Motorola's Moto X Pure Edition Is the Smartphone of the Future

Motorola's next flagship smartphone, the Moto X Pure Edition, will debut on September 3. Those who wish to purchase one must do so through Amazon, Best Buy, or Motorola's own website -- Motorola will not sell the Moto X Pure Edition through any carrier.

This stands in sharp contrast to its Android rival Samsung (NASDAQ Other:SSNLF). In the U.S., the Korean tech giant does not sell unlocked Galaxy handsets -- all of its phones are designed for particular carriers.. Every Samsung phone sold in the U.S. -- even those sold through third-party retailers -- is branded by a single wireless carrier.

Motorola has been much less successful than Samsung to date, but its strategy hints at a changing U.S. wireless landscape.

Unlocked and ready work to with any carrier

It's often a difficult and confusing process to bring a handset from one carrier to another. Differences in technologies and frequency banding can make it an impossibility. In the U.S., Samsung sells four versions of its Galaxy S6 -- one designed to work with each of the four major networks. Some of these versions are compatible with other networks (the T-Mobile variant, for example, can work on AT&T) but a difference in radio banding can lead to sub-par performance. Others are simply incompatible -- the AT&T variant lacks the CDMA technology used by Verizon's (NYSE:VZ) network.

At the moment, there is no version of Samsung's Galaxy S6 that offers this capability. This wasn't much of an issue in recent years, as most smartphones were sold on standard, two-year contracts. When a contract expired, consumers would just sign a new contract and get a new phone.

Motorola's Moto X Pure edition, however, is able to work with all four major carriers. The phone's lone model supports both GSM and CDMA, HSPA+ and 14 different LTE bands. By simply changing the SIM card, Moto X Pure edition owners will be able to change their carrier whenever they please.

The death of subsidies

But the way consumers are purchasing smartphones is changing. Earlier this month, Verizon announced that it would be doing away with contracts altogether for new customers. Now, new Verizon customers must purchase their phones outright, pay for them in installments, or bring over compatible devices they've purchased elsewhere (like the new Moto X). They can cancel their service at any time, and if their handset supports it, use their device on a different network.

Under this system, an unlocked phone with support for a wide variety of networks is much more attractive, as a handset lacking support for other carriers limits its owner's choices.

Whether this will lead customers to choose the new Moto X over a competing Samsung device remains to be seen. Certainly, Motorola's brand isn't as strong as Samsung's -- even as Samsung's mobile profit has plunged, its share of the U.S. Android smartphone market has strengthened. According to Kantar Worldpanel, in the second quarter, Samsung and LG combined for 78% of all U.S. Android sales.

Apple seems to be aware of this shift. The Cupertino tech giant began selling a fully unlocked version of the iPhone 6 earlier this year. Like the new Moto X, this version of the iPhone is compatible with all the major U.S. carriers, but as the company notes on its website, "purchasing an unlocked iPhone means you will not qualify for the lower... price associated with... a carrier installment plan." Buying an unlocked iPhone 6 means spending $649 or more up front -- a tall order for many.

A niche offering, or the future of the wireless industry?

The Moto X Pure edition, in contrast, starts at a far more palatable $399 -- but it may still be too expensive. In the past, T-Mobile's marketing for the Galaxy S6 has consistently emphasized "$0 down" for its installment plans -- clearly, customers are not eager to part with several hundred dollars upfront. At the same time, the move away from contracts is still somewhat in its infancy. In fact, Verizon customers could still sign contracts through Wednesday.

The new Moto X Pure is a different phone for a different era: a radical shift for a company that has been selling its Android flagships through carriers since 2009. But if it succeeds, it could help fuel a new trend -- one that could change the U.S. wireless industry forever.

source: http://www.fool.com

Disappointing smartphones suggest focus on margins

Many commentators had expected this year to be a standout year for mobile phone manufacturers, characterised not only by major internal improvements, but also by innovative designs and groundbreaking aesthetics.

Consumers have long been clamouring for vendors to bring something truly revolutionary to the mobile table, but as the major vendors took it in turns to unveil their new devices, such hopes were dashed.
That sense of disappointment certainly rings true for most vendors, although one did manage to buck the trend. But before we reveal which vendor stood out from the crowd, let’s take a quick look at some of the major unveilings that left us wanting more in terms of design.

When HTC’s flagship One series was first launched in 2013, the original device was hailed as one of the best looking on the market, and the rave reviews continued for last year’s HTC One (M8) installment. With such pedigree in mind, hopes were high for the new HTC One M9, but almost as soon as the official unveiling was over, industry experts and consumers took to social media to lament the lacklustre evolution of the product.

Yes, the phone’s performance has been enhanced, but in design terms it looks almost identical to its predecessor. You would really have to know the devices well to distinguish between the two models, with the main difference being that the rear camera is now square rather than the previous circle design.
Last year’s LG G3 was another device that was very well received by the critics, although IDC’s market data shows that the device didn’t gain much traction in the GCC. In an attempt to reverse that trend, the company launched the G4 earlier this year, with improvements including a better screen, improved camera, and more powerful processor.

On the outside, however, the design changes are less obvious. The device is still made of plastic and the screen is the same size, although it now features an ever-so-subtle curve – you have to look very closely to notice. Undoubtedly the most noticeable difference is that LG now offers a fashionable leather-backed option that comes in a variety of colours.

Even the renowned design deities at Apple somehow managed to underwhelm in the looks department this year. It’s no secret that Apple builds some of the most attractive mobile devices in the market, drawing on an unrivalled attention to detail to produce immaculate fits and finishes that garner plenty of admiring glances.

However, in terms of true design innovation, Apple left us wanting with its latest iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus models. Yes, the new larger screens represent a true departure for the American giant, and the phones are also more rounded than previous generations. However, one can’t help but notice the incredible aesthetic similarities between these devices and the latest iPod Touch, while there was also a less-than-rapturous response to the antenna lines and protruding cameras that feature on the back of the phones.

Despite these gripes, the sixth generation of the iPhone has gone on to break all previous sales records, with IDC’s data showing the vendor with a 20 per cent share of the GCC smartphone market for the second quarter this year.

So which of the leading vendors did manage to shake things up a bit in 2015? Enter Samsung and its new S6 Edge device, a piece of kit that is truly different to anything else already available on the market. For years now, consumers have been craving devices that not only feature the best internals, but also look and feel like the best, and Samsung has finally delivered, ditching its traditional plastic builds for a more premium glass and metal finish on the S6 and S6 Edge.

Although these devices now feel like they truly belong in the premium flagship bracket, it is the double-curved screen on the front of the S6 Edge that really captures the imagination and provides the wow factor that is so sorely lacking elsewhere in the market.

The vendor has experienced some supply issues with the S6 Edge as a result of production complications, while demand for the standard S6 variant has surprisingly fallen short of expectations. But none of this takes away from the fact that the S6 Edge is one extremely good-looking device.

The reasons for the lack of design innovation currently plaguing the market are not clear. It’s certainly not down to a lack of talent, so a more likely scenario is that many vendors are simply being mindful of their profit margins. The mobile space is becoming ever more crowded and margins are shrinking rapidly. With smaller profits and fewer funds, manufacturers have less to invest in design and research and development, which ultimately translates into less innovation in the hands of the consumer.

source:http://www.thenational.ae

Motorola Will Take Over Lenovo's Slumping Smartphone Division In Spite Of Motorola's 31% Sales Drop

Nestled in Lenovo's latest earnings report were disappointing figures for both their own brand of smartphones and Motorola, which was acquired late last year. The Chinese company's response is to do some fairly large-scale restructuring, handing over basically all aspects of Lenovo smartphones to Motorola with the possible exception of marketing. Motorola will continue to develop, make, and market their own line that most Westerners are familiar with.

In light of the earnings figures, it might be surprising that Motorola is the part of the larger company that is rewarded with more responsibility. Lenovo's own brand of smartphones posted a sales increase of 2.3% compared to a year ago as they shipped 16.2 million units. Of concern to Lenovo is that smartphone market share fell 0.5 percentage points to 4.7%, though they still kept their spot in fifth place worldwide.

Motorola, on the other hand, saw a massive 31% drop in smartphone shipments to 5.9 million units. Lenovo feels that economic issues in Brazil, a large market that Motorola typically does very well in, explains some of those sales problems and should clear up in the future. Other explanations include supply problems and a fixed cost structure which could become a positive if sales pick up. Management claims they think Motorola will return to profitability within a year and potentially as soon as 6 months from now.

Still, citing worries about their declining market share and likely following through with plans that drove the acquisition in the first place, the company says Motorola will be used to "design, develop and manufacture smartphone products" for Lenovo. As it is explained, it appears these phones will still be branded as Lenovo, but will become Motorola creations.

The big question going forward is whether Lenovo smartphones will be recognizable Motorola designs but with a different logo or if the change will allow Lenovo to keep its own design language. While Android Police readers would probably welcome more Moto in their Lenovo, it's worth pointing out that Lenovo sold nearly three times as many smartphones last year.

I would speculate that Lenovo smartphones will begin to look a lot more like Motorola phones. Among the "restructuring costs" outlined in the report is $300 million earmarked for clearing out smartphone inventory, which sounds like something they would prioritize if they want to make wholesale changes to the product lineup.

Another product of this restructuring is layoffs for 3,200 workers, 5% of Lenovo's total workforce and 10% of their non-manufacturing workforce. All of the layoffs are non-manufacturing workers. While Lenovo isn't saying exactly who they are getting rid of, chances are their smartphone division is facing cuts.

source:http://www.androidpolice.com

Google's Project Ara still plans to launch modular smartphones in Puerto Rican pilot

Lost in the tidal wave of news coverage this week about Google's (NASDAQ: GOOG) decision to reorganize itself and split out its businesses under a holding company called Alphabet was the fate of Google's many projects under its Advanced Technology and Projects group. One of the most high-profile of those, Project Ara, indicated this week that it's not giving up on its mission of creating modular smartphones.

Project Ara's official Twitter account had not sent out a tweet since May 29 during Google's I/O developer summit. Then starting on Wednesday the account lit up to let the world know that Project Ara is still ticking and that: "We've been busy...making stuff," with apologies for the hiatus.

"We've got some updates to share...let's do this,"  the account posted, noting that there will be a "Market pilot re-route" and to "stay tuned for more details."

After that, Project Ara's account tweeted, "And this is not goodbye Puerto Rico! Nos vemos en el futuro!," with the Spanish translating into: "See you in the future!"

The account promised more updates next week and said not to worry, Project Ara "isn't going anywhere!"

Shortly after the I/O conference, where a Project Ara prototype was demonstrated, Paul Eremenko, who had led the Ara team, announced he was leaving Google to become the founding CEO of a new innovation center in Silicon Valley for defense and aerospace giant Airbus.

In January Google said it would have a pilot launch for Project Ara in Puerto Rico during the second half of 2015. At the time, Google said that when the pilot launched, users would be able to alter or customize their devices using the Ara Marketplace and Ara Configurator apps to help manage the phone's different modules and troubleshoot issues. Google also planned to open several "food-truck"-style stores for consumers to actually test and explore the devices before they use them. Google said it aimed to have around 20 to 30 Ara modules available across 10 different categories by the time the pilot program launched.

How a Physical Keyboard Could Help Samsung Sell More Smartphones

There was a time when the launch of a new smartphone meant fascinating changes to the way we interacted with our devices. Or perhaps it’s simply nostalgic to think so. In any case, that halcyon time, if it ever existed, is no more.

These days a new smartphone from the likes of Apple or Samsung means marginal performance improvements, the addition and removal of various bells and whistles, and seemingly arbitrary changes in color, materials, and form. That isn’t an indictment of the category. Smartphones have simply gotten good enough at what they do that they don’t cry out for annual reinvention. Nevertheless, convention dictates that their purveyors continue to roll out new releases that can lay at least some claim to being different from those that came before.

Such is the case with Samsung’s next flagship phablets, announced Thursday to unjustified fanfare in a grand venue at Lincoln Center in New York City. The Galaxy S5 edge+ and the Galaxy Note6—err, sorry, the Galaxy S6 edge+ and the Galaxy Note5—offer just enough fresh features and incremental upgrades to excite the tech press, without doing much of anything that you haven’t already come to expect a fancy smartphone to do. The Note5 gets an improved stylus, for those who like that sort of thing. The S6 edge+ is a somewhat larger version of the curvy, glassy S6 edge, which was released earlier this year.

There is one accessory, however, that could set Samsung’s latest apart from the field, at least in theory: a physical keyboard. For those still lamenting the touchscreen revolution that the original iPhone begot, each of the new Samsung phones will be compatible with a new hardware keyboard accessory that snaps over the bottom half of the phone. BlackBerry lovers, rejoice! Ryan Seacrest is vindicated! Steve Jobs was wrong all along!

OK, maybe a feature cribbed from the cutting edge of 1999’s mobile technology isn’t likely to take the industry by storm. Touchscreen phones took a while to get used to, but eight years was probably enough for most of us.

Still, Samsung’s current see-what-sticks approach to smartphone design is more interesting than simply aping Apple, as it used to do. Just because Apple finds success with one aesthetic doesn’t mean it’s right for everyone. It was Samsung that popularized the larger screens that now dominate the market, forcing Apple to reverse course on its years-long “smaller is better” crusade. And in the tablet realm, Microsoft’s Surface has carved out an audience with the help of its elegantly conceived Type Cover keyboard.

It’s easy to write off Samsung features like curved glass, the “S-Pen” stylus, and the new Keyboard Cover as superficial gimmicks, which they are. But so are most of the “innovations” that Apple is trotting out in its iPhones these days. (See: larger screens, gold trim, fingerprint sensors.)

Probably the keyboard will appeal only to a small segment of Samsung’s enormous global customer base. But even if it flops as an accessory, it will have succeeded at one thing: ginning up just a little more attention for yet another otherwise desultory smartphone launch. These days, that’s about all we can ask.

Is Nextbit the Next Big Player in Premium Smartphones?

Nextbit, the smartphone run by former Google, Apple, Amazon, and HTC employees, will launch its first Android smartphone on September 1.

In an interview with CNET, the company’s CEO Tom Moss, who previously worked at Google stationed at Android, said the phone will be a “premium” model, likely priced between $300 and $400, with incremental software updates that will improve the phone’s performance.

“Your phone will perform better over time and function at a higher level because of this software enhancement,” said Nextbit. The company is focusing on developing a smartphone that will adapt to you, said Moss with ever changing software. 

“Phone fatigue is a real thing,” he said. “That’s why we’re doing something different.” Just how different Nextbit will be remains to be seen.

Nextbit is striving for that innovative space in the smartphone industry where companies like Microsoft and Samsung have either been struggling to get a foothold or making a loss in recent times. Meanwhile Apple has a staggering market share and popularity.

At the same time, the growth of modestly priced smartphones, like those from OnePlus or Xiaomi, is making an impact on the global market.

Nextbit didn’t reveal any information regarding its relationships with carriers. 

Moss and the company’s chief technology officer Mike Chan both worked on Android. The company also features Scott Croyle, a former design head at HTC.

Nextbit's mysterious Android smartphone will be revealed on September 1

Nextbit, a mobile developer run by former Google, Apple, Amazon, and HTC employees, plans to unveil its first Android smartphone on September 1st. In an interview with CNET, the company said the device will be priced in the "premium tier" of smartphones between $300 and $400 and will be, in the words of chief executive Tom Moss, "friggin' awesome." In fact, Nexbit's big promise is that its smartphone won't just be good, but will improve over time as software updates augment its performance and cloud services expand its storage.

"Your phone will perform better over time and function at a higher level because of this software enhancement," the company told CNET. Chief technology officer Mike Chan, an early member of Android along with Moss, added: "We're focusing on a device that can adapt to you." Exactly what this means for customers isn't clear, but alterations to Android as far-reaching as Amazon's Fire OS have been ruled out according to CNET. Previous reports have suggested that Nextbit devices will include Handoff-style software that allows users to save an app in whatever state it's in and pick it up at the same point on other devices.

The company is going to have to do more than just replicate existing features to impress in an increasingly challenging market though. HTC is almost out for the count, Samsung's profits are falling, OnePlus continues to offer high-end smartphones for less, and a host of Chinese companies such as Huawei, Xiaomi, and ZTE are making substantial gains. Nextbit will have to do something special to stand out from the crowd, but the company is at least confident in its own uniqueness. "Phone fatigue is a real thing," Moss told CNET. "That's why we're doing something different."