Tag: motorola

3 Upcoming Motorola Devices We Can’t Wait to Get Our Hands On
Motorola’s comeback has been widely successful with the much-appreciated Moto G and Moto E. After the company was acquired by Google, Motorola has constantly been launching phones. More are soon to come, including their long awaited flagship phone. We are listing 3 new devices that we hope Motorola will launch soon:

1. Moto X+1/X2

We can expect the Moto X+1, aka Moto X2, to be released sometime in September. We have seen details surrounding Motorola’s next-generation flagship smartphone leak a number of times thus far. In fact, there have been several sightings of the unreleased phone in a handful of videos.

Key Specifications
- 5.2-inch Full HD AMOLED display
- 1080 x 1920 pixel resolutions
- 2GB of RAM
- Snapdragon 800 2.3 GHz processor
- 12 MP primary camera
2. Moto G2

Motorola has reportedly started working on the Moto G2. A smartphone said to be the successor to the popular Moto G. A website called Mallandonoandroid has published an image and alleged specifications of the phone that carries the model number XT1068. As per the report the dual-sim phone will sport a 720p display and Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor, just like the Moto G, but will feature a 8MP rear camera. Moto G came with a 5MP rear camera, which was one of its weak points.

Rumored Specifications
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor
- 1,280 x 720 pixels
- 8MP rear camera
3. Moto G Google Play Edition

While the standard version of Moto G sold by Motorola has been extremely popular, everyone seems to have forgotten about the Google Play edition of the phone sold in the US, including Motorola and Google. The phone is not available in India, it is expect that Motorola may launch the device soon.

Key Specifications
- 1.2 GHz Quad-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 Processor
- 1 GB RAM
- 4.5 Inch HD Touchscreen Display
- 5 MP Rear Camera With LED Flash
- 1.3 MP Front Camera
- 2070 MAh Battery.
July 22, 2014
Leaked Video Shows a Mysterious Motorola Phone Running Android L

Motorola is right now haywired with Lenovo planning to take it over. The company definitely has some handsets in its pipeline to release. This time we have come across a new video starring unidentified Motorola device that appears to running Android L. This unknown device, claimed to be a Motorola X+1 or the X2, has been shown on video courtesy of TK Tech News.

However, the Youtuber could not confirm if the new device is, in fact, the Moto X+1. On the contrary, the site talks about how the alleged device could also be a new Droid device, if not Moto X+1. Going by the actual size of the device shown in the video and when compared to the Nexus 5 placed side-by-side, the handset easily crosses 5 inches diagonally.

Furthermore, the display has Full HD resolution, with TK Tech News speculating it may have an AMOLED screen. We think that Motorola has had their hands on the Android L preview for a while now, given how Google usually lets manufacturers have the first look in order to get development going. So it’s certainly possible that this is some kind of a Motorola prototype device used for testing beta version of L.

Motorola has had an amazing year with the super successful release of the two best-seller Moto G and even cheaper Moto E. While, company still lacks a flagship smartphone in their offering, this alleged device may be the the new Motorola hero.

July 11, 2014
Moto 360 Finally Unveiled, While LG G Watch And Samsung Gear Live Are Now For Sale

Exciting new Android Wear was finally showcased at the Google I/O 2014 with announcements of the launches of LG G Watch and Samsung Gear Live. The only one remaining is the Moto 360 smartwatch, which won’t be available to pre-order until later this summer.

Samsung’s Gear Live and LG’s G Watch, both powered by Android Wear are the first devices to adopt the new Google software specifically designed for wearables. The G Watch is equipped with Google’s voice recognition service and can perform the simplest of tasks including checking email, sending text messages and carrying out an online search at users’ voice command.

The Samsung Gear Live

Both of the devices cannot make phone calls by themselves but can be connected to many of the latest Android-based smartphones. A typical smartwatch allows users to make calls, receive texts and e-mails, take photos and access apps. The G Watch opened Thursday for online pre-order in 12 countries including the United States, France and Japan before it hits stores in 27 more including Brazil and Russia, which is touted for early July. Read our story about the Top 4 Awesome things Google Android Wear can do.

The LG G Watch

Gear Live was also available for online pre-order from Thursday. Samsung introduced its Android-based Galaxy Gear smartwatch last year but it was given a lukewarm reception by consumers. Samsung’s arch rival Apple is believed to readying to launch its own smartwatch soon.

Despite the Moto 360 still being one of the first watches to arrive running Android Wear OS, there is still some time before you can get your hands on the device. Google did, however, demonstrate many of the features that will be available to these devices, including voice commands for sending texts, getting directions, and music playback. With the smartwatch you’ll also be able to receive and dismiss notifications, accept or decline calls, and dictate notes and reminders.

The Moto 360

The looks of the Motorola smartwatch is its best feature. According to the team, the round design is meant to appeal to both genders while ditching the sharp corners that can dig into your wrist. The shape is an improvement over the square designs that we normally see on smartwatches, which makes the Moto 360 look like a regular fashionable watch from a distance.

The launch of Android Wear is fueling the empty smartwatch market. If Android Wear’s market takes of, our domestic lives will be soon be ruled by Android powered smart devices. Unless, Apple surprises us with its contender.

June 26, 2014
Upcoming Moto X+1 May Have 4K Video Recording Capability

There is a flood of rumors about the new Moto X+1. Most recently, the famous phone leaker @Evleaks has released the first press render of the smartphone covered in a case. TKTechNews has also leaked a couple of videos showing the smartphone in action.

Other than announcing the possibility of a device, Motorola has remained tight-lipped about the upcoming model. Even without the company’s help, Moto X+1 is turning out to one of the worst kept tech secrets.

The leaked press render shows a device that is very plain and covered by a protective case. However, there are a couple of inconsistencies that have raised questions over the accountability of the photo. The leak illustrates that the notification bar on the home screen is opaque and translucent as per KitKat’s design. Some odd points noted are the lack of a flash alongside the rear camera and the absence of the front camera.

Here is the leaked video that features Moto X+1 by TKTechNews:

From the above video, one can see that the smartphone records crisp, detailed footage. It can quickly auto-focus during constant movement and even zoom in and out without losing pace with the movements.

This video also shows us that the smartphone may have 4K video recording abilities, apart from the standard 1080p format. Overall, this video offers hope that the Moto X+1 will provide a solid imaging experience. Last week, the same YouTube channel posted a video of a similar handset wrapped in plastic, which is allegedly the Moto X+1.

It is said that Moto X+1 may have a 5.2inch display, and 1,080 x 1,920 pixel resolution. Furthermore, rumors illustrate that the phone will include a Snapdragon 800 processor, 2GB of RAM and 16/32 GB of internet storage.

June 24, 2014
Moto 360 Watch Rumors Fly : What To Expect

Samsung has been ruling a still infant, smartwatch market with half-a-million Samsung Galaxy Gears dispatched this year. These have been hogging around 70 percent of the fast-growing market for smart timepieces. Motorola has since stepped in the game and has unveild its Moto 360(don’t mix it up with a popular games console). It is the least smartwatch-like smartwatch we have seen for a long time. It looks quite like a regular watch, which Motorola insists it isn’t in the least.

The Moto 360 will use Sapphire glass in order to keep scratches at bay and generally protect it against knocks and scrapes. With Gorilla Glass being designed for much larger pieces of glass, it’s unsurprising to see Motorola opting for a different material here.

Motorola has plans to release the Moto 360 in July with a $350 price tag, according to Journal du Geek, a French website. The company has also hinted that the Moto 360 would launch this summer. It did not however, mention whether it would come first to the U.S with a later release for Europe and the rest of the world. Motorola has released images of the Moto 360 with both leather and steel bands, and accidentally leaked leather color options went online earlier this year.

The Moto 360 will not feature ports for USB charging or any other wired connector, which means the purple plastic plate behind its face will allow it to utilize induction charging, a method of wireless charging that requires a powered mat or some other specialized charger. Induction charging does not currently transmit through metallic materials, which is probably why Motorola selected plastic.

The Moto 360 might be induction charged

Motorola could also use solar or self-winding chargers to supplement wireless charging in the Moto 360. This will help to increase the battery life of the watch before you finally have to set it down to charge. Of course, this is an unconfirmed leak and we are definitely hoping for a considerably lower price when the Moto 360 comes out stateside.

We hope Motorola can bring Smart and Sexy together in their endevour in Smartwatches, as they have done in the smartphone market with the Moto X, G and the baby E.

May 22, 2014
Motorola Moto E Review : It’s Time to Switch
Its not often you see a phone sell out hours from launch, especially in India. The Motorola Moto E saw sales skyrocket the minute the handset went on sale, and there is a good reason behind it. The Moto E is built on the philosophy of the Moto X and the Moto G, two phone essentially responsible for bringing Motorola back into the same game they had originally started back in the day. But is the Moto E good enough to live up to the hype? and is it the only thing Motorola needed to defy all logic and become prominent again? Lets find out!

Overview

Motorola is trying to change the need of the hour, by re organizing spends and delivering Android in the purest form. The Moto E is a perfect example of what a user needs from a budget device. It lives up to almost any needs in this spend, however there is no kitchen sink.

Build Quality and Hardware

The Moto E is exceptionally well built, in fact if you put the Moto E and the Moto G side by side, there is hardly any noticeable difference in the build quality of both devices. The Moto E has a brilliant mix of quality materials and reinforced design along with a gorilla glass 3 front that will ensure that no one is disappointed with the phone. The Moto E also boasts water resistance and has an unknown IP coating that we will be soon putting to test. However the company claims that the handset is splash proof, just like the G and the X.

The Moto E also comes with customization options like replaceable back panels and special rubberized grip panels that will add color and strength to the already solid phone.

Hardware wise we are not empty either, the Moto E runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 chipset on dual cores with 1 GB RAM and 4 GB storage, an Adreno 302 GPU completes the mix ( it is read as 305 in benchmark apps) . You have a 5 MP camera at the back, that does not live upto anything, and then there is the 1980 mAh battery which is simply wow. The display is a 4.3 inch 960 x 540px capacitive panel with great color reproduction and brightness.

1980 mAh battery which is simply wow.

The Moto E is a dual sim phone, which will create mobile hotspots using your 3G connection and can tether upto 5 devices for the use of 3G data. Battery life does not drain and the hotspot feature is very stable. The phone also has a nice white notification light on the right of the earpiece, that breathes once you get a new notification and goes away the minute you pull down the notification panel (you can disable this from the settings panel)

UI and Android

There is less to say here, it runs a sort of pure, yet tweaked version of Android 4.4.2 Kitkat out of the box. You do get two bloatware apps which can be uninstalled (oh thank god!) and some useful Moto apps like Moto Assist, Migrate and Alert. You might find yourself using these more than once. The great thing about Motorola’s intention behind a pure Android experience, unlike other manufacturers, is that the company plans to deliver updates almost as soon as Android gets updated in Mountain View (Google HQ). The Moto E also has a FM radio which will be appreciated by many, the FM reception is solid and the earpiece is needed as an antenna.

[pullquote] lives up beyond expectations and still remains very responsive[/pullquote]

The OS is buttery smooth and honestly you can’t ask for more from the handset, it lives up beyond expectations and still remains very responsive. This phone will be the benchmark for all phones going forward in this price bracket.

Battery

The Phone will beat all odds and defy all logic when it comes to battery performance. The Moto E can even run some heavy games, albeit one at a time, but games like Asphalt 8 runs on this US $ 120 phone and it is actually playable.

Battery life is also excellent from this dual sim handset, once you get over the initial phase of playing with the phone, most users should expect a good 1.5 days of use on this phone, with talk times running into 6+ hours in most cases with both sims installed.

Basically Motorola has a beautifully built rom of Android, that does not leak RAM and drain power, cellular antennas are strong so network searching is minimal and hence battery is saved there as well.

Phone and Networks

The dual SIM capability is just like the Moto G, and there is no surprise there. Calls are smartly forwarded to the next number once a SIM is busy. The network strength, as mentioned in the previous segment is surprisingly powerful and we are happy with the overall quality of networks and the call drops or the lack thereof.

Microphone and earpiece speaker are great and both sides will be pleasantly happy with the loud volumes.

Display, Camera and Multimedia

For all the coverage you have already seen, you should be aware by now that, the Moto E has the best possible display in this price bracket. Stop looking at specs and look at the actual quality of the display. It is crisp and bright, even outdoors, its got great viewing angles, its got gorilla glass 3 and smudge proof coating (which is brilliant by the way) and it is insanely responsive for an under 10k or even under 8k phone (INR).

The Camera is there, because its there. Honestly don’t plan on becoming a lifestyle fashion photographer with this phone (unless you already own a fancy camera). The fixed focus camera is there because they wanted people to have a camera, and it solves purely that purpose. That being said whatever pictures are clicked in good lighting and end up in focus, have good color reproduction and almost no noise. See samples: (coming up)

The LED flash is missing which is quite a shame. More than the need of a flash for the camera, consumers in this price bracket would have appreciated the LED flash as a torch. We really love our phone torches Motorola, our streets are not very well lit!

Multimedia wise, Motorola did a few good things; the speaker is now in the front, and not easily blocked by the hands, so it doesn’t muffle with ease. The audio is loud and clear, with a balanced output and an impressive sound from the 3.5 mm headphone jack. Lose the included handsfree for some real headphones to truly enjoy that audio bit. Display, like mentioned, is good so watching video or playing games is really enjoyable on this powerful budget device.

Conclusion

It takes a lot from a company to not make us so excited about a product, in fact India and many other nations in general appreciate the intent of the company. The Moto was sold out within hours of launch of sales in India, on the online shopping website Flipkart. This phone leaves little to complain about, it is well built, has great specs and features bundled with a unique and stock Android experience that will leave many happy. This is the best “first phone” for those wanting to jump the feature phone/Blackberry ship to a uber – budget Android device. It is also customizable with panels on the exterior and has a Gorilla Glass 3 and splash proof front making it a pseudo rugged, long lasting handset.

There are, however, major flaws in the current positioning of the phone. The handset is supposed to be an average mans everyday phone. It is supposed to be a emplacement for a feature phone and it’s supposed to be a phone for the masses and on a low end budget. This category of user is currently not happy or capable of shopping online. So by the time the phone gets sold from Flipkart and reaches the masses, the price escalates to Rs. 10000 and more, thanks to black market dealing and short supplies on this impressive product.

Motorola has made a fantastic phone, a phone that is truly a reason to switch from an old gen phone to Android on a budget. Why should you have to spend tens of thousands, when all you want is a phone that works well and gives you some basic functionality. Well the Moto E is here and it has changed the perception of the budget phone in our eyes. If you want to take our word for it, then the Time to Switch is Now!

(Note : the scoring below is entirely based on the Price vs ratio of each)

[tw-column width=”one-half”]
GOOD THINGS
- Well Built
- Responsive
- Stock Android
- Great Display
- Great Audio
- Solid Phone and Network
- Excellent Battery
[/tw-column]
[tw-column width=”one-half” position=”last”]
BAD THINGS
- Camera is Torrid
- Low Availability, Sold on Flipkart Only
- No LED Flash
[/tw-column]

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May 17, 2014
Hands On : Newly launched Moto E for Rs. 6999

The budget smartphone market is ready to be disrupted, Motorola in collaboration with Flipkart in India has launched the new Moto E, a smaller brother to the Moto G smartphone from the company. The Moto E has been priced at Rs. 6999 and it may as be responsible for bringing a real smartphone to the masses.

Next to Moto G

The Moto E goes on sale at Midnight tonight (13th May 2014), for Rs. 6999 with same day delivery in some cities. Specs wise the Moto E is quite impressive too the front has a 4.3 inch display that has a resolution of 540 x 960 qHD resolution and a pixel density of 256 ppi. The display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3 and also is splash proof. A 1980 mAh battery is inbuilt and is non removable, the Moto E comes with Android KitKat 4.4 out of the box and promises “Guaranteed updates” to the next version of Android.

Powering it is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 A7 processor that is clocked at 1.2 GHz and is supported by 1 GB of RAM. On the back is a 5 MP camera that captures FVWGA video and the Moto E can playback 720p video.

The build quality is actually comparable to the Moto X and Moto G so the three devices are quite identical only to be disturbed by difference in specs. The back panel is exceptionally well built and the buttons seem very tactile to use. The device mostly feels much more premium in the hand and performs better than one can expect.

The Moto E makes a lot of sense for a market like India, and where major manufacturers have been reluctant to bring their devices in this price bracket Motorola has been brave enough to deliver a device with a promise of instant updates along with features and customizability that most fail to offer.

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May 13, 2014
Moto X is Now Available in India, Starts at 23,999 INR

Ok Google Now- Where is my Moto X? The famous always aware smartphone has been launched in India in partnership with Flipkart. The sale of the Moto X has begun at a starting price of Rs. 23,999.

Motorola probably has no plans to bring the 32 GB variant in the Indian market, for now the 16 GB variant is available in Black and White and can even be delivered using “in a day delivery”.

Other color options which include Red, Blue and Turquoise are on Pre-order and are estimated to be available by the second week of April. The higher price variants include the wood back Moto X in either Walnut or Teak finish. And Unlike the US we only get two pre made Back Finishes for a price of Rs. 25,999.

The wood back Moto X will also be sold along with the other color options, which is by the second week of April. alongside the Moto X itself, Flipkart has also introduced three new launch day offers, which include 70% discount on accessories, Rs. 1000 cash back when the handset is bought with a 6 months EMI option and 10 lucky people will get 100% cash back.

Flipkart has said that the Moto X is available in limited quantity, and they expect the units to sell out really soon, Stating similarities to what happened with the Moto G.

Moto X features a 4.7 inch display with a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels. The device is powered by a 1.7 GHz dual-core Qualcomm MSM8960Pro Snapdragon processor coupled with a 2 GB of RAM. The device comes with a 16 GB of inbuilt storage which is not expandable.

Moto X sports a 10 MP rear camera with a LED flashlight and a 2 MP secondary front-facing camera. Moto X is expected to be available with Android 4.4.2 out of the box. Hit the source link below to get your hands on one now.

March 20, 2014
Moto 360 is Motorola’s Android Wear Watch

Its no surprise that Motorola will be the first company to drop in the most interesting piece of hardware in the new ecosystem announced by Google, aka Android Wear.

Called the Moto 360, its possibly the best vision of what a smart watch should be like. Motorola has taken the traditional route with the new Moto 360 keeping the design round and the materials very robust. A generous use of Steel and Leather alongside a tried and tested milled round design make the hardware look very promising.

Thanks to very enticing images, we are now aware that the Moto 360 will show maps as well as updates from Google Now. Motorola may have hit the nail right on the head with the new Moto 360, it is said to be available in the summer in a list of varied styles including a Leather strap or all metal strap.

Its goes on sale in the US in the summer to start with, expected globally soon after.

March 19, 2014