Google's new Moto X smartphone doesn't aim to be the fastest,
biggest, or prettiest smartphone. It wants to be the smartest.
The search giant on
Thursday unveiled the first smartphone of its own design since it bought
struggling Motorola last year. Rather than go toe-to-toe with top-of-the-line
smartphones, such as Apple's (AAPL, Fortune 500) iPhone,
Samsung's Galaxy S4 or HTC's One, Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) designed the
Moto X to make clever use of sensors and language processors to stay one step
ahead of you.
The Moto
X is built upon a chip called the X8, which allows the smartphone to understand
natural language and gives it situational awareness. It's always listening for
your command, whether it is sleeping or awake. And it knows where you're using
it, and how you're using it.
By calling out
"OK Google Now," you can place a call, map out a destination, log a
reminder, or search on Google. The special language processing chip allows the
phone to constantly wait for your voice to tell it what to do -- without you
having to activate the microphone. Better yet, Motorola says that will have no
detrimental effect on battery life.
Other wizardry:
The display will automatically reveal the clock when you pick up the phone or
pull it out of your pocket. Place your finger on the screen, and notifications
pop up for your viewing. Let go, and it goes back to the default lock screen,
quickly obscuring your communications from prying eyes.
When the phone
is sleeping (or in any other state), twisting the phone like a screwdriver will
allow you to open the camera with minimal fuss.
There's also a
custom app called Assist that can use the Moto X's array of sensors to detect
what sort of setting the phone is in and allow you to establish a group of
settings that automatically kick in during these situations. For example, you
can have all text messages read aloud to you while you drive. When you exit the
car, that setting turns off.
It may emphasize
sensors and smarts over power, but the Moto X is no slouch. It packs a
4.7-inch, 720p high-definition screen into a body not much bigger than an
iPhone. It runs a relatively clean, bloatware-free version of Android, which
means it's fast, excellent and will receive updates much quicker than a phone
like the Galaxy S4. It has a 10-megapixel camera with a special-made sensor
that devotes a quarter of each pixel to collecting extra light (a feature that
could translate to more detailed photos without a flash).
And it has a
battery that promises 24 hours on a single charge under "normal" use
conditions. Yes, 24 hours.
The Moto X's
hardware falls somewhere between the quality craftsmanship of the HTC One, and
the plastic chintz of the Galaxy S4. It's definitely nice -- it's comfortable
to hold and isn't too heavy -- but its polycarbonate plastic shell isn't so
nice that it's an object of marvel in and of itself.
Perhaps the
biggest ideas for the Moto X have little to do with technology: Users can log
onto Motorola's website and customize the front, back and accent colors of the
phone. A big reason why Motorola will be doing all the manufacturing for the
Moto X in a Fort Worth, Texas factory was to be able to turn a custom order
around in less than four days.
That feature,
which is only available to AT&T (T, Fortune 500) customers, for now, has little to do
with technology and everything to do with marketing. For the Moto X's target
audience, a general consumer audience less concerned with pixel density and
camera sensors, Motorola's marketing plan might actually work. Google's
money-losing Motorola division doesn't need a critically acclaimed phone, it
needs a commercially successful one.
In the few hours
I've had with the phone, the voice activated, contextual features were decent
-- not terrible features. The only universal benefit over any other device is
not having to tap one or two buttons before looking at notifications or
offering up a voice command.
For a $200 phone
that was hyped as heavily as the Moto X as the solution to our smartphone
problems, it was hard to not expect a little more. In fact, all of the same
special features were announced in Motorola's more utilitarian line of Droid
phones last week.
The Moto X goes
on sale at the end of August
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