Google, once a search engine is now well established software and hardware maker is going to bring affordable Android smartphone to developing nations, from its own handset manufacturing unit, Motorola which was acquired by Google in 2011.
Motorola shrinked its handset business in India by that time and now Google-owned Motorola is all set to takeover its market position. Motorola is going to launch its much-hyped affordable Moto G in India in coming days. In US Moto G is selling for $179 (8GB) and $199 (16GB). That is translated into INR 11,000 and INR 12,500 approx. respectively.
Under the hood:
Motorola keeps Moto G simple. It ships with Android 4.3 in Brazil and Europe but Motorola promised a Kitkat 4.4 update by 2014. As Indian launch is by January 2014, we hope Moto G might be the first handsets with KitKat in the country.
It is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 SoC with quad core 1.2GHz Cortex A7 processor, Andreno 305 GPU and 1GB RAM. Its 4.5 inch display with 720 x 1280p has 326 ppi and protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3. There is no microSD slot (like all Nexus phones) but it comes in 8/16GB storage capacity.
There are some usual features: 5MP rear camera with LED flash, video recording at 720p, front 1.3MP shooter, HSPA+ 21Mbps, Bluetooth v4.0, WiFi, WiFi hotspot, active noise cancellation mic, 3.5 mm audio jack, GPS via A-GPS & GLONASS, accelerometer, compass, proximity sensor and Li-Ion 2070 mAh battery. It misses NFC but who is using it in India. It's little bulky at 143gm. Google will offer 50GB Drive storage as Cloud.
Color is the in-thing in smartphone arena and Motorola is offerimg several back panels - blue, teal, red, yellow, purple, white, and black covers, as well as rugged versions and flip-style portfolio covers for the Moto G (the company says there are 19 options in total).Design wise it looks alike earlier launched Motorola's flagship Moto X.
Many argue that Indian smartphone market is dominated by Samsung and other Indian brands like Micromax, Karbonn, Lava, Xolo and others; and thus Motorola's re-entry will not be a easy route. And there are already many Android smartphones which are available for Rs 4000 or less. Even at that price range there are several competitors like Samsung Galaxy Trend, Micromax Canvas 4, Karbonn Titanium S5, Lenovo A850, Xolo Q1000S, Lava 504q, Gionee Dream D1 - to name a few.
Then what Moto G stands for? It is a excellent vfm (value for money) product which ensures impressive hardware and almost stock Android experience with certainty of future Android upgrades, last thing many manufacturers care about. Moto G may change the whole ecosystem of Android devices in the country and reduce the OS fragmentation.
In a whole Moto G is a fantastic handset, which will give a lead for Android over other OS as well as other Android brands. Last couple of months Windows phones is doing better in India, thanks to Nokia branding. Moto G may trigger a new vfm smartphone war and as of now Moto G wins.
Tips: Using a low budget smartphone and thinking for a winter fest upgrade at around 12-15K? Wait til January next year as Moto G lands in India.
Special request to MTS India, the data focused operator, Moto G supports 1x- EvDo too. You already missed Diwali timeline to bring new smartphone from Micromax. Why don't you ask for Moto G single SIM variant or Dual SIM variant with awesome data offerings (existing plans are not cheap compared to Reliance and Aircel's 3G tariffs)?
