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Moto X or HTC One?

August 31, 2013 by simon 1 Comment

When I was asked about the “alternatives” for Moto X, the firs one popping out is HTC One. Not just because of the similar screen size.

But yes, Moto X and HTC One both have small display (compared with other flagship Android phones from Samsung, Sony and LG). It is 4.7″. Actually the display is not small. Both of them use very thin bezel and therefore, they looks even smaller than their actual size. Just for your information, Moto X has similar front surface area with iPhone 5, but with 20% more display space.

Unlike Asian users, most American users still prefer one-handed smartphone, i.e, the phone can be easily operated with one hand. Moto X apparently caters such demand. It is not a coincidence that both Moto X and HTC One are in the same size range of iPhone 5. Of course, Android users are spoiled with large display, so 4.7″ screen is a reasonable compromise.

Design and build quality

Among today’s Android manufactures, HTC is still a leader in hardware design. I’m not talking about market share, for which HTC is plummeting. Maybe HTC will have to leave US market just in 2 to 3 years if the trend cannot be reversed.

The design of HTC One seems better than Moto X. The metal body will strengthen your impression when you compare Moto X and HTC One side by side.

Moto X actually deviates from Motorola’s old design, especially the robotic Droid design. The exterior design of Moto X is very similar to HTC One: simple and elegant. What drags Moto X down is the plastic feeling. Because Moto X wants to offer customization on the back plate, metal or tempered glass is out of the options.

So, from the view point of design and build quality, HTC One is surely better.

BTW, “designed, engineered and assembled in the USA” does not help much on design and build quality for Moto X.

Software

Both Moto X and HTC One run Android Jelly Bean 4.2. Both will be upgraded to 4.3 in a couple of months.

Moto X … Continue to read....

Top 5 Unique Features of Moto X

August 5, 2013 by simon 2 Comments

Moto X is finally announced on August 1. By the end of this month, you may have the chance to get one in your pocket from the major carriers in US or BestBuy.

The biggest surprise of Moto X is not the phone, is its price. Motorola asks for similar price as that for Galaxy S4 and HTC One, although the hardware specifications are obviously inferior (arguable).

Motorola is confident consumers will like their unique features and fork money for features rather than hardware specs. They may be correct. Most flagship Android phones are obsessed with hardware specs, and therefore are overpowered (i.e., wasted).

The problem is what these features are and why people are willing to pay for them instead of better specs.

In this post, I will share with you the top 5 unique features of Mot X.

Touchless control

Touchless control is the killer feature of Moto X. You can control and operate the phone without touching it. It is also dam smart as well: it knows what to do and when.

Essentially, it is a combination of voice control and Google Now. What makes Moto X stand out of the crowd of Siri, S Voice and other similar apps is that you can use voice control even the phone is locked. “OK Google Now” is the hot words (Moto magic) to wake up the phone. You probably can configure this to something else like “Oh, Moto Magic” if you want.

More interestingly, Moto X only responds to your command, not others’. If 10 other people around you shout “OK Google Now” , your Moto X will not respond to them, because it knows your voice and knows you are the master. It is more loyal than you secretary.

Google Now is one of the best innovations from Google. It was officially unveiled in Google I/O 2012. Its predictive, not responsive, thinking make the smartphone smarter. By combining voice control and Google Now, Moto X now is No.1 in intelligence and voice control among smartphones. There are no comparable products in the market yet. Of … Continue to read....

What is Motorola X8 Mobile Computing System?

July 27, 2013 by simon 1 Comment

On July 23, Motorola Mobility (a subsidy of Google) unveiled the new generation of Verizon Droid phones (Droid Ultra, Droid Mini and Droid Maxx). The most interesting info from the event is that all these 3 phones are powered by custom-made system-on-a-chip (SoC) (based on Snapdragon S4 Pro), not the stock Snapdragon chip.

Motorola named it as the X8 mobile computing system. The coming Moto X phone will surely be powered by this mobile computing system.

What makes this X8 mobile computing system unique? Will it be a game changer for mobile phones? Why it it named as a “computing system”?

The uniqueness of X8 is its two additional cores. There are totally 8 cores in X8 (this probably explains why it is named as X8). Among them, two CPU cores, four GPU cores, one natural language processor/core, and one contextual computing processor/core.

If you own a Samsung Galaxy S4, you probably already have a Exynos Octa 5, which has 8 cores. But all of them are CPU cores. The 4 A15 cores at 1.8GHz are for CPU intensive jobs, and another 4 A7 cores at 1.2GHz are for less intensive jobs to save power.

So, 8-core (actually 4 CPU cores) itself has nothing to boost. Most 2012/2013 flagship smartphones already have quad-core inside: Galaxy S3, Galaxy Note 2, Galaxy S4, HTC One, HTC Butterfly, Sony Xperia Z…

We are excited about Motorola’s X8 because of their two non-conventional cores.

With the Motorola X8’s natural language processor, Moto X is ready to respond any voice commands without touching your phone. It should work even when the display is off. If Motorola can (why not?) combine this capability with Google Now, the Moto X will definitely give owner an exceptional experience. You can instantly get the traffic info, reminders, news, calling and texting information. This is clearly demoed in the Rogers’s video.

The contextual computing processor is even more useful. It simply makes Moto X smarter. The phone always knows whether your Moto X is in your pocket, in your hand or in your … Continue to read....

Moto X will be officially announced on August 1: will it be a game changer?

July 20, 2013 by simon Leave a Comment

Finally, the birthday of the Moto X was confirmed. It will be on August 1, 2013.

According to Business Insider, Motorola is sending out invitations for the Moto X event in New York on August 1. Obviously, Moto X will be announced in this event.

We will see this long -awaited smartphone on the stage in New York. The rumors will stop then.

It is the last chance for Motorola Mobility in the fast-growing mobile phone industry. This is the sad fact for the past market leader in this industry. We are interested in this Moto X phone based on rumors; but we are more eager to know whether the 12.5 billion Google acquisition will save Motorola or will accelerate the death of Motorola.

Moto X is the first smartphone project in Motorola with Google’s leadership. Will it be a game changer?

The rumored specs ( 2GB RAM, 16GB/32GB storage, 10MP clear pixel camera, 1.7GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor, 720p HD display) indicate Moto X is targeting the middle range market. This market is volatile because major players just provide a strip-down version of the high-end flagship models. Potential users are driven away to either high-end or budget end, because there are no exciting offers in this category.

So, aiming at mid-range market is a smart move, if Motorola prices the Moto X wisely.

Currently, most high-end smartphones are overpowered, for example, a full HD display on a 4-5″ screen does not make sense, but all manufactures are in the race of hardware, because this is the easiest way to “differentiate” to competitors. Eventually, consumers are over-paying.

What was overlooked is the day-to-day user experience. Based on the leaked (official) Roger video, Moto X does a quite good job in this aspect. For example, the always-on voice activation (OK Moto Magic), notification screen when screen is off, double twist (although a bit awkward, maybe customizable) to launch camera.

Moto X will very likely come with Android 4.3 with very minor customization. It is not Nexus, but user experience will be very similar. Although it is arguable whether the … Continue to read....

OK Moto Magic: Moto X Phone officially leaked by Eric Schmidt (photo) and Rogers (video)

July 14, 2013 by simon 1 Comment

After the teaser in July 3rd, a new wave of teasers of Moto X are available to the public this weekend. Now the exterior, camera and voice control are quite clear from the official videos and photos.

Eric Schmidt, the Google Chairman, was using a Moto X phone publicly at the Sun Valley Conference “Camp for billionaires”.

The photo confirmed Moto X is not a giant phone, very likely less than 5″. So, the size is similar to Nexus 4 or even older Galaxy Nexus.

The thickness suggested the battery probably is quite large. The battery capacity is very likely somewhere close to 3000mAh, which is comparable to Droid Razr Maxx’s 3300mAh.

The exterior material is plastic without the metal rim as in Samsung’s. The back can be customized as suggested in the official teaser page. Plastic make senses for quick customization.

For the camera, the official Motorola Mobility account tweeted some blurred photos and mentioned “Either this kid is really fast, or today’s phones are really slow.” #AlmostGotIt pic.twitter.com/mdMEOGqfhr This indicates Motorola wants to remind us there are significant improvement on camera. Maybe not on the number of pixels, but more on the image quality for real life.

The most juicy leak is the commercial Rogers (a Canadian Telecom company) prepared for the launch of Moto X. In the long (close to 2 mins) video, you get a closer look of the Moto X phone.

Some unique features are illustrated in the video. For example, double twist to launch the camera. The voice control and new notification also makes the phone standing out. Apparently, these new features are quite practical, not just software gimmicks in Galaxy S4.

The technical specifications are still a secret. But based on rumors, the phone will feature 2GB RAM, 16GB/32GB storage, 10MP camera (non-conventional one) , 1.7GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor, 720p HD display

What do you think about Moto X Phone? Share your thoughts in the comment box below!

… Continue to read....

Will Moto X Phone Save Motorola?

July 6, 2013 by simon Leave a Comment

Time is almost running out for Motorola Mobility in the handset battlefield.

Samsung now dominates Android handset with its Galaxy series, from budget to the top, from 3″ to 10″. HTC, LG, Sony, Huawei, ZTE are all gearing up for the 2nd place in the crowded Android market. Motorola has been silently losing its market share.

Apple, Nokia and Blackberry are all struggling to keep their grounds.

The Google acquisition is the last stimulus to revive Motorola. Moto X Phone probably is the last chance to save Motorola.

Both Motorola and its parent Google are betting the future of Motorola on Moto X . They simply do not have other options.

Although Google tries to distance itself from Motorola due to possible concerns from other Android handset manufactures, Moto X Phone is very likely a deep collaboration between Google and Motorola.

After months of rumors, before the Independence Day, Motorola finally revealed some (and very limited) info on this hyped Moto X Phone officially:

The first smartphone designed, engineered and assembled in the USA is coming.
It’s also the first smartphone that you can design yourself. Because today you should have the freedom to design the things in your life to be as unique as you are.
And this is just the beginning. By the end of the summer we expect there to be more than 2000 new employees in Ft. Worth, TX working to make all of this possible. Imagine what else you can do when you have the world’s best design, engineering and manufacturing talent located here in the USA.

Essentially, Motorola pitches this phone on “freedom”: the freedom you have on the design. This is something truly interesting. You can now register on Motorola’s website to receive updates on this phone.

Highlighting American-made may resonate with some American consumers. This is a perfect card for Motorola because US is its major market and in other market, it is marginal except in India.

The freedom is on design. The speculations are naturally on color, engraving, and wallpaper. According to ABC News,

Through a website, buyers will be

… Continue to read....

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