This afternoon at a press event in New York City, Motorola will unveil its flagship phone, the Moto X. It’ll be a closed event, which means there will be no live stream. Motorola will be tweeting the details on its Twitter account, and we will have coverage here.
The handset is supposedly the first phone that’s been influenced by Google during the product design and development cycle. We’ve seen a steady stream of leaks about the handset, and here is what we know thus far.
Customizations galore
Your phone, your way. Motorola supposedly is building a portal that’ll let you customize the phone. Options may include material choices like aluminum or ceramic, color options (up to 20!) and custom wallpapers, ringtones and apps. Details here are sketchy, but it’s obvious Motorola is trying to set itself apart from companies like Samsung that cookie cutter their phones (see the GS3 and the GS4 for an example).
Stock Android with specialized software and not a skin
The Moto X is expected to debut with stock Android, and being a Google-backed phone, it should receive updates quickly. It may ship with custom software, like an always-on voice command app, to address some of the shortcomings in Android.
Innovative technology like a Clear Pixel Camera and Magic Glass construction
The Moto X is rumored to have a Clear Pixel camera that’ll improve image quality, especially in low light situations. It uses a novel filter array to allow twice as much light into the small sensor. Also built into the Moto X supposedly is a display technology called Magic Glass. Magic Glass takes a layer of Gorilla Glass and molds it into the phone so the display and casing are seamless. It’s also rumored that we will see the Moto X8 chipset makes its way into the handset.
Assembled in the USA
Motorola said the handset will be assembled in the USA and even tweeted a photo of a worker presumably assembling it in a Texas plant.
Rumored specs
The Moto X may include a 4.7-inch 720 x 1280 pixel display, a 1.7GHz dual-core X8 processor from Motorola, 2GB RAM, 16GB of storage with upgrade options to 32/64GB, 10-megapixel Clear Pixel rear camera, 2-megapixel front camera, 4G LTE connectivity, and pure Android with a fast update cycle.
Low Price and availability on a variety of carriers
Rumors claim the Moto X will be affordable and will go on sale shortly, if not immediately, after announcement. Off-contract pricing could be as low as $349. The US carriers will get it first, with Verizon possibly selling the device on August 23. It’ll land in Europe shortly after its US debut.