Inside story of the Moto X

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2013/08/inside-story-of-moto-x/

by kisamoto • 13 years ago

37 19 13 years ago

What is to stop someone from shouting "Ok Google Now" on a bus or in a crowded room?

I'm curious how the "always listening" will fly. This is another example of technology that is far ahead of the sociological issues which will take a while to resolve.

(On that note, I feel like every day our newest technologies stretch farther and farther away from regular people, and it will become a major issue of our generation.)

I am personally most excited by quick access to the camera. I'm curious what 10 megapixels will look like, but typically this is total BS, and a waste of pixels, you can usually reduce phone photos to 70% of their original size, which means throwing away 1/2 the pixels (and file size).

Now, my biggest issue: upgrade my terribly creaking Nexus S to a Nexus 4 right now, or wait a month or so for this swanky new Moto X?

eco2• 13 years ago

It fingerprints to your voice to some extent. Not sure how good it does this but on The Verge they had one guy program his Moto X using his voice then the other two hosts tried to activate it and couldn't get it to recognize them.

This is apparently a problem with Google Glass though. Anyone can say, "OK, Glass...show me pictures of Rick Astley" and any nearby active Glass will follow the command.

hypersoar• 13 years ago

The problem with Glass isn't quite that pronounced. it's not always listening; the wearer needs to wake it up before it'll take commands.

aviraldg• 13 years ago

I'm pretty sure one of the major tech review sites specifically tested that out (I think it was The Verge) -- it only responds to your voice.

fsckin• 13 years ago

They said (as I recall) the cadence how you say it when calibrating is the way it expects you to say it in the future.

hadem• 13 years ago

Does anyone know if it is possible to change the phrase from "Ok Google Now" to something else?

joelackner• 13 years ago

currently you cannot (according to their docs), however it sounds like that will be possible in the future.

ippisl• 13 years ago

>quick access to the camera

There's An app for that :

ibtimes.com/moto-x-how-get-its-features-android-prior-google-phones-release-date-1378597

pcunite2• 13 years ago

Quote: "Motorola’s Moto X, the first smartphone fully assembled in the United States".

Congratulations to Google for this! I respect all nations, but we have to take care of business here too and grow our own economy.

simonebrunozzi• 13 years ago

Protectionism has never worked well.

adamrt• 13 years ago

I'm not sure what protectionism has to do with Google manufacturing a phone in Texas. Could you elaborate?

Protectionism: The theory or practice of shielding a country's domestic industries from foreign competition by taxing imports.

eco2• 13 years ago

I'm surely in a minority on this but I think it's kind of immoral to take jobs away from some of the poorest people on earth and give them to relatively well off Americans. I know I'm obligated to prefer my countrymen to others but I just can't convince myself that this is a good thing as a whole.

pcunite2• 13 years ago

I respect that opinion ... but there was a time such that if America failed so would the whole world. It is not the people of America, but her ideas. I still feel America is our best hope unless someone wants to start all over again. It is truly sad to see governments keep their citizens poor. All of this greed to the detriment of our fellow man.

hamburglar• 13 years ago

They really need to get their shit together on the Moto X website and store. I am in the market for a new phone and after reading that article, I'm ready to buy it, but I've spent the last 10 minutes going around and around on their website trying to figure out if there is a way to order/preorder. They don't mention when it'll be available and most of the material is written as if it's available now.

The only clue I have is that the marketing page for it only has a "Notify" button prominently displayed where I'd expect a "buy" button (weird verb choice in "Notify", btw...) and that button takes me to a page that makes me think I'm just signing up for generic motorola marketing junk. They even have it listed in the store for $199 and when you click "buy" you're just taken back to the stupid marketing page.

They'd have my money right now and I'd be happily waiting a few weeks to receive my phone if not for this experience. They got this handjob of an article from wired and no way for readers to act on it. How did they screw this up?

achompas• 13 years ago

The article came out 2 weeks ago, fwiw, when it was clearly unavailable for purchase (I hit the page then, it said "Sign up to find out when the Moto X will be available").

If you're still interested, the Moto X is available on ATT on 8/23: http://www.theverge.com/2013/8/16/4627716/moto-x-available-a...

swamp40• 13 years ago

So this is the first I've heard of the upcoming NFC plastic tokens which automatically keep your phone unlocked.

If you're too busy to build those Moto, I could handle that for you. And I'm in the Chicago area...

[Edit] Looks like they are just making an appearance today.

Motorola Skip. Also comes with three dots (NFC stickers) to put by your bedside, etc.

http://motorola-blog.blogspot.com/2013/08/hello-skip-goodbye...

kailuowang• 13 years ago

I wonder how many Google developers were pulled into this project or is this mostly done by Moto developers. If it's the Google developers that gave this phone the software edge, it could mean that Android becomes a half open half close platform. If you deem the OS running on Moto X as a whole system, part of it is open to all manufacturers, while the other part of UX was implemented in a way with liberty of controlling both software and hardware design, the same kind of liberty Apple has with iPhone.

This is something new. and I can see that Moto wants this boundary between the open part of this OS and the closed part shifting towards the close end while the rest of the industry wants the opposite - demanding Android project include all the cool features MotoX provides.

skaevola• 13 years ago

The article says:

"In addition to the core of remaining engineers, Woodside brought in Googlers eager to sign up for the reclamation product, pitching Motorola’s revival as an underdog, startup-style enterprise. Seventy made the move."

Although it doesn't specify if the 70 googlers were developers or not.

bound008• 13 years ago

Thank you Wired Magazine for a 5 page google ad.

Inside story of the Moto X

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