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| Motorola's modular phone |
Via: Engadget
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| Motorola demonstrates it is just as bad as Google |
It looks like the new Google-powered Motorola has absorbed some of the worst parts of the Mountain View company’s ability to sell things, as two different attempts at a Cyber Monday sale come crashing down around them.
Despite rave reviews, the Moto X isn’t terribly popular when compared to the HTC One or Samsung Galaxy S4. It’s a fantastic phone that deserves some attention from the world, but it’s starting to look like the only people in Motorola’s way are the folks at Motorola.
The Moto X launch was plagued with an AT&T exclusivity for their unique MotoMaker service, which is still today missing the amazing wooden backs that were shown off at launch. For their Cyber Monday promotion, Motorola grabbed a lot of attention by announcing 30% off accessories and $150 off all versions of the Moto X. Unfortunately, actually reaching the checkout is turned out to be a lot of trouble.
The first attempt at the Black Friday sale didn’t happen at all. The Motorola website crashed, and MotoMaker was broken for most of the day. When everything was finally fixed, Motorola announced via an official apology from CEO Dennis Woodside that they were going to open the sale back up for two more days in order to allow as many people access to the store as possible. This seemed like a great way to make up for the website failure, right until the sale opened up today.
Source : Geek.com
Motorola Mobility was forced to postpone its Cyber Monday Moto X deal after perspective shoppers overwhelmed the purchase page.
The handset maker planned to offer a limited number of online shoppers the opportunity to purchase the new smartphone off-contract at a $150 discount. But the crush of consumers quickly rendered the MotoMaker customization site largely unusable, preventing many shoppers from taking advantage of the deal.
Motorola Chief Executive Dennis Woodside apologized for the outage:
Here is what we are going to do: Starting at 12 pm EST/9 am PST this Wednesday, we will relaunch the $349 promotion. To help make up for this major inconvenience to shoppers, we will also add an additional promotional day on Monday, December 9. We will double the quantity of phones available, while supplies last, to allow as many people as possible to take advantage of the promotion. We're also extending the 30-percent-off offer on accessories to these two days....
On behalf of all Motorolans, I apologize for what occurred today. I appreciate your understanding as we get this fixed in time for Wednesday and Monday.
"We're currently restoring online services. Some may have site-access, but Cyber Monday deal prices won't begin until all systems are a go," the company said in another tweet.
Source : CNET News
It looks like the Motorola Droid Mini and Droid Ultra will be donning some snowy white outfits in anticipation of winter’s arrival in the U.S. Images posted to Twitter by @evleakshave revealed that white versions of both the Droid Mini and Droid Ultra are headed for Verizon. Both devices are already available in black and red variants, and so these white models will be the third color option that these Droids are offered in. It’s also worth pointing out that, unlike some other “white” phones that feature a two-tone black and white look, these white Droids have all-white chassis.
While it’s inevitable that some folks will be disappointed when a device is re-released in a new color because they want that one instead of their current model, it’s usually great to see manufacturers refresh existing hardware with new paint jobs. After all, more choice is good thing, y’all. There’s no word on when the white Droid Mini and white Droid Ultra will be making their homes on Verizon’s shelves, but with these final-looking press images floating around, hopefully we’re not too far. Stay tuned.
Via: @evleaks
Source: @evleaks
Google-owned Motorola has jumped to the head of the non-Nexus Android pack, pushing out 4.4 KitKat in the US this week, as HTC confirms US HTC One owners will get the update at the same time as UK owners.
Sony made a recently splash by announcing KitKat would arrive on five Xperia devices - however, it looks like US-owners of the Moto X will be the first to get KitKat, with T-Mobile starting the roll out on Thursday, according to Motorola. Verizon should also start the rollout to Moto X devices soon, Motorola said, although it made no mention of when AT&T will start.
Release notes for the update list a number of improvements to the phone dialler, Gallery photo editing, support for Square's credit card reader and wider NFC support.
According to Motorola's support pages, Verizon plans to deliver KitKat to the Moto X, Droid Ultra, Droid Maxx, Droid Mini, though it hasn't given a timeframe for when it will arrive.
Similarly, Sony hasn't provided any updates on when it will roll out KitKat to its Android devices, but has previously confirmed 4.4 will come to Xperia Z, Xperia ZL, Xperia Tablet Z, Xperia Z Ultra, and Xperia Z1 handsets. The company notes that the phased rollout may vary by market and carrier and has advised Xperia owners to keep an eye out on its @SonyMobileNews Twitter account for the specific timing of the release.
However, most of those devices will get Jelly Bean first: Sony said it will also begin rolling out Android 4.3 over the next month to the Xperia Z, Xperia ZL, Xperia ZR, Xperia Tablet Z, Xperia SP, Xperia Z Ultra and Xperia Z1. Again, that may vary by market or carrier.
HTC has just begun rolling out Android 4.3 with Sense 5.5 to HTC One handsets in the UK, and is eyeing an early 2014 timeline for bringing KitKat. "Across EMEA, HTC will work with local carriers to begin the roll-out of Android 4.4 with Sense 5.5 for the HTC One from end of January.
"The Google Play edition will start to receive the update earlier, starting from the end of November," a spokesperson told ZDNet. HTC has handed off its KitKat build for the the Google Play edition of the HTC One, so now it's up to Google to release it through Google Play.
HTC hasn't provided an update on the timing and version of Android for the HTC One max and the HTC One mini, but details will follow. Meanwhile, HTC US this week confirmed it will push KitKat to HTC One owners in the same timeframe as the UK.
There's still no word from Samsung about its KitKat schedule for the Galaxy S4 and Note 3. However, Google has already confirmed that the Galaxy S4 Google Play Edition with 4.4 should be coming soon. "Samsung UK will announce rollout plans for Android 4.4 in due course," a spokesperson told ZDNet. However, anyone with a Samsung Galaxy Nexus won't be getting KitKat at all — Google has said the handset is too old to get the OS.
Not so for the Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 tablets, however — the Android team said on Twitter earlier this month that it has started pushing out 4.4 to the devices. The 2012 and 2013 wi-fi versions of the Nexus 7 will be among the first to get the update, the team said.
The Nexus 4 is also reportedly now eligible for KitKat, with some users seeing the update arriving this week.
While LG is behind Google's fast-selling Nexus 5, the South Korean company hasn't released a schedule for when its own Android devices, such as the G2 smartphone, G Pad tablet, and Optimus range, will get KitKat.
Huawei this week posted on Weibo it will release KitKat for the domestic version of its super slim Ascend P6 by the end of January, though it's not clear whether that extends to international customers. ZDNet is waiting for a response from Huawei UK to answer that question.
Dell has of yet provided no details about whether KitKat or Jelly Bean will reach its Android Venue 7 and Venue 8 slates, which both run Android 4.2. "Dell continually assesses its product portfolio in each country where it does business and not all products are available in all countries. At present Dell doesn't have a timeline on whether the Android-based tablets will be made available in Western Europe, but continues to assess the opportunity in that region," a spokesperson told ZDNet. Acer has no official timeline for the release of KitKat, a spokesman for the company said.
Via: ZDNet
Software
What you’ve got with this smartphone is a setup not unlike that of the Moto X. Just like the Moto X you’ve got a handset that’s roughly the side of an average adult palm at 65.9mm wide. Just like the Moto X you’ve got near-pure Android inside barring a few minor additions from the manufacturer like Motorola Migrate to make transferring data and settings from your old phone to the new as simple as possible (and it really, really is). Just like the Moto X, you’ve got a device that Motorola intends on carrying in the public as a headliner – a hero phone they wont likely forget about supporting any time soon.
One example is the version of Android the Moto G has and will be upgraded to sooner than later. Right out of the box, the Moto G works with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. Motorola has promised that this device will indeed be updated to Android 4.4 KitKat “at the beginning” of the year 2014. As the Moto X is currently set for “a few weeks” until KitKat, we’ve got high hopes for the Moto G in this regard.
Support – and we’ll say this more than once throughout the life of this device – is something we’ll expect implicitly. Motorola is taking a stance here that suggests they’ll be behind the software updates – at least – of this device as if it were their own child. We’re going to hold them to that, even if they don’t say it in those exact words.
Hardware
By the major manufacturer smartphone release standards set in 2012, this device is a hero phone. By the major manufacturer smartphone release standards set in 2013, this device is certainly a contender for the top of the middle-tier. You’ll be working with a 5-megapixel camera, a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor (less powerful than the processor in the Moto X, but still more powerful than that of the Samsung Galaxy S III, HTC One X (USA edition), or Motorola DROID RAZR HD.
This was proven beyond a shadow of a doubt by the 4-megapixel (or 4-UltraPixel, if you prefer) HTC One earlier this year. The Moto X continues to show improvement in the quality of its 10-megapixel camera here in software updates just weeks after its initial release – we’re expecting better-than-general results from the setup on the Moto G.
Source : Android Community
You could buy a new phone, but if you're still in the middle of your cell phone contract, it will cost anywhere from $500 to 600. Motorola's looking to shake up the market with the Moto G, a new smartphone that starts at $179.
But Motorola is putting the United States on hold for now and looking to the global market for new customers. According to Motorola CEO Dennis Woodside, over half a billion people around the world will buy a smartphone for under $200 in the next year. "The problem is that the experience that smartphones in this class provides is really, really bad," he said today at an event to unveil the Moto G in São Paulo, Brazil.
Woodside pointed to Samsung's Galaxy Fame as an example of a new smartphone that uses outdated hardware. "It's built with old technology, yesterday's screens and processors," he said. "A number of these devices can't use apps that we know and love, the screens are small, and they're slow and buggy."
Motorola's claims come with some fine print. All of the presenters at today's event said something that the Moto G would be the best phone "in its class" or "in its price category."
Ben Bajarin, the principal tech analyst for Creative Strategies, said that the Moto G is isn't designed to compete with iPhones or Samsung Galaxy phones. "It is a budget smartphone with budget phone features," he told ABC News. "Motorola is still highly differentiating the Moto X from the Moto G in this light."
But Punit Soni, vice president of software product management for Motorola, said it may be time to rethink what it means to be a premium device. "People spend their time focused on specs and numbers," he told ABC News. "But you need to look at how people use their phones. From the customer's perspective, the Moto G is on par with most premium devices."
Charlie Tristchler, the product manager for Moto G, agrees with Soni that the new phone comes with a host of features not found in budget smart phones. "It has an all-day battery life, a quad core processor and a pure Android operating system," he said. "I don't see anyone else offering that combination."
Bajarin and the Moto G team may disagree on what premium actually means, but they can see eye to eye that this is Motorola's big attempt at getting new customers worldwide. "Motorola has not been relevant in the global smartphone conversation," said Bajarin. "This is a strategy to try and make them relevant at a global level."
The Moto G is available for purchase today in Brazil, and will roll out to other markets in Latin America starting tomorrow. The phone should be available in the United States and 30 other countries in 2014.
"The mission is to connect millions of people to the world's information with devices that don't compromise on style or experience," Woodside said. "We want to give people around the world a better choice."
Source : ABC News
The German Federal Patent Court has branded as partly invalid a Motorola message synchronization patent that was used to force Apple to switch off iOS push email services in Germany for more than a year.
The decision, issued Wednesday, follows two related complaints filed by Apple’s and Microsoft’s German subsidiaries challenging the European patent from Google-owned Motorola Mobility, according to the court.
Apple had to switch off push mail services for iOS devices in Germany after Motoroladecided to enforce an injunction granted by the Regional Court of Mannheim in February 2012. That decision was overturned by Mannheim’s appeals court, the Higher Regional Court of Karlsruhe in August, which lifted the injunction via an interim decision.
Because that decision was not final, Apple had to post a bond of €100 million ($134 million) to lift it and switch on push email for Germans again. Push email has been available for iOS devices in Germany again since Oct. 1.
However, the Higher Regional Court of Karlsruhe still has to reach a final decision in this case.
But, because the patent was only partially invalidated, part of it still stands, the Federal Patent Court said. The court did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a similar case, Motorola also alleged that several Windows Phone devices in Germany infringed on this patent. The Regional Court of Mannheim in April decided to postpone a decision in the case pending a patent validity procedure at the Federal Patent Court.
The parties involved can appeal the case with the German Federal Court of Justice. However, that appeals court will only review the legal assessment of a case by the lower courts to determine if any of their findings are affected by a procedural error.
Via: Macworld
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