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(Image source: The New York Times)
BY ALEX MALLIN
Motorola's debut of the Moto X Thursday was not your everyday phone reveal. The company
is hoping its first product since being bought by Google will shake up the mobile phone industry.
"I think two years ago the company made 45 phones. We're obviously down to a much smaller
set, and we think it's critical to do a smaller number of things much better." (Via The Verge)
The Moto X has several nifty characteristics: It has an easily customizable interior and
exterior, it recognizes the user's voice, and it responds to voice commands with a Google
search engine. (Via The Wall Street Journal)
But the Moto X is more than a phone â it's a statement by Google that the tech giant
intends to work its way into the smartphone market.
Apple and Samsung currently rake in 98 percent of the profits in the mobile industry. With
the Moto X, Google hopes capture some of that revenue. (Via YouTube / Android Authority)
"Samsung's profits just from mobile are greater than all of Google's profits put together.
The Moto X is Google's first real effort to get in on that action." (Via Bloomberg)
The phone is also an example of how Google intends to stand out in the market â look
at the user experience for one of its main competitors, and then do the opposite. (Via
YouTube / motorola)
CNET dubbed Moto X the anti-iPhone. "Where Apple is about a single experience and polished
products, Google is more about throwing things against the wall to see where they stick.
With Moto X, Google and Motorola are giving consumers more control."
Many iPhone users choose to "jailbreak" the system to find more ways to customize their
experience, but the Moto X offers users almost full customization up-front. (Via BGR)
Google is betting customers will prefer customization to the "take it or leave it" smartphone market
â and it's a big bet. Buying Motorola cost the tech giant $12.5 billion. The Moto X experiment
could be a defining moment in determining whether that purchase was a success.
âĻA writer for The New York Times says Google has committed vast resources to the phone
maker,
"It put a former top executive, Dennis Woodside, in charge of Motorola, laid off thousands
of Motorola workers and formed a new team with many employees from its fiercest competitors,
including Apple, Samsung and Amazon."
Motorola could also benefit with the Moto X being the first smartphone made in the U.S.,
which will allow for faster delivery. The company says it will go on sale in late August
and will cost $199 with a two-year contract.