Search engine giant Google is hoping that an individualized, hands-free, voice-responsive Moto X will attract high-end U.S. smartphone users. The Google-owned Motorola Mobility revealed the much-awaited smartphone on Aug. 1 with a press event in New York and a long blog post all about how the Moto X is “all yours.”
The Moto X will be initially offered in the United States, Canada and Latin America in late August/early September, and the marketing message is clearly aimed at a U.S. audience, complete with echoes of the Gettysburg Address: “It’s designed by you, responds to you and is made for you,” the official Motorola post reads. “Once you turn it on, it’s all yours. And every Moto X sold in the USA is assembled right here in the USA.”
The Moto X appears ready to compete with high-end iPhone and Galaxy phones. The Moto X will cost $199 (with two year contract) — right in line with the cost of the iPhone 5 or a Galaxy S4. It also has a 4.7-inch screen, again right in between those two devices.
But the customizable, individual nature of the Moto X is the point where Google seems to be hoping for an advantage. Customers can design their own Moto X choosing from 2,000 possible combinations. Once users input their selections on the Moto’s site, the phone will be assembled in Fort Worth, Texas, and shipped within four days.
The Moto X will know its owner’s voice and respond only to that voice. The phone is always on, and users don’t even have to touch it. They only have to say “OK. Google now …” It also has a high-powered camera that can be activated with a couple twists of the wrist.
The introduction of the Moto X is a critical milestone for Google since it bought the struggling Motorola Mobility two years ago for $12.5 billion. Since then, Google has laid off more than 5,000 workers and has yet to see a profit from the company.
So far, the reaction to the Moto X seems muted. Several observers have noted that the phone isn’t that much technologically different than its competitors. While reserving final judgment on the phone, Chris Velazco wrote in TechCrunch that “the customization angle, neat as it is, is essentially a ploy to make an unassuming phone stand out in a crowd.”
Roger Entner, founder and lead analyst of Recon Analytics, said that it remained to be seen whether the Moto X’s “softer factors” would appeal to consumers. “The Moto X has interesting software features, appealing design, but ultimately falls short of the recent hero devices of the competition,” Entner said.
