of hundreds mutations like diabetes and Alzheimer’s — CRISPR can conceivably fix it.
Even complicated conditions like cancer and autism, which we’ve studied for years and still barely have a grasp on, can benefit from CRISPR technology. A big reason treatment advances for these marquee diseases come at such a glacial pace is that researchers have to develop them on animal models first. This trial-and-error technique takes forever. But with CRISPR, that process stands to accelerate exponentially by creating the precise desired genetic changes on the first try, every time.
These CRISPR units can easily slice through DNA and replace nucleotide bases with others, but they aren’t accurate enough to consistently aim at specific locations. For that, each CRISPR needs an RNA-based “guide,” called a Cas (CRISPR associated) gene. These guides search for a specific set of nucleotides, usually a 20-pair sequence, and bind to the site once they locate it. That’s a pretty impressive feat, given that the human genome contains around 20,000 genes. Working in unison, a CRISPR/Cas system can target and silence the expression of single genes anywhere along a given strand of DNA about as easily as you can edit a Word document. It’s basically “find-and-replace” for genetics.
This technology can be applied to any living organism, though its effects vary greatly depending on which genes are being targeted. The two primary versions of CRISPR-based edits are somatic cell engineering, which only modifies the genes of the individual, and germline engineering, wherein an individual’s modified genes are passed onto their offspring.
The biological mechanism behind CRISPR is actually quite ancient. See, scientists used to think that bacteria were equipped only with innate immunity — the lowest, most budget form of biological defense around. Since a microbe’s restriction enzymes will blindly attack and destroy any unprotected DNA they come in contact with, scientists figured that it was just automatic, a simple reflex. Multicellular organisms, conversely, enjoy acquired immunity, which enables them to mount specific counters to different threats. It wasn’t until they discovered CRISPR that researchers figured out bacteria and archaea have been leaning on acquired immunity for eons. They’d been using it as a rudimentary adaptive immune system against viruses. Here’s a video from the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT that explains the process in detail:
This system enables the bacteria to obtain immunity against that specific breed of virus and respond to future infections far more rapidly than it could otherwise. It’s much in the same way the human immune system uses T-cells and antigens to keep us from repeatedly being sickened by the same diseases. This is why vaccinations work and why it’s so important to vaccinate your kids. (Seriously, vaccinate your damn kids.)
Granted, there is a lot of hype surrounding both CRISPR’s potential benefits and dangers. Not everything we do with the technology is going to be Earth-shattering advancements and cancer cures. We’re probably going to do a lot of silly shit with it as well. “I would bet that within 20 years, somebody is going to make a unicorn,” Hank Greely, director of Stanford University’s Center for Law and the Biosciences, told me during a recent phone call. “Some Silicon Valley billionaire with a 12-year-old daughter will get her a unicorn for her birthday. It will involve taking genes that grow horns and moving them into a horse.”
CRISPR’s benefits aren’t limited to animals. In 2014, a team of geneticists in China managed to give wheat full immunity against powdery mildew — one of the most common and widespread plant pathogens on the planet — by cutting just three genes out of its DNA. Similarly, researchers at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology’s Center for Desert Agriculture have used CRISPR technology to “immunize” tomatoes against the yellow leaf curl virus while a team from the National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE) in Pakistan has done the same for cotton leaf curl. And just last year a Japanese team drastically increased the shelf life of tomatoes by editing the gene that controls the rate of their ripening.
Examples of yellow leaf curl virus in cotton plants. credit: the NIBGE
This technology stands to revolutionize nearly every aspect of modern agriculture. We can create stronger, more robust crops with higher yields and increased tolerance to drought, pests and blight. We can do this without waiting multiple generations, as is the case with traditional breeding methods, and without introducing foreign DNA into the plant’s genome, as we would with conventional genetic modification (GMO) techniques.
“CRISPR is just a more efficient way of doing what’s been done for millennia of looking for genetic variance within a population that would make it better,” Greely said. “With CRISPR instead of waiting for them to arise naturally, you make them. Heck, for the last 50 years we’ve used radiation to increase the rates of mutation. With CRISPR we’re instead causing mutations where we know what mutations we are causing. It’s a much smarter way to do the kind of crop and livestock improvement we’ve done since the agricultural revolution.”
Of course, this new technology is not without potential danger. We’re at the point now where we understand the technology just well enough to hurt ourselves but haven’t used it long enough to fully comprehend the long-term implications.
Take the recent controversy surrounding the creation of the world’s first modified human embryo, for example. This technology theoretically will allow doctors to cure any human disease or defect before a person is born, but were something to go awry during the operation, the results could be devastating. That said, those sorts of procedures will be exceedingly rare for the foreseeable future, contends Greely. “Ninety-nine-point-nine percent of the population won’t need gene editing to have a baby that won’t get the disease that they’re carrying,” he told me. And even if someone is born with a genetic disease, Greely extrapolated, somatic cell editing should still be able to treat them.
“Most people are more concerned with doing it for enhancement reasons but right now we don’t know squat about enhancements,” he continued. “We know all sorts of intelligence genes that, when mutated a certain way, you end up with very low intelligence. But we know basically nothing about gene editing to make you smarter. Or taller. Or more athletic. We can’t even do a particularly good job with eye, hair or skin color.” So don’t expect to see Gattaca-style designer babies coming to your local fertility clinic anytime soon.
What you will see is an explosion of novel uses for the technology. Gene editing is quickly moving from the realm of pure academia and into the hands of the general public and private enterprise. This transition resembles that of another transformative technology: personal computers. Computers went from being, essentially, toys for adults to a keystone of the modern era. CRISPR has the potential to do the same but for biology.
Take Ethan Perlstein for example. “I initially wanted to be a professor,” he explains. “Like a lot of people who get trained in graduate school, especially in biomedical sciences, are thinking we’re going to be professors … that’s how you can be a scientist professionally.” However, the nation’s glut of postgraduates has long outpaced the supply of available professorships. “My goal was academia; reality suggested that I take another path. And actually through my explorations on Twitter, I learned about rare diseases.” His subsequent interactions with the social media communities that spring up around these rare diseases led him to found Perlstein Lab.
Ethan Perlstein, CEO Perlstein Lab. credit: Engadget / Benito Gonzalez
This San Francisco-based biotech startup is using CRISPR technology to drastically accelerate research into some of humanity’s least-studied diseases. “There are about 4,000 inherited diseases that are caused by a single broken gene,” Perlstein said, with roughly 5 percent of those manifesting during childhood and nearly all of which have no known pharmaceutical treatment. Specifically, Perlstein’s team is working on drugs that can treat Niemann-Pick Type C, a lysosomal storage disorder that causes a buildup of toxic material within cells; and N-glycanase 1 Deficiency, a congenital glycosylation disorder that causes a whole host of issues, from cognitive impairment to joint deformities. Both of these devastating illnesses are caused by a single recessive gene, potentially by just one incorrect base pairing.
“These rare diseases, especially the ones that are caused by a single broken gene, tend to involve pathways and networks within the cell that are very ancient,” Perlstein explained. What’s more, those primal genes are disproportionately more likely to “break” than, say, the relatively new genes that control your autoimmune system. Their ancient nature enables the lab to effectively model them in simple animals — specifically, fruit flies, zebrafish and yeasts.
“In the past, there have been technologies available with which to make disease models but that would essentially require taking a sledgehammer to the genome,” Perlstein said. “CRISPR changes the situation as it allows for very elegant and precise changes to happen — down to a single letter change.” So once researchers identify the genetic source of the disease, they’re able to “program” that same fault into their animal models and measure the effect of the disease in them.
By using CRISPR to break a test animal’s genes in the exact same place and the exact same way as in the patient, Perlstein’s researchers are able to create a perfectly customized model. Plus they can do so far more quickly than traditional methods would allow. “Depending on the kind of mutation you’re trying to create [using CRISPR], it can be quite fast,” Perlstein said. “You’re only really limited by the breeding time of the animal.”
Since the diseases that Perlstein’s team research are recessive, the lab can’t introduce these gene breaks directly into the models and then immediately study them. Instead, the team introduces these breaks into an organism and then breeds a second generation. Those organisms are then screened those that possess both copies of the recessive gene. Once a sufficient population of models that carry the gene defect has been bred, the lab leverages an automated system to expose them to thousands of chemicals and compounds to see if they have any positive effect — reversing, or at least reducing the disease’s symptoms.
Josiah Zayner, bio-hacker with The Odin. credit: Engadget / Benito Gonzalez
Not all of the emerging uses for CRISPR technology are quite as severe as the diseases Perlstein Lab is combating. Josiah Zayner, founder and biohacker of The Odin, wants to turn the everyman into a citizen scientist — specifically, an amateur synthetic biologist. “I worked for Motorola in the early 2000s before the dot-com bubble burst. … I controlled the systems that allowed those old walkie-talkie cellphones to work.” Zayner told me during a recent interview at his home/headquarters in Castro Valley, California. After going back to school to earn his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago, Zaynor worked at NASA’s synthetic biology lab at Ames Research Center.
“One scientist can only accomplish so much,” Zayner reasoned. So, he asked himself, “How can I get more people involved? What happens if I go out get five people … train them, pay them a decent wage and have them help me with these science projects?”
This was impetus for The Odin’s DIY CRISPR kits. “I thought something like the CRISPR kits is something the public could grasp and be able to use,” Zayner said. It would provide people who have no previous experience with not only a new and unique experience but also stimulate their curiosity in biology and science in general. “I’m showing them how cool science can be and, in the process, they’re learning to do science, which, I think, strengthens the world.”
Zayner wants to use harmless (as in nonvirulent) E. coli and yeast cultures to help teach the basics of genetic engineering. The kits are designed to act as introductions to the technology by providing simplified sample experiments for people to follow. “You get to change the genome of an organism and see the results visually,” Zayner exclaimed. That could be a change in the organism’s color or its response to light simply by adjusting the expression of genes that code for fluorescent protein production. And with more advanced and involved experiments available on the Odin website, neophyte biohackers can expand their technical repertoire as they see fit.
“We’re trying to take genetic engineering, which the public has really only experienced in an abstract way,” Zayner concluded, “and move it into their everyday lives through things like brewing [with a DNA-customized yeast culture] or making yogurt … something that people can experience on a personal level.”
Of course, genomic editing isn’t going to remain an abstract technology for very long. We’ve already seen how quickly it’s moved out of the confines of academia, and the positive effects that it has had on humanity. The pace of its adoption is only going to accelerate. Just as with personal computers that preceded it, CRISPR is going to radically advance our civilization in ways that we can’t even fathom. Whether it involves beating back the scourge of congenital disease or improving crop and livestock yields, CRISPR technology is here to stay. But like all transformative technologies (looking at you, nuclear energy), it’s up to us to apply it responsibly. Now then, who want’s to make some unicorns?
A unicorn, as seen in its natural habitat. credit: Engadget / Andrew Tarantola
Motorola Moto G4 Plus review
The original Moto G – released back in 2013 – was one of the first smartphones that kicked of the trend of affordable but high quality smartphones, and went on to become one of the best-selling Motorola smartphones ever. Motorola has continued to release a successor every year since then, but with a lot more OEMs offering options in this ever-growing category, Motorola did have to do something different with the forth generation of their affordable mid-range smartphone.
- Hands on with the Moto G4 and Moto G4 Plus
- Moto G4 Play announced
That something different arrived in the four of three variations of the latest Moto G, with the Moto G4 Play, the Moto G4, and the Moto G4 Plus, that come with varying display sizes, processing packages, camera setups, and other hardware features, with the latter being the highest-end of the lot. While more expensive when compared to its siblings, the Moto G4 Plus remains extremely affordable, and tacks on a few extras that ultimately make it far more compelling to users.
Buy the Moto G4 Plus now!
What does this device bring to the table? We find out, in this comprehensive Moto G4 Plus review!
Design
Unlike the flagship Moto Z, which features a dramatic departure from the norm, the new Moto G4 Plus retains a lot of the design language of its predecessors. There are a few minor aesthetic changes, but for the most part, the line of Moto G4 devices features a design that is largely reminiscent of previous Motorola smartphones.
The Moto G4 Plus comes with an all plastic build, and despite appearances, the frame is plastic, albeit with a metallic finish. Understandably, you don’t get the premium look and feel of a smartphone that features a metal or glass build, but for a phone made of plastic, the Moto G4 Plus is definitely one of the sturdiest ones out there. It doesn’t feel hollow, rattle, or creak in any way, and feels like a very solid phone overall. This is something that Motorola has always done a good job with, and its great to see this continue to be offered with the Moto G4 Plus.
On the back is the signature Motorola dimple, and the back cover has a nice texture to it, that helps a lot with the grip. However, the smooth finish of the sides does result in the phone being a touch slippery, but not enough to be a cause for concern. The back is also removable, and gives you access to the SIM card slot and the dedicated microSD card slot, with some versions of the device, depending on the market, also coming with dual SIM card slots. While the back cover is removable, the battery is not.
The power button and volume rocker are found on the right side. The power button comes with a textured pattern that makes it easy to differentiate from the volume rocker, but the button layout is unfortunately a little too high up on the chassis to be within comfortable reach. The power button should have also ideally been placed below the volume rocker, but that isn’t case, and requires a lot more effort to get to. The buttons don’t provide a lot of tactile feedback either, and you’re often left wondering whether you have actually pressed them, because of how they feel. The headphone jack and the microUSB port are at the top and bottom respectively.
Display
Unlike previous generations of the Moto G, the IPS LCD displays of the Moto G4 and Moto G4 Plus have been bumped up to 5.5-inches, with resolution getting a boost to Full HD as well, resulting in a pixel density of 401 ppi. That said, those who prefer a smaller size have the option of the Moto G4 Play, which comes with a 5-inch 720p display.
The larger display and higher resolution allows for a more enjoyable experience when reading text, watching videos, and playing games. It’s not the best Full HD display on a smartphone out there, but it certainly more than gets the job done. It looks sharp, with good viewing angles, and the display is vibrant enough for the colors to not appear washed out.
Performance
Under the hood, the Moto G4 Plus comes with an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 processor, clocked at 1.5 GHz, and backed by the Adreno 405 GPU and 2 GB, 3 GB, or 4 GB of RAM, depending on which storage option you opt for. This particular review unit comes with 3 GB of RAM, and the performance has been pretty good.
You won’t see very impressive results when running benchmark tests, but as far as real world performance is concerned, everything has been fast and responsive. Apps launch quickly, multi-tasking is smooth, and the device can handle gaming without much of a hitch.
Hardware
The Moto G4 Plus is available with 16 GB, 32 GB, or 64 GB in built-in storage options, and as mentioned, this also dictates how much RAM you will be getting. There is also expandable storage via microSD card, up to an additional 256 GB. While there are versions of the device, depending on the market, that feature dual SIM capabilities, you will still get a dedicated microSD card slot, so the great news is that users won’t have to make the choice between dual SIM support and expandable storage, which is often the case with other affordable smartphones out there.
The Moto G4 Plus comes with a single front-facing speaker above the display, and is a part of the earpiece. There is no stereo sound to be had, but the single speaker does sound pretty good, and is capable of getting decently sound without sounding tinny or distorted.
Also up front is a fingerprint scanner placed below the display, and this is one of the extra hardware features that is available only with the Moto G4 Plus. The fingerprint sensor is as fast and accurate as expected, and is comparable in quality to the scanners found with more high-end smartphones as well.
It may sound a little nitpick-y, but it has to be mentioned that this scanner isn’t particularly attractive looking. The square shape clashes with the rounded and curved design of the Moto G4 Plus, and looks out of place. Another very minor issue is the fact that the sensor doesn’t double as a home button, and anyone who has used a device with a front-facing fingerprint scanner will find this something that takes some getting used to.
There is still no NFC available, which is unfortunate, and means that you won’t be able to use this device to quickly connect to Bluetooth speakers, transfer content, or use apps like Android Pay. Another point of note is that the Moto G4 Plus, and other devices in the line, aren’t water resistant anymore. While you will get some form of splash protection, that should keep it safe from a simple splash of water or a sprinkle of rain, these phones aren’t IP-certified, and will not survive being submerged in the water.
The Moto G4 Plus comes with a 3,000 mAh non-removable battery, which has become the standard size for a lot of current generation smartphones. The battery has been pretty good, and the device can provide a full day of use with average usage that involves sending and receiving messages, browsing the web, checking social media, watching a few videos and playing games for a little while.
With more intense usage, such as when playing a lot of games or taking a lot of pictures, the battery does run out pretty quickly though. However, the Moto G4 Plus does come with fast charging capabilities, so you will be able to get back to a full charge in a short amount of time.
Camera
The camera is another hardware feature that is better on the Moto G4 Plus when compared to the other devices in the Moto G4 series. The Moto G4 Plus comes with a 16 MP rear camera with a f/2.0 aperture, phase detection auto focus, and a laser auto focus system, along with a 5 MP front-facing shooter. However, there is no optical image stabilization available, which is unfortunate.
The Motorola camera app has also been improved significantly, with there being a shutter button now that makes taking pictures with one hand easier, and the app in general is simpler and easier to use. A swipe from the left side opens up a menu for basic camera settings, and a button on the upper right corner lets you quickly switch between photo and video, along with a few other modes like panorama and slow motion video. The most notable change with the camera app is the addition of a manual mode, which is something that was definitely long overdue.
As far as picture quality is concerned, it is actually surprisingly really good. Granted, it’s not going to stack up favorably against the high-end Samsung and LG flagships out there, but for a device that is so inexpensive, the camera is certainly capable of taking some nice looking shots. In good lighting conditions, you get shots with plenty of detail and vibrant colors, and the images are sharp, without looking over sharpened.
Dynamic range isn’t the best, with the camera tending to crush shadows a little too much, but that is all taken care of with HDR. Using HDR mode tones down the shadows and highlights, and adds some more vibrancy to the image, without making it appear unnatural or fake.
In low-light conditions however, is where the camera falls apart extremely quickly. We expect some noise to be present in images taken in poorly-lit situations, but the grain is quite significant with the Moto G4 Plus. Highlights are also typically overexposed, there isn’t a lot of detail to be had, and the camera also has trouble finding a point of focus in low light.
If you’re looking for a really good low-light smartphone camera, the Moto G4 Plus is unfortunately not going to cut it, but in most other situations, this camera more than gets the job done. The 5 MP front-facing camera comes with a wide angle lens, and proves to be more than adequate to cover all your selfie taking needs.
Software
On the software side of things, the Moto G4 Plus is running Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow, and this is as close to stock Android as you can get without it being a Nexus smartphone. There is virtually no bloatware to be found, and the software package isn’t as packed with features as what may be found with the high-end Motorola offerings.
There are some features available though, such as Moto Actions, which lets you do things like turning the flashlight on with a chopping motion, flipping the phone over to silence it when it rings, or launching the camera with a twist of your wrist. A simpler version of Motorola’s ambient display feature is also available, but with there being no sensors on the front, it is entirely contingent on motion.
You can’t wave your hand over the display to wake up the phone, and it also doesn’t continuously pulsate to indicate notifications. The only time it lights up is when you take the phone out of your pocket or pick it up from a table, or when you initially receive a notification. Other than these Motorola features, the software package is entirely stock Android, and sometimes, a clean and simple experience is all you need to keep things smooth and snappy.
Specifications
| Display | 5.5-inch IPS LCD display with 1920 x 1080 resolution 401ppi |
| Processor | 1.5 GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 |
| GPU | Adreno 405 |
| RAM | 2/3/4 GB |
| Storage | 16/32/64GB |
| MicroSD | Yes, up to 256 GB |
| Cameras | 16MP rear camera with f/2.0 aperture 5MP front camera with f/2.2 aperture |
| Fingerprint sensor | Yes |
| Battery | Non-removable 3000mAh battery |
| Software | Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow |
| Dimensions | 153 x 76.6 x 7.9-9.8mm 155g |
Gallery
Pricing and final thoughts
If the standard black or white options aren’t enough, the Moto G4 Plus can be customized using Moto Maker, that lets you choose between different back cover and accent colors, and allows you to add an engraving as well. That said, the availability of Moto Maker is dependent on the market.
The price and availability of the Moto G4 Plus in the US is still unknown, but in India, the 32 GB version (with 3 GB of RAM) is priced at Rs 14,999 (~$230), while the 16 GB iteration (with 2 GB of RAM) is priced at Rs 13,499 (~$207), and we can expect the pricing to be similar in the US as well.
So, there you have it for in-depth look at the Motorola Moto G4 Plus! The Moto G series has always been among the best bang for your buck smartphones around, and things remain the same, even with the technically more expensive Moto G4 Plus.
- Hands on with the Moto G4 and Moto G4 Plus
- Moto G4 Play announced
The Moto G was in desperate need for an upgrade though, and the changes Motorola has made to the display and camera make the Moto G4 Plus a very compelling option for those who are looking for a smartphone that falls in the sub-$250 category.
Buy the Moto G4 Plus now!
What do you think of the Moto G4 Plus and the improvements made vs previous Moto G smartphones, and do you plan to buy one? Let us know your views in the comments below!
ICYMI: Rock-like smartphone, stomach tap and more
Today on In Case You Missed It: The FDA has just approved a device for obese people that is first surgically inserted into the stomach, then used like a tap after meals to drain up to a third of the food inside. The Runcible ‘anti-smartphone’ is going up for sale for $300, designed to not make a single noise except to notify you of incoming calls. It includes a camera, bluetooth and touchscreen, but still clearly resembles a rock on the back.
And finally, It is this show’s first birthday, so we are touching on a few of our favorite stories from the last year. If you’d like to check out a brief clip of the pigeon video out of New York, that’s here. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
Moto Z Droid Edition sends original images to Google Photos for free
Motorola is bundling the Verizon-exclusive edition of Moto Z with a feature shutterbugs would love: two years of free original-quality Google Photos storage. It wasn’t mentioned on stage during Lenovo’s event, but 9to5google has spotted the info on the upcoming handset’s web page. Motorola’s website only has the “Droid Edition’s” details up, so it’s not clear at this point whether the unlocked version will get the freebie, as well.
Google Photos doesn’t cost anything, but it’s limited to 16-megapixel images and 1080p videos. Further, it doesn’t save images in their original state: it keeps compressed jpeg versions instead. If you want to save your original snapshots without compression, you’d have to upload them to Google Drive, which only gives you 15GB of free storage per month. Upgrading to 100GB will cost you $1.99 per month. If you’re not exactly sold on the Moto Z but already have a Nexus device, you could be looking at a similar deal. Android Police dissected the app in May and found that it could give Nexus devices unlimited original-quality photo storage, as well.
Source: 9to5google, Motorola
The Moto Z and Z Force are Motorola’s new modular flagships
So long Moto X, hello Moto Z. For its next round of Android flagships, Motorola is going for a new brand, an ultra-thin design and support for “Mods” that expand their capabilities. And yes, the Moto Z is seriously thin at just 5.19 millimeters millimeters thick. How Motorola achieved will probably be controversial, though: the Moto Z and its slightly beefier sibling, the Moto Z Force, don’t have headphone jacks. Instead, you’ll have to plug in the included USB-C to 3.5mm jack adapter to use headphones. But is any of this enough for Lenovo to finally have a hit phone? (Take a look at our hands-on impressions of both phones here.)
At the very least, you can’t say Motorola is being lazy. It’s embracing the idea of modular add-ons, Moto Mods, wholeheartedly. Both new phones have magnetic connectors on their rears, which a variety of accessories can connect to. So far, that includes a homegrown pico projector, a speaker upgrade from JBL and a variety of battery packs from Incipio, Tumi and Kate Spade. Moto says the Mods will work on next year’s phones, which should give potential buyers a bit of piece of mind. Yes, the whole concept is similar to what LG attempted with the G5, and it’s still unclear if mainstream consumers care about modular upgrades.
Lenovo is the first major manufacturer to dump headphone jacks in exchange for a thinner design, and it’ll likely end up taking the majority of consumer flack for doing so. But it’s not alone: Intel is also pushing USB-C over headphone jacks, and Chinese phone maker LeEco has already dumped them with its latest devices. We’ve even heard from the rumor mill that Apple might be considering the same thing for upcoming iPhones. But as someone who usually has expensive earbuds plugged into my smartphone, I’m not looking forward to relying on a dongle. (And I’m definitely not going to be upgrading to USB-C headphones anytime soon.)
While it took a few revisions for the Moto X to become truly great, the Moto Z seems like a leap ahead in many ways. It’s got the usual speed improvements, with a new quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor running at up to 2.2GHz and 4GB of RAM. Its screen is a tad smaller than last year’s, at just 5.5-inches instead of 5.7-inches, and it sports the same quad HD resolution of 2560 by 1440 pixels (535 pixels per inch). Naturally, its thinness means it’s significantly lighter than before, weighing in at just 4.6 ounces (136 grams), compared to last year’s Moto X Pure (Style outside of the US) at 6.3 ounces (179 grams).
On the camera front, the Moto Z packs in a 12 megapixel rear shooter with an f/1.8 aperture lens, optical image stabilization and laser autofocus. Its front camera is a typical 5 megapixel entry. Motorola seems to have crammed in as much whiz-bang technology it could to deliver a better photo-taking than its past phones: the rear camera also features color-corrected flash with dual LEDs and a 1.12um pixel size.
Just like last year, there’s also a more powerful model with a few additional features, the US-only Moto Z Force. It’s a bit thicker (6.9mm) and heavier, but it also packs in a significantly larger battery (3,500mAh compared to the Z’s 2,600mAh) and a more capable 21 megapixel camera with phase detection autofocus and Deep Trench Isolation (a technique Apple used for the iPhone 6S camera). The Moto Z Force’s screen also uses Motorola’s Shattershield technology, which it claims is more resistant to cracks and scratches than Corning’s Gorilla Glass. While it’s not as mind-blowingly thin as the Z proper, the Z Force sounds like the ideal Android phone for power users.
Unfortunately, you’ll have to be on Verizon to nab the Moto Z phones this summer, where they’ll be available as “Droid Editions.” Motorola says it’ll also sell the Moto Z unlocked on its website this fall. The Moto Z will be available internationally in September, but Motorola says the Z Force is a US-only affair for now.
Get all the news from today’s Lenovo and Motorola event right here!
The Moto Z and Z Force are as controversial as they are ambitious
Oh, you thought Lenovo and its Project Tango device were going to hog the spotlight today? Not quite. Motorola just revealed its new flagship phones, the Moto Z and Moto Z Force, and we’ve already had a chance to spend a little time with them. Spoiler: There’s a lot to love here, tinged with a few things that might drive you up a wall.
The Moto Z is both incredibly fast and insanely thin. Under the hood, the Z uses a Snapdragon 820 chipset, 4GB of RAM and an Adreno 530 GPU, all of which helped to make the performance feel smooth as I leapt in and out of apps and generally tried to throw the phone for a loop. No dice. Motorola’s hands-off approach to Android usually helps its phones feel fast too, but the version of Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow we’ve got here isn’t as clean as what you’ll find on, say, the Moto X Pure. The build I played with was the Verizon-exclusive version (the so-called “Droid Edition”), which comes loaded with the same tweaked interface and Big Red bloatware we saw on the Droid Turbo 2. Ick. Hopefully, the unlocked Moto Z shipping later this year runs stock Marshmallow.
When the first leaked images of the Moto Z made the rounds, I was admittedly concerned. There’s a very real risk that thin phones will actually be uncomfortable to hold since your hand just grips the edges. Thankfully, the Moto Z easily dodges that problem: The stainless steel-and-aluminum body has comfortable sides that fit neatly into my palm without digging in. I spent so much time idly rubbing the phone’s edges, in fact, that I sometimes forgot about the otherwise lovely 5.5-inch Quad HD AMOLED screen.
Still, that trim waistline comes at a cost. The 13-megapixel rear camera (which took solid photos during our brief time with it) sticks out of the back in a circular pod, which might rub some design purists the wrong way. More importantly, there is no 3.5mm headphone jack; you’ll have to use an included USB Type-C adapter to connect your existing headphones to the Z. Since the Moto Z Force is a physically thicker device (and something of a “Pro” version of the Z), Motorola probably wouldn’t have had trouble fitting that headphone jack there, but it just wasn’t meant to be. They’re embracing the future, but I seriously wonder how bad the blowback from this decision will be.
While we’re on the subject of the Moto Z Force, this is probably the version of the phone most people will want. Think of it as a very slightly beefier version of the Z with a better battery (3,500mAh, compared to the normal model’s 2,600), an improved 21-megapixel camera with phase detection and laser autofocusing and Motorola’s ShatterShield display. In case you already forgot, ShatterShield essentially guarantees that your Z Force’s screen won’t crack when you drop it. And unlike the Droid Turbo 2 (which, by the way, survived being run over by my car), the ShatterShield setup here doesn’t seem to require a thick plastic screen protector anymore.
And of course, there are those MotoMods. In case you hadn’t heard, Motorola built a clever system involving magnets and a 16-pin interface for power and data transfer. Some Mods are purely for aesthetics, like the handsome Motorola Style shells that just snap onto the back of the Z and Z Force. Still others are more utilitarian. A battery Mod from Incipio can give the Z phones an extra 2,200mAh of power with the added benefit of feeling way, way better than a traditional battery case. The whole point is to build accessories that blend into a unified whole, and Motorola’s early partners have done a really impressive job. Oh, and it’s nearly impossible to knock those Mods off by accident — those magnets are no joke.
In case you feel like blasting tunes, JBL’s speaker Mod gives the Z line some added battery and some much louder sound. The most curious of the bunch is Motorola’s tiny projector, which more or less blows the Moto Z screen up to about 70 inches on a wall. It’s surprisingly bright and produces a steadier image than you might expect, but I wonder who really wants to tote one of these things around. (Vacationing families, maybe?) At the very least, I’m told that these Mods are meant to be “intergenerational,” and will work with next year’s Z phones, too.
There’s a lot to like about the Moto Z line, but there’s no denying it adds still more wrinkles to a smartphone lineup that was already getting a little unwieldy. At this point, Motorola is selling the low-end Moto E, three new versions of the Moto G in different markets, three versions of the Moto X, and now the flagship Moto Z slots in at the top with a launch set for this summer. And prepare to scratch your heads even harder: The far-more-fascinating Moto Z Force will be a U.S. exclusive on Verizon for, well, who knows how long. We eventually saw the Droid Turbo 2 trickle into far-flung markets as the Moto X Force so it’s likely the Z Force will eventually do the same, but still — it sucks for Moto fans in other countries that the best version of the Z isn’t coming their way anytime soon.
Get all the news from today’s Lenovo and Motorola event right here!
Snap-on ‘MotoMods’ make the Moto Z more interesting
Google isn’t the only company working on modular smartphones. Following on the heels of the LG G5 and Google’s “Project Ara” concept, Motorola today unveiled its new Moto Z flagship, which makes use of various modular accessories. These add-ons, collectively dubbed MotoMods, snap onto the handset using a quartet of magnets and draw their power/data through a 6Gbps multi-pin connection. There will be three Mods available at launch: a projector, “party speaker” and an external battery.
Lenovo has already built a projector into a tablet, so it’s not a huge surprise to now see Motorola creating a snap-on pico projector case. The Moto Insta-Share Projector (MISP, for short) combines a built-in kickstand with a teensy 50-lumen lamp that can beam a 70-inch image onto nearby walls. Its onboard battery allows for an hour of showtime, though you if you want you can plug the phone into a wall charger via its USB-C connection. The projector will also output audio to an external stereo using Bluetooth or the USB-C so you aren’t stuck with the phone’s rinkydink native speaker.
The JBL speaker does exactly what you think it does. It offers 6W stereo sound, 80-decibel volume and 10-hour battery life. Like the projector mod, this too has a built-in kickstand, and can charge as it plays using a USB-C connection.
The Incipio Power Pack straps on a massive 2,220mAh backup battery rated to provide an extra 22 hours of runtime. That’s not quite as huge as, say, the Galaxy S7 Active’s 4,000 mAh cell, but it’s certainly a nice complement to the Moto Z’s onboard 2,600mAh pack, which is rated for 30 hours. What’s more, these power packs will be available in more stylish designs from designers Kate Spade and Tumi. There will also be a version that charges wirelessly.
These first few Mods are just the beginning as far as Moto Z accessories go. The Moto Z line will also include a series of snap-on cases in a bunch of exotic materials like wood and cloth. Motorla’s Seang Chau also hinted at upcoming collaborations with battery-case maker, Mophie, and a camera pack as well. In addition to developing its own, Motorola is also launching the Moto Mods Developer Program. Through it, the company will partner with the Lenovo Capital and Incubator Group (LCIG) to provide both seed funding for certified developers as well as $1 million in equity funding for whoever submits a winning MotoMod prototype.
As you can see, Motorola hasn’t yet announced pricing for any of these accessories. Expect more details on that closer to the phone’s launch date.
Get all the news from today’s Lenovo and Motorola event right here!
USB-C and Lightning headphones aren’t great news for everyone
The 3.5mm port is dying — at least when it comes to smartphones. If the persistent Lightning headphone rumor wasn’t enough to persuade you, the fact that Motorola beat Apple to the punch should be. Motorola’s new Moto Z and Moto Z Force don’t have that familiar circular hole for your cans to plug into, and it now seems inevitable that almost every phone within a few years will forgo the port in favor of a single socket for both charging and using headphones.
This is a change that few people actually want. It’s driven entirely by the makers of our phones and their desire to ditch what they view as an unnecessary port.
There are literally billions of headphones out in the world with a 3.5mm jack, all of which will need an adapter to work with Motorola’s new phone. And the quality of that adapter is going to be all-important. Phones are digital devices, and headphones require analog input. To solve that, every phone has a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) and an amplifier inside, which do exactly what the names suggest. The DAC converts the signal from ones and zeros to waves, and the amplifier makes those waves audible through a speaker or headphones.
The combination of these two parts (DSPs are also involved, but let’s not overcomplicate things) is what makes phones — or anything with a headphone port — sound different from one another. If you listen to the same track, with the same headphones, on an iPhone 6S and a Galaxy S7, they won’t sound identical, mainly because the two phones use different DACs and amps, which output slightly different analog signals through the devices’ 3.5mm ports.
The DAC and amp, then, are the hidden link between your music app of choice and your headphones, and their importance can’t be understated. The industry has gotten a lot better with DACs and amps in recent years, and the general standard of audio output from phones has risen, but there are still devices that are stronger and those that are weaker.
With the switch to USB-C (or Lightning) for headphones, your phone’s DAC and amp (it’ll still need one for the speaker) are being bypassed. That means this all-important component will now reside inside either the adapter (for your existing cans) or the headphones themselves (for USB-C or Lightning headsets).
In reality, those people you’d imagine to be up in arms about the change — i.e., audiophiles — probably have the least to be worried about. Premium manufacturers will be able to pick and configure the DACs in their headphones to match the analog circuitry inside. We’re already starting to see companies like Audeze provide headphones with apps that allow the listener to fine-tune the output of their built-in DACs, DSPs and amps. This can result in clearer sound at louder volumes than, say, an iPhone can provide. You’ll also have the peace of mind that whatever you plug your expensive headphones into, they will sound exactly as the manufacturer intended.
The high-end Audeze EL-8 can plug into an iPhone’s Lightning port.
For existing premium headphones, there’s already a strong market for DACS to complement high-end phones, and with the abrupt switch to USB-C and Lightning, that market is only going to grow. Audiophiles are also unlikely to be fazed by the thought of carrying around a dongle or breakout box in the name of higher-quality sound. Indeed, many already do.
Who should be worried about the change? Well, anyone who doesn’t own expensive headphones and has no intention of getting them. If you’re the type of person who spends $30 to $100 on cans, then you probably have cause for concern. You’re either going to need to grapple with what is likely to be a budget adapter for your existing headphones or choose a cheap USB-C or Lightning model.
And here’s the problem: The DAC and amp inside that $50 pair of digital headphones are not going to be of the same quality as those in a $500 pair. Nor will the sound they output be afforded the same time and effort. Instead of trusting in your phone’s DAC and amp to output decent-quality audio at decent volumes, you’ll now be contending with the choices of a company that has had to cut corners to put out headphones on a tight budget.
The argument that those spending “so little” on headphones don’t care enough about sound quality to notice is plain stupid. This isn’t 2007, and millions of people now leave those white earbuds in the box, where they belong. You can also buy some great headphones for less than $100, and although there are huge gains made above that price point, it’s a case of diminishing returns as you approach the high end of the headphone market.
In order to get the same quality offered by analog pairs, the price has to go up.
Of course, I don’t want to be a scaremonger. Bluetooth headphones already have the necessary components inside to convert digital to analog, so this won’t be entirely new territory for many companies. But to get good Bluetooth headphones, you need to spend more than you would to get good analog headphones. The same will be true for USB-C and Lightning: In order to get the same quality offered by analog pairs, the price has to go up. Sure, there will probably be, for example, JBL USB-C headphones at $50, $75, $100, etc., but they will each sound worse than their analog counterparts at the same price.
To my mind, anyone investing that kind of money deserves, at the least, to get the same kind of sound quality per dollar as they do now from their analog cans. And it’s difficult to imagine a world where JBL, or any company, will accept lower profit margins on digital headphones than analog. The price has to go up, or the quality has to go down.
Putting these components inside the headphones (or, in some cases, the cable) also has an unwelcome side effect: reduced battery life. Apple, Samsung, Motorola et al. spend a long time fine-tuning the components in their products to maximize endurance. That means limiting the output of the amplifier in order to ensure it doesn’t use too much power.
If you put the control of these variables in the hands of headphone manufacturers, they will undoubtedly choose components that make their hardware sound best rather than those that play nice with your phone’s battery. While powering in-ear headphones is unlikely to have too much impact on your battery, using a pair of cans with large drivers will. We’ve already seen this in action from some early Lightning headphones, with models like the Audeze EL-8 trimming a fair chunk from the iPhone’s already questionable battery life.
The final issue with phones ditching the 3.5mm port — and this might be the worst — is that the industry is far from finished with developing its replacement. Intel, for example, is currently working on USB-C audio in a big way. In addition to trying to standardize USB-C digital audio output, it’s also working on a system that will allow analog audio to be output through sideband use (SBU) pins. These pins are currently not being used in the USB-C spec but would allow for headphones that use the phone’s DAC and amp. That work is not yet finished, and for Apple to benefit from it would involve ditching the Lightning port, which is based on USB 2.0.
The industry is far from finished with developing the 3.5mm port’s replacement.
Given that Apple has switched to USB-C for other products and that it has no problem with killing ports in the name of progress, that’s not as impossible as it sounds. Adopting USB Type-C for headphones could even lead to a MacBook with two ports! But let’s not dream of such crazy things. Let’s get back to the Moto Z: We don’t actually know how Motorola’s system works. There’s an adapter in the box to facilitate plugging in 3.5mm headphones, but it’s not clear if it uses Intel’s in-development analog tricks or has an amp and DAC built in. Chances are it’s the latter, which is what Chinese company LeEco’s new USB-C smartphones do and what all Lightning headphones on the market today do.
This uncertainty is indicative of a real problem: By making the jump so early — before the industry has truly settled on a standard — Motorola, Apple and any other company that follows suit might have a difficult decision to make in a couple of years: Do they upset their customers with another change to audio output? Or ignore progress in the area and persist with a solution that leaves analog output in the past, even when it’s possible through a single port?
Get all the news from today’s Lenovo and Motorola event right here!
AIVAnet 