Motorola's flagship phone, the Moto X, has arrived
NEW YORK CITY -- The Moto X is finally here, as Motorola took the wraps off its hotly anticipated new smartphone at an event on Thursday.
The new smartphone, which has been talked about for months, marks the official relaunch of the handset maker Motorola, since it was acquired last year by tech giant Google.
The new device, which will be Motorola's flagship smartphone, marries Motorola's history of hardware and design innovation with Google's software and services chops to create a new device franchise that Google hopes will rival that of Apple's iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy series of smartphones.
The Moto X will be available on all four major U.S. carriers, including AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint, and T-Mobile USA, as well as regional provider, U.S. Cellular. It will also be available at national retailers, including Best Buy. T-Mobile subscribers will be able to get the device at Motorola.com.
The device, which sports a 4.7 inch screen with a curved back, and a 10 megapixel camera, will be offered in either white or black in carrier and retail locations. The initial version of the device will come with 16GB of memory, but it will not offer the option to add memory via a memory card slot. As a special promotion, Google is offering up to 50GB of free Google Drive storage for Moto X owners for two years.
The new phone does not use the latest version of Android software but instead sports Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean.
With a two-year carrier service contract, the 16GB version of the Moto X will sell for $200. And it will go on sale in late August or early September in the U.S., Canada, and Latin America. Representatives from Motorola said the exact timing of the device's various launches is up to the individual wireless carriers. Motorola gave no further details about other international launches.
Read the full story and review at CNET.com.
