Are there better Android phones available that may have better hardware and software specs? Absolutely! Is there an Android phone available for under $200 with these kind of specs and an all around great phone that anyone would be proud to own? Not even close! As a matter fact there isn’t even a close second place. It’s also worth mentioning that the Moto G is a little over a month old, and development is absolutely off the hook. Seriously, it’s almost Nexus-like!

The Moto G is essentially a Moto X “mini”. Let’s take a look at other minis by HTC, Samsung, Sony, and even the Blu Life Play. The Moto G has all of the above beat in just about every category.

This should be an eye opener of what an incredible device you’re getting with those “off contract” prices. I have a lot of people in my life that want to own a smart phone, but the $600-$700 price tags completely scare them off. They end up either sticking with the phone they have, which is completely outdated, or they head to Walmart, Boost Mobile, or the like and pick up an $80 complete piece of crap that continues to shine Android in a bad light. I try to convince them with everything I have that they should go out, and grab a Moto G. Letting them know they can get pretty-colored back plates for the Moto G generally spikes their interest quite a bit.

So what have we learned here besides the fact that I’m a huge fan of the Motorola Moto G for a plethora reasons? The answer to that question is, the Motorola Moto G is hands down, without a doubt the best bang for your buck Android phone available. We can only hope that other OEM’s follow suite in every way Motorola executed the Moto G.

For those of you that feel the sky is falling due to the whole thing with Google selling Motorola, be sure to read Kenny’s article about the whole thing. He sums it up well. To wrap this up, I challenge you readers to find a close second place to the Moto G in the best bang for your buck phone. I realize you can go to CTO, Craigslist, and even Fleabay, and find deals on current phones in the $200 ballpark. Sure you can find a Samsung Galaxy SIII or similar phones in that price range from the above mentioned sites, but is the Galaxy SIII a better phone? I don’t think so.

The Moto G is a rare species, and we can only hope this type of species doesn’t become extinct. Let’s hope this phone sells off the hook, is extremely successful, and other OEMs follow suit. Most Android phones that fall under the $200 are the phones that continue to give Android a bad name. Not the Moto G! For under $200 the Moto G brings you the latest version of Android, 4.4.2, a brilliant screen, battery life that will even impress Motorola Droid Maxx owners, a close to stock Android experience, the ability to buy different color back plates to make it your own (colored back plates can be found on Amazon starting at $15), and so many other fantastic reasons to buy a Moto G.

Let us know in the comments if you’re aware of a phone that deserves a close second place to the Moto G in the best bang for your buck phone!

The post The Best Android Phone Ever With a Sub $200 “Off Contract” Price Tag appeared first on Android Fan Network.

Good news for Moto X owners with the T-Mobile SIM unlocked XT1053 handsets. It looks like the Android 4.4.2 is just around the corner for us. Motorola support forum members who signed up for the Motorola Feedback Network started receiving their invitations today.

Canadian Moto X owners have their Android 4.4.2 update rolling out already and, back here in the United States, there are Sprint and Verizon owners reporting in that they are starting to see the update as well. Those of us with the T-Mobile or unlocked XT1053 version of the Moto X can’t be too far behind. As for AT&T Moto X owners – as usual, who knows?

You guys excited? Let us know in the comments!

Image Credits: Android Fan Network

The post T-Mobile and Developer Edition Moto X Soak Test Invitations Going Out appeared first on Android Fan Network.

Wow. Just wow. It’s insane to think how in just a few short hours, the entire Android community collectively crapped its pants. Over what? No more Nexus devices? Motorola is being sold to Lenovo? A unicorn just stabbed a hole in Eric Schmidt’s tire?

Do you guys remember when the first Google Play Edition devices hit the Play Store? People freaked out about that too. The Nexus line was coming to an end. Then what happened? The Nexus 5 dropped. Oh yea…

Remember when Google bought Motorola Mobility from Motorola? Googlerola was born and the Android community cried foul play, thinking that this would be unfair to the other OEMs who were now competing against a Google-owned company. Remember what happened then? Dennis Woodside turned blue in his face yelling at everyone that they weren’t getting special treatment. Oh yea…

Now, here we are today, seemingly devoid of the information we already know. My how time flies, eh? Let’s just try to remain calm for a minute here and think this one through.

First off, Motorola has been operating independently of Google since they were acquired in 2012. It was actually a condition of the buyout. Google owning them didn’t change the company. They simply had the resources to go about their business and make a device that they actually dreamed up. Did you forget that the Moto X was a 100% Motorola creation? Google didn’t tell them to make it. They simply had the freedom to actually do it. That’s what Google did to help them. Nothing. They just stayed out-of-the-way.

What about updates? Now, while I want to just scream about this one from the mountaintops, I realize that some people honestly just don’t get this one. See, without having to work a custom skin and tons of extras into the framework, like Samsung and HTC, there’s not much preventing them from timely updates. All the additional stuff in the Moto X ROMs are apps, not tweaks and extras that require extensive remodeling of the Android core. So, what did Google do here that helped the Moto X get to KitKat so quickly? Nothing. Yup, they just left them alone to do their own thing… again.

So what can we gather from this? For starters, consider that Lenovo is the fifth ranked OEM in worldwide market shares. They aren’t some fly by night start-up that just got funding on Kickstarter, like a lot of people make them seem. They know what they’re doing, and they’re doing it very well. Google is sending Motorola off into good hands.

Remember what else Google acquired in 2012 when they bought Motorola? A gigantic freaking portfolio of patents. Do you know what’s not being sold to Lenovo? If you guessed a gigantic freaking portfolio of patents, then pat yourself on the back. So, yea… that’s staying put.

Another thing that people have failed to take into account is the fact that Motorola has been hemorrhaging money ever since Google bought them. Motorola was operating at a loss of $248 million last quarter alone. This was an increase over the same quarter the year before. Google couldn’t save them. Hell, it barely was able to handle its own Nexus 4 and 5 launches, both of which could be called laughable at best.

What else is there? Oh right. You know that crazy division of Motorola that thinks up all the wild ideas like digital tattoos, authentication pills, and, oh yea, Project Ara? Well, that’s staying behind at Google HQ. Try not to lose sleep over it.

Here’s the short version: So long as Lenovo takes the same approach with Motorola Mobility, the updates shouldn’t be hindered in any way. Lenovo is a very reputable brand, with a very strong Chinese and global presence. Even if they do hinder things, the only thing that’s going to change is pretty much nothing. The Moto X in your hand is still a 100% Motorola device. The creation of it is not affected with the transfer of ownership. Please move on with life, and try to keep an open mind.

The post The Day Everyone Lost Their Minds: A Googlerola Tale appeared first on Android Fan Network.

So Lenovo bought Motorola Mobility from Google. Why is everyone getting on Google for selling it? Motorola Mobility had been bleeding money since acquired by Google, so it only makes sense to move on and part ways.

Lenovo is paying about $2.91 billion for Motorola: $660 million in cash, $750 million worth of Lenovo stock, and $1.5 billion in the form of a three-year promissory note. Lenovo gets the Motorola brand and current and future products, such as the Moto X and G smartphones. Google is keeping the patents it received when it initially bought Motorola, but Lenovo does get licenses for them.

Now we should make it quite clear, Google only sold off Motorola Mobility. Google still retains ownership of Motorola’s Skunkworks division of R&D – Project Ara and ATAP (Advanced Technology and Products Group). In a nutshell, Google bought Motorola, kept the patents and such it wanted, and sold the hardware bit to Lenovo.

Is Lenovo’s acquisition of Motorola a smart move? I think so. Lenovo makes some very good products that are known for their dependability. Lenovo is also very good about updates and getting bugs stomped out in a timely fashion on their current devices. This should play well along with Motorola’s lightly skinned resurgence of Android smartphones like the X and G. Motorola has been taking a much more minimalist approach to what they change from Google’s stock Android than they used to. This is why they have been very quick to get OTA updates out on the X, G, and Droid phones. Put those two together, and it should make for a very good partnership.

Should we, as enthusiasts, fear the deal that occurred today? We shouldn’t. Google seems to have been very aware of who they were selling Motorola to and have complete faith that Lenovo can make Motorola the dominant player, or at very least, a very prominent player in the smartphone industry.

As I mentioned, ATAP (Advanced Technology and Products Group) and Project Ara are both staying with Google. As some of you may have heard, know, or even be a part of Project Ara ( I am), may be concerned with what this deal means for the future of the project.

Well I bring you good news. Earlier I tweeted Daniel Makoski, Chief Designer of ATAP, this very question. His response was most pleasing:

@luvsparades it will only impact Project Ara for the better Sean. will share more next week as to why.

— Daniel Makoski (@mak0ski) January 29, 2014

Now I don’t know about you, but I am very excited and overly eager to hear what news may be coming down the pike from these guys. The project so far has been a lot of fun and somewhat a challenge. It will be nice to see it to fruition.

This is going to be a long week to wait for answers, but hey… it’s been worth it so far. Let us know your thoughts on Motorola, Lenovo, or Project Ara below in the comments.

Source: Google

The post Lenovo Buys Motorola Mobility- Google Keeps Skunkworks Division appeared first on Android Fan Network.

Motorola has been updating most of their core apps through the Play Store. This is one of the ways Motorola is able to update to the latest version of Android so quickly on their latest devices. Today, an update for the Motorola Gallery app showed up. It has a fresh, new UI. In my opinion, it looks much better than the stock Android Gallery app. It’s available for the Moto X and G and the Droid Ultra, Maxx, and Mini running Android 4.4.

It has a new light-colored design with some added functionality. A new Camera Roll mode makes for better photo organization for photos snapped with the camera. It also offers bigger thumbnails to make finding what you’re looking for easier. If you have one of the phones listed above and have Android 4.4 or higher, head over to the source link to get this fresh, new take on the Motorola gallery.

Image Credit: Droid-Life

The post Motorola Gives Gallery App a Fresh, New Look appeared first on Android Fan Network.

Up until a short while ago, the only sub-$200, contract-free smartphones, available all ran ancient or unknown operating systems and contained extremely outdated internals. Motorola decided to change that late last year with the budget oriented Moto G smartphone. Instead of including hardware and software more at home in a flagship from several years ago, Motorola thriftily created a phone with a modest spec sheet that belies its $179 starting price ($99 for the Verizon model).

Specifications

• Android 4.4.2 KitKat
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 at 1.2GHz
• 8 or 16 gigabytes of storage
• 4.5” 1280×720 LCD display at 329 PPI
• 2070 mAh battery
• 5 Megapixel rear camera with flash
• 1.3 Megapixel front facing camera
• Bluetooth 4.0
• Wireless 802.11 b/g/n
• US/Global/CDMA models
• FM Radio

Performance

Although Motorola omitted several features that are generally considered standard in most Android phones, overall the Moto G is fairly well-rounded. To ensure everything from web browsing to game play is buttery smooth, Motorola packed the G with a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor running at 1.2GHz, an Adreno 305 graphics chip, 1 gigabyte of memory, and Android 4.4.2 KitKat.

At first glance, the single Gigabyte of memory would appear to create a bottleneck, but thanks to the phone’s unskinned operating system, it never is. In my ongoing testing, I have yet to become annoyed with memory management. However, if you’re the type who continually leaves tons of tabs open in the browser, like one of my technically challenged parents, expect apps to reload often.

On the processing front, the Moto G is no slouch. The Snapdragon 400 and Adreno 305 chips might be on the lower end of Qualcomm’s current offerings, but they have more than kept up with every task I’ve thrown at it. Modern games like Asphalt 8 run mostly smooth and browsing image heavy techs sites is just as lag-free. More importantly though, I’ve had a pretty difficult time discerning performance differences between the G and other mid-range Android handsets. My Nexus 5 with its Snapdragon 800 processor is clearly quicker, but compared to Snapdragon 600 phones like the Galaxy S4 and HTC One, it’s just as smooth if not smoother.

Wireless

The wireless radios all function as expected. It can’t hit the WiFi transfer rates my iPhone 5C or Nexus 5 do, but only by a few Mbps. Motorola chose to cut costs here by leaving NFC, LTE, and 802.11ac WiFi out. The lack of 802.11ac hardware is pretty forgivable. The 802.11n standard is fast enough for what the majority of us do on our smartphones and wireless AC routers are new (and expensive) enough that relatively few people would even be able to take advantage of it. Not having NFC is a little harder to forgive. Although I’ve found few opportunities to use it where I live, it has been a staple of Android phones since around 2011. The lack of LTE is a moderately disappointing, but 3G is still fast enough to stream music and video without a hitch.

Battery

Battery life has been above average in my testing. Light to medium users (1.5-2 hours of screen time per day) can expect the Moto G to easily last two days. Under heavy use conditions, the G easily lasts all day with 4-5 hours of screen on time. Standby time was very impressive in my testing as well. Overnight, it only used 4% with background sync enabled.

Design

If you’ve held the Moto X, you’ve basically held the G. In a dark room, you’d be hard pressed to feel a difference between the two. The G is almost identical to the X in width and height, and is only slightly thicker. Considering the price range, I have no complaints with the design or build quality. The plastic back tends to hold on to smudges a little better than other phones, but not badly. Fortunately, if it becomes too damaged or dirty, you can replace the back cover with one of seven colorful replacements starting at $14.99. Without a doubt, the G is the one of the most comfortably phones I’ve ever held.

Display/Speaker

Other phones of size and price range usually skimp on the display. The Galaxy S4 Mini, for example, has a qHD (540×960) pentile display with a PPI of 256. While colors are a little more vibrant on that AMOLED display, the G’s screen is much sharper. In my 20/20 vision, it looks just as sharp as the screens on my iPhone 5C and Nexus 5, though the color range isn’t as good. I couldn’t discern any pixels though and staring at it for extended periods of time isn’t a problem.

The speaker isn’t anything to write home about. It’s loud enough to wake me from across the room every morning (my bed is a literally a hole in the wall). I don’t use the speaker for anything more than alerts though. If I’m doing serious listening, I grab a pair of headphones.

Camera

If it wasn’t for the $179 price, I’d be pretty disappointed with the 5 megapixel shooter. It’s about comparable to the 5 megapixel sensor on the 2013 Nexus 7. Most pictures aren’t very sharp, especially if the lighting is poor. It does take them pretty quickly though. The video capture capability is also pretty mediocre. Fortunately for those who love taking selfies, the front facing camera is about average.

Full size images: Moto_G_HDR-copy.jpg, Moto_G_Full.jpg

Software

The Moto G runs an unskinned version of Android, very similar to what is loaded on the Moto X. Aside from three Motorola apps and FM radio app, the phone comes with stock Android applications. My unit was received with Android 4.3, which I quickly updated to 4.4.2. Motorola did an excellent job tailoring the software to the hardware. Apps never force close or stop responding. Scrolling and sliding animations are very fluid, even with tasks running in the background. If the Moto X is any indication of how Motorola treats software updates, you shouldn’t have to worry about being stuck on an older version of Android. If you’re the paranoid type though, Google is selling a Play Edition of the phone at the same price but this is not as good of choice for T-Mobile customers. Also worth noting is the free 50 gigabytes of Google Drive storage offered with the G.

Conclusion

Time for the big question. If I had $179, would I get a Moto G or some other phone? Honestly, the thrifty part of me would rather scour Craigslist and eBay for a Nexus 4. That said, many people aren’t comfortable risking their hard-earned dollars on a used phone without a warranty. So, with $179 in my pocket, which new, no-contract smartphone would I chose? Without a doubt, I’d pick up a Moto G. No other contract-free smartphones come close to offering this level of performance and quality at this price point.

The post Motorola Moto G Review appeared first on Android Fan Network.

Good news for folks in India waiting for the Motorola Moto G. The company is launching their new budget Android smartphone in India in the last week of this month (January 2014). Though the exact price was not yet revealed, William Moss, Director of Corporate Communication at Motorola Mobility, said in an interview with Times of India at CES, “it is going to be price competitive… if you look at what the device offers, the kind of responsiveness and performance it has, Moto G will be competitive with its peers.”

Retail price of both regular and Google Play Store variants (launched yesterday) of Moto G in the U.S. starts from $179 (8GB). Moto G will be available through an unknown major Indian retailer Motorola has partnered with. This will be first phone Motorola has launched in the country since being acquired by Google.

Moto G features a 4.5 inch 720p display powered by 1.2 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor, 1 GB RAM, 8 or 16 GB internal storage, 5 MP rear and 1.3 MP front shooters, and 2070 mAh battery. It runs Android 4.3 Jelly Bean out of the box with promised update to Android 4.4 KitKat. (Update has already arrived in several regions worldwide).

Does the Moto G have what it takes to be competitive against established players in the market? Let us know in the comments what you think.

Source: Times of India

The post Motorola Moto G Coming to India by End of January appeared first on Android Fan Network.

If you haven’t taken the hint, Motorola really wants you to enjoy a Moto X. First they ran a Black Friday sale, then they tried to run it again, then a few days later they did it again. Then they permanently cut the price to $399 for the 16GB and $449 for the 32GB version.

If for some reason you did not jump before, Motorola is now giving away a free Chromecast if you purchase your Moto X off contract before January 14th and use the promo code “STREAM.” This is arguably the best Android phone on the market now, and it is priced well below comparable smartphones off contract. Is a free Chromecast enough to make you switch over? Let us know in the comments below or reach out to us on G+, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, or email us or, well you get the point. We’re available.

Source: Motorola

The post Free Chromecast with Purchase of Moto X until 1/14/14 appeared first on Android Fan Network.

One of my personal favorite devices from Big Red is the Motorola Droid RAZR and RAZR Maxx. It’s unfortunate that this bad ass little device will never see a KitKat OTA (We’ll leave that up to the devs). Even with a great body build, decent specs (for its time), and still one of the best radios on a phone, it still needs a small update for roaming issues in Canada and other small bug fixes that will make this older bugger still a great device stuck on Jelly Bean. And by the way…  Being stuck on Jelly Bean is hardly a bad thing.

Hopefully this update is pushed out quickly for those of us still rocking the Droid RAZR and the Droid RAZR Maxx. When it does, be sure to hit us up in the comments or at CTO to let us know what else is going on with this update

The post Motorola Droid RAZR and Droid RAZR Maxx Getting a Small Maintenance Update appeared first on Android Fan Network.

The Motorola Moto G is such a kick ass phone, especially for the price tag Motorola put on it. When you’re buying devices for these kind of prices, updates can be hit or miss and, usually, more miss than hit. This certainly is not the case with Moto G seeing how it’s already getting an update to 4.4.2 today and earlier than promised.

There’s not really much more to say than that folks! If you’re looking to get a mid to high-end phone for a low-end phone price tag, and it’s looking like there’s going to be timely updates, the Moto G is a no brainer. The Android 4.4.2 KitKat update is for both U.S. and global versions of the Moto G.

Full Changelog:

Android™ 4.4, KitKat® Android 4.4.2, KitKat, is the latest release of the Android platform. KitKat includes enhancements such as restyled status and navigation bars, a new full-screen mode, color emoji support, improved closed captioning support, stronger security, smarter power use, and more tools and capabilities for better app development.
Phone dialer Improved the phone app with the ability to look up contacts directly from the dial pad, see and tap frequent contacts, and search your corporate directory easily.
Camera – Focus and exposure Enhanced the “touch to focus” option with a new circular, on screen control that can be dragged by your finger around the viewfinder to adjust a photo’s focus and exposure.
Gallery – Photo editing Added new photo editing options to the Gallery app including new filter effects, draw on your photos, advanced cropping, and adjustments to color, exposure, contrast and more.
Printing documents and pictures Added support for printing photos, Google Docs, GMail messages, and other content via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and hosted services like Google Cloud Print and HP ePrinters.
Hangouts – SMS/MMS support Incorporated a new version of Google Hangouts that supports integrated SMS/MMS messaging. Hangouts can be set as the default SMS app under Settings > Wireless > Default SMS app.
Accessory support Added support for Square credit card reader.

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