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Top 10 improvements in Android KitKat update for your Moto X

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Moto X with Android 4.4 kitkat Motorola beats all Android smartphone makers again with the Android 4.4 (KitKat) update!

When Samsung, HTC, Sony and LG are still struggling to push Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean 4.3) update for their flagship phones, Motorola gives us the KitKat treat. We got this Android 4.4 update even a few days earlier than the owners of pure Android Nexus 4.

And it seems the update works very smoothly. Most Moto X owners are enjoying the updated phone. As a contrast, a lot of Samsung Galaxy S4 owners are grumbling about the latest Android 4.3 update.

There are quite a lot of improvements in the Android 4.4 (KitKat) update for Moto X. In this post, you will learn the top 10 improvements or new features you may enjoy everyday.

1. Unified messaging  with Hangouts

If you have  mixed contacts on phone and Google, you know all the contacts are combined in your phone.  The new Hangouts app now moves a step further: it can (optional) combine your messages (SMS, MMS) with all other conversations in Hangouts. With the new Hangouts app, all of your SMS and MMS messages are together in the same app, alongside your other conversations and video calls.

The new Hangouts app also allows  you  to share your location and send animated GIFs. This makes it better than the most popular SMS app: WhatsApp.

Essentially, the new Hangouts app eliminates the need of a separate messaging app. Of course, if you are not ready for this change, you can still use messaging and Hangouts individually (although they share the same contact list).

2. Drag to focus and expose

You can focus on any location on the viewfinder by just dragging the crosshair to the desired objects or location. Moto X will automatically adjust the expose and lighting conditions for the photo.  The result is better image quality.

This is actually a nice enhancement of  the old  “touch to focus”.  You now get the option with a new circular, on screen control that can be dragged by your finger around the viewfinder to adjust a photo’s focus and exposure.… Continue to read....

Moto X or HTC One?

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htc-one-vs-moto-xWhen 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....