Original Moto G to receive Lollipop in the coming weeks

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BY Unknown 03:00 0

Original Moto G to receive Lollipop in the coming weeks

In keeping with the company's policy to provide updates for its smartphones, Motorola is working on an Android Lollipop firmware for the first generation Moto G, released in 2013. Evidence for the update comes from owners of the device, who have started receiving a notification, prompting them to upgrade to the latest version of Motorola Update Services, in order to be notified of the update itself.

It has become common practice for manufacturers to support their high-end lines, or release updates for current generations only. Motorola, on the other hand, has had an exemplary track record, and is updating flagships and budget devices alike, both new and old. It could be argued that the company has it easy, because of its choice to stick close to stock Android, while heavier overlays undeniably require more time-consuming work.

We recently informed you of the Lollipop updates rolling out for the Moto E and Moto Maxx. However, if you own a different Motorola smartphone, you can refer to our earlier article for the complete list of planned upgrades.

Motorola Moto G 4G (2015) debuts in Brazil on sale from today

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BY Unknown 22:33 0

Motorola Moto G 4G (2015) debuts in Brazil on sale from today

A LTE-enabled variant of the Moto G (2014) has been circulating in the rumor mill for quite some time now and now it's finally become a reality. Motorola has apparently opted out of an official announcement and instead the new handset crept up on us and appeared on the manufacturer's Brazilian page and is already available to purchase.

The move was only logical since the first generation Moto G proved to be such a huge hit, both in emerging markets and even in places like the UK with the LTE upgrade only sweetening the deal even more. The budget-oriented, Moto G 4G (2015) offers a slick and clean almost pure-android experience just like its predecessors and comes with a few notable modifications over the base version.

First and foremost Motorola has decided to stick with the dual-SIM setup and make it available in the 4G variant as well. The phone comes equipped with two micro SIM slots with presumably only one capable of LTE speeds. Other notable changes over the Moto G (2014) include a larger, 2,390mAh, battery which should compensate for the increased power consumption from the new modem. Onboard storage will be 16GB with no 8GB option available and physically the smartphone will retain its compact dimensions with only about 6g of extra weight due to the beefier battery.

The rest of the internals are unchanged. The handset is still powered by a quad-core Snapdragon 400 SoC, clocked at 1.2GHz, has the same 5-inch 720p display and the same camera setup - 8MP main and 2MP front-facing shooter. A small, but significant detail to note is that the new device will be shipping with Android 5.0.2 Lollipop, while previous Moto G phones are still mostly running 4.4 KitKat and despite Motorola's best wishes are still waiting on an update.

The new Moto G 4G (2015) can already be purchased from a Brazilian retailer for BRL 899, which is about $345. This definitely seems like a premium for a device that is supposed to be budget-oriented and it is. Brazilian handset prices are traditionally very high and not representative of what smartphones costs elsewhere.

Despite its inconspicuous arrival the new Moto G 4G (2015) has all the right ingredients to continue to legacy of its predecessor and if Motorola manages to keep costs low than the handset definitely has a bright future ahead of it.

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.

Moto G Lollipop update now rolling out in India

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BY Unknown 17:40 0

Moto G Lollipop update now rolling out in India

Motorola is rolling out the Android 5.0 Lollipop update for the first and second generation Moto G in India.

As usual, the update is rolling out in phases, so not everyone will get it at the same time but your phone should show you a notification as soon as the update is available for download. Alternatively, you can check if the update is available by heading over to Settings > About phone > System updates.