Moto X (2014) gets 1 million pre-orders in China in a few days

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BY Unknown 02:14 0

Moto X (2014) gets 1 million pre-orders in China in a few days

Last week Motorola officially started taking pre-orders for the Moto X (2014) in China, following the company's reentry into that market, which was announced earlier.

The latest Moto X went up for pre-order in China on January 27, and it seems to have become quite a hit over there. That's because Motorola's Chinese arm has unveiled that as of February 1 it has already received more than one million pre-orders for the device.

So the new Moto X is clearly going to be quite a success in China when it will finally be released. Speaking of which, it's still unclear when exactly that will happen.

When reading about pre-orders in China, you need to be aware that generally speaking these work differently over there than they do in other places. Most of the time, to pre-order (or reserve) a handset in China you do not need to make any payment at all - that will happen when the product you're trying to buy arrives in stock. This of course means that some fraction of the people who pre-ordered those one million Moto X units may change their minds and not purchase it after all.

Wireless charging via dedicated back covers, comes to the Samsung Galaxy Note 4

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BY Unknown 01:00 0

Wireless charging via dedicated back covers, comes to the Samsung Galaxy Note 4

It’s still a rare occurrence to find a smartphone with built-in wireless charging capabilities these days with the notable exception of the mid-to-high end Lumia lineup. Samsung has opted for a different strategy for several generations of Galaxy flagships, providing optional back covers to those who want to do away with cables.

The Galaxy Note 4 continues this tradition and, in typical Samsung fashion, two options are available, a plain charging back, and an S-View case.

The regular Qi-enabled back cover is noticeably thicker than the standard one with both the good and bad implications. On one hand, the otherwise protruding camera, prone to bumps and scratches, gets an added level of protection. On the other, the added thickness results in less than premium appearance of the flagship device. Additionally, some cases made for the Note 4 with a stock cover won’t fit on top of the thicker Qi version.

The wireless charging variant of the S-View cover is virtually identical to the non-Qi model. Meaning it adds considerable bulk and weight to the whole package. Supporters of the S-View concept, however, will see no added drawbacks to the Qi-charging version. The camera is even more deeply recessed with this one, never touching the table, when the phone is lying on its back.

It has to be taken into account, that a charging pad is available separately, and has to be factored into the price of bringing wireless charging capability to your Note 4. Unless you’ve already picked one up before, conforming to the Qi Standard, which should work just fine.

Motorola reestablishes in the Chinese market with Moto G, X and X Pro

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BY Unknown 18:02 0

Motorola reestablishes in the Chinese market with Moto G, X and X Pro

The absence of Motorola on the dynamic and ever-growing Chinese market has surely been felt, considering that the brand has had a long and successful history of operation in that region. After the major Moto acquisition by Lenovo last year the official plan was to limit availability to counties, where Lenovo' own smartphones aren't so well received and seeing how this is not the case on its native turf in China odds where that the Moro lineup was destined to miss the sprawling market completely.

This morning however, Rick Osterloh, the company's president, announced that Moto devices are officially hitting the Chinese market. Initial plans state that the lineup will include three smartphones - the Moto G 4G, Moto X 2014 and something dubbed the Moto X Pro, which is essentially a rebranded Nexus 6.

Motorola also plans to introduce the Moto Hint Bluetooth earpiece, the Moto 360 smartwatch, along with the Moto Maker phone customization service.

As far as availability goes The Moto X will hit the market shortly with sign-ups for the Moto G and Moto X Pro, which will most probably be available after the Chinese New Year on February 19. The Moto 360 will also come later.

Motorola promises to approach the new market with the same high level of customer service and aims to offer users "the most personal smartphone ever". Product Marketing VP Steve Sinclair, reiterated that by stating that: "When you buy a Moto phone, we don't forget about you".

Motorola has a pretty good track record of delivering speedy and stable updates to the Android platform. This, coupled with a central focus on improving productivity and general performance of devices with a only a thin software layer and an otherwise pure Android approach is a formula that has brought a lot of market success to the US company in the past. Whether or not this will roll-over to the new eastern market is anybody's guess, but Motorola seems to have all the right ingredients to shine.