The latest rumor surrounding the Motorola Moto X smartphone is that it will have a starting price of $299 off-contract. This super-low price tag is for the 16 GB model, whereas the 32 GB Moto X will supposedly start at $349, unlocked and contract-free. That's around the same price range as the Nexus 4, which costs $299 for the 8 GB version and $349 for the 16 GB version.
Motorola is scheduled to fully reveal its Moto X plans on August 1 during an event in New York City. This will be the first major new device launched by Motorola since it was acquired by Google back in May 2012 for $12.5 billion USD. The launch will follow Sundar Pinchai's expected reveal of Android 4.3 on Wednesday which will reportedly power the Moto X phone.
Based on rumors, the specs surrounding the phone have been mixed. As reported earlier this month, the phone may sport a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dual-core 28 nm SoC clocked at 1.7 GHz (MSM8960 Pro), 2 GB of RAM, 16 GB of internal storage, a 2 MP camera on the front, and a 10 MP camera on the back. There will be multi-color options, a palette of 25 in all, allowing the customer to choose different colors for both the front frame and the back panel. The company will also offer custom engraving for the back panel which customers can submit online.
This custom design option will be made possible thanks to Motorola's new 500,000-square-foot factory in Texas. The company said this facility will be able to deliver personalized devices within days of placing an order. Motorola will supposedly provide a dedicated website for the Moto X – which probably will not reside on Google Play to keep other device makers happy – so that customers can place their customized orders, and even upload photos that can be used as out-of-the-box wallpaper.
In addition to the customizations, the Moto X will supposedly be packed with sensors. It will reportedly know when the user takes it out of a pocket, will act differently when the user's car is traveling 60 miles per hour (for safer use), and allow users to flick the phone to launch the camera. A video leaked onto Google Plus even showed that voice commands can be used even when the phone is in stand-by mode. The phone supposedly awakens when the user says "Google Now." Naturally, the video has been yanked offline.
There's a good chance Google will still sell the Moto X phone on Google Play alongside the Nexus 4, but only in Black and White colors and with no customizable options. We'll get the full scoop on August 1.
