Motorola Announcement – Recap
Moto X
The Moto X was picked on a lot last year. It didn’t matter how smart he was. He tried to join in on a full blown stats war. Well that little smart kid didn’t go home crying, he went to the gym and pumped aluminium. Now he’s back and can go toe to toe with any of the big players. Just look at this stat list:
Operating System
4.4.4 ( you know its getting L super fast)
Processor
Snapdragon 801 at 2.5Ghz (this is used in almost every phone at the moment)
Adreno 330 GPU (doesn’t need the 440 as the screen isn’t 2K)
Ram
2GB (because 3 isn’t the magic number – De La Soul was wrong!)
Display
5.2” 423PPI 1080p AMOLED
Why AMOLED? If you even asked that… ACTIVE DISPLAY ROCKS!!!!
Storage
16GB or 32GB for Moto Maker
SD card support up to 0GB (Thanks Moto)
Camera
Rear 13mp in 4:3 (Has a rather cool ring flash system)
8mp in 16:9
Front 2.1mp
Audio
Mono bar, front side at the bottom (Mono?!… Sorry this wont impress any HTC one owners)
Battery
2300mAh
Seems a bit small but you have turbochargers and powerpacks. I don’t think you will become a “wall hugger” anytime soon.
Connectivity
Wifi 80211.ac
BT 4.0LE
USB 2.0 (because again 3 isn’t the magic number, De La Soul what were you thinking?)
3.5mm audio jack (thats still not 3 so it doesn’t count, right?)
Moto X must have been reading while pumping aluminium because look at all this new software.
Active Display has been changed to Moto Display, it doesn’t matter what the name is, it just got a whole lot better. – You can see more than one notification at a time and with the new IR sensors it knows when you want to see those notifications better than it did before.
Touchless Controls has been changed into Moto Voice and they’ve added a feature that has been needed since day one! Saying “Okay Google Now” before every command is just annoying, so now you can set any opening command you want such as “Ziggy” “Jarvis” “Bacon” or even “my one true love”.
My thoughts –
I can see myself picking up the new Moto X once the Moto Maker comes to the UK. I currently have the 1st gen Moto X and love it. No other phone has made me think of upgrading even though it’s only a dual core S4 pro, but with the new touchless controls and 4 microphones to make Crystaltalk even better as well as the Snapdragon 801 I can really show everyone how Motorola is becoming top dog once again. Few bits that didn’t get mentioned; all circuit boards have been nano coated to help against water damage, no IP rating though. It also has dynamic aerials so no matter how you hold it it’s always the right way.
Moto G
Well it seems the Moto X found a training partner in the kid everyone loves.
That kid is now in his teens and is strutting his stuff.
Operating System
4.4.4 (just like the X – you know it’s getting L super fast)
Processor
Snapdragon 400 at 1.2Ghz
Adreno 305
Ram
1GB (I’m not sure why they couldn’t just use 2GB, Android is horrid on 1GB)
Display
5” 720P (This is just crazy for a phone that costs £150. Well done Moto)
Storage
8GB and 16GB
SD card support up to 32GB (well it’s 32GB more than the Moto X supports)
Camera
Rear 8MP (the same as the Moto X in 16:9 really)
Front 2MP
Audio
2 front facing speakers (unlike the mono on the Moto X)
Battery
2070mAh
Connectivity
Wifi 80211. b/g/n
BT 4.0LE
USB 2.0
3.5 audio jack
It’s a shame he went partying rather than hitting the books. All he learn was the Driving and Home mode in the Motorola Assist app, but then for £150 you can’t really expect too much.
Moto hint
This is one toy I won’t get to use for two reasons: One; I always have my motorola buds in. Two; I have 30mm holes in my ears so nothing like this fits me anymore.
Even so, it’s a neat idea – a Bluetooth earpiece to control your phone. So… another reason not to get out that customised Moto x you have in your pocket!??!!?. It may only have a 3 hour charge but it’s sexy little case can charge it twice more and it even supports wireless charging, getting around 10 hours of talk time. It is advised when using this to fill a mayo jar with ice cream and walk about talking to yourself to get the full on crazy look.
Moto 360
It’s time!! Oh sorry… we sold out. Give us some more time!.
People wanted this 11mm tall watch so bad it sold out in every place that had one.
This almost round watch doesn’t bring much to the android wear game apart from style – and bags of it. The wrist strap is all leather for now but steel is coming soon.
The Specs are below if that even matters for watches. Also don’t pay attention to the 12 hour BS. Everyone plays with new toys a lot more in their first month of owning it. Wait until “normal” use kicks in and you may find you get a normal day out of it.
Processor
TI OMAP 3 (ummm didn’t TI pull out of the mobile market and stop supplying updated drivers?)
RAM
512mb (the same as most office PCs)
Storage
4GB
Connectivity
BT 4.0LE
Sensors
Pedometer
Optical heart rate monitor
Water Resistance
IP67 (every device ever made needs this!!!)
Other
Vibration Motor
Dual Microphones (Motorola audio is amazing)
Moto Turbo
Finally, someone using the Snapdragons’ fast charging features. So whilst getting changed for your fancy night out you can fully charge your phone for all of those selfies. 8 hours of charge in only 15mins. It’s a shame my Nvidia tablet hasn’t got it. – Negative charge is a real pain.
Moto Power Pack
Motorola have made 4 different sized power packs just incase you need that little bit of extra charge and can’t get to your turbo charger. The 2400mAh and the 5100mAh are just bog standard USB power packs such as those found on Amazon, it’s nothing to write about really, it’s the baby 1500mAh which has the bells and whistles. – It comes as a keychain available in 8 different colours. Impressively, if you lose your keys you can send an alert to the keys from your phone to find them and you can even send an alert from your keys to your phone as well, then once you have your phone and keys in hand you can charge away.
Conclusion
Motorola are trying to take over the High end, Medium-range and even accessory market with what they released today and they might even pull it off. This is the Moto X for everyone who didn’t get the last Moto X and I can see a lot of non Motorola fans picking up the Moto 360 or at least the power packs. Well done Motorola, you have been working very hard but I bet you won’t take a rest. Instead I’m sure you will be working on software updates and the next big thing…