Moto Z to launch in India on 4 October

Motorola recently announced the budget friendly Moto E3 Power for its Indian consumers and now it is all set to launch its flagship smartphone. The Moto Z will be officially making its way on 4 October in India as the company has sent out invites confirming the launch day.

The company's first ever modular smartphone made its debut at the Lenovo Tech World conference in June earlier this year. The smartphone currently has three variants; the Moto Z, Moto Z Force and Moto Z Play, but there is no confirmation if Moto will launch all three of them.

The main attraction of the Moto Z lineup is the 16 magnetic connector pins at the back where one can simply snap on 'Moto Mods'. These Moto Mods are modules which add or enhance the capability of the smartphone. Some of them include battery packs, a JBL speaker, a Pico projector and a high-end Hasselblad camera. The mods are also expected to launch with the smartphone.

As far as the specs of the smartphones are concerned, the Moto Z features a 5.5-inch QHD (2560×1440) AMOLED display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor with 4GB RAM, 64GB of internal memory which is further expandable via microSD card, 4G LTE connectivity, a fingerprint scanner. In the camera department you get a 13MP unit at the back with with an f/1.8 aperture, laser autofocus, OIS and dual LED flash while on the front there is 5MP camera. Running on Android 6.0 Marshmallow the battery is rated at 2,600 mAh battery. Oh, and you don’t get a 3.5mm audio jack, so audio is routed via the USB Type-C port.

The Moto Z Force is pretty much similar in looks and design, it is slightly bulky and offers the shatter-shield protection just like the Moto X Force. Other differences include a larger 3.500mAh battery and a better 23MP camera on the back.

On the other hand, the Moto Z Play is a more nimble version and features a 5.5-inch display with a full HD resolution (1920×1080 pixels), a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor with 3GB of RAM and 32GB storage, a 16MP primary camera with dual-LED flash and a 3,510mAh battery.

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Moto Z to Launch in India This Festive Season, Lenovo Confirms

Chinese technology company Lenovo will bring the much-awaited modular smartphone Moto Z to the Indian market this festive season. The Moto Z, which was unveiled globally in June this year, allows users to attach a set of accessories called Moto Mods to the back of the device that adds various functionalities to the device.

"We will launch 8 new devices, of which six we have already announced, in this festive season... This includes the Moto Z," Lenovo India Executive Director Mobile Business Group Sudhin Mathur told PTI.

While Mathur declined to comment on the timeline of availability of Moto Z in India, sources say that the product could be launched in the first or second week of October.

Moto Z is currently available in markets like the US, the UK, and Latin America in three models (Moto Z Play, Moto Z, and Moto Z Force).

Lenovo, which had acquired Motorola from Google in a $2.9 billion deal in 2014, is betting on India to contribute significantly to its global growth. Last year, Lenovo's revenues from India grew about 90 per cent while its overall revenues were up 68 percent.

According to research firm Gartner, smartphone sales are expected to slow down in 2016 globally, rising only seven percent compared to double-digit growth seen in previous years. This is on the back of slower sales growth in mature markets like Europe and Japan. India, on the other hand, remains an opportunity and presents the highest growth potential, Gartner said.

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Motorola Criticizes Samsung for Stealing Its 'Always On' Display Feature

Samsung is all set to bring the Galaxy Note 7 in India on September 2 for Rs. 59,900. The company highlighted many new features of the smartphone at its event, one of them being the 'Always On' display that was first seen on the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge. However, Motorola has now taken a rather direct jibe at Samsung, accusing it of stealing the feature. The company further claims that it was the first OEM to introduce the display feature.

Of course, Motorola named it differently and called it Active Display back then. The company released a cryptic tweet from its official account that reads,

In what galaxy is it okay to steal competitor phones’ cool features? #TheOriginalAlwaysOnDisplay #motozdroid pic.twitter.com/T75byy5bIx

— Moto US (@Moto_USA) August 18, 2016

The first smartphone to sport this feature from Motorola was the Moto X that came out in 2013. However, it is worth noting that this similar feature was seen on old Nokia Symbian phones first. The Always On display feature was also seen Nokia N9 that was released in 2011.

Whatever the case may be, Motorola is keeping a close eye on what its competitors are up to. As mentioned, the Always On feature was first introduced by Samsung in the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge, but has been greatly improved on the Galaxy Note 7.

Pre-bookings for the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 in India will begin on August 22 and will go on till August 30. As part of the pre-booking offer, users can get the new Gear VR at a discounted price of Rs. 1,990. The company has also announced that interested users can avail of the Reliance Jio Preview Offer, which comes with access to the Jio Digital Life content service, alongside voice and data benefits for 90 days.

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Lenovo unveils Moto Z and Moto Z Force; Launched with 'Moto Mods' Magnetic Snap-On Back Panels

After much speculation and plenty of rumors, Lenovo finally announced not one, but two flagship smartphones at the Lenovo Tech World 2016 in San Francisco. The smartphone maker announced an all new Moto Z with a slimmer build and top of the line hardware along with a sturdier Moto Z Force that features Motorola's ShatterShield technology. Both devices will go on sale in the US this summer on Verizon and will be offered internationally from September, along with the Moto Mods, which are designed to work with future generations of Moto Z smartphones.

As expected, they were launched with Moto Mods magnetic snap-on back panels with various partners, including JBL and Incipio. Both smartphones feature support for Moto Maker customization. The company also unveiled the Lenovo Phab 2 Pro, the first Tango smartphone developed in collaboration with Google.

The company has not detailed prices of either smartphone, both of which run Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow, feature a fingerprint scanner on the home button, sport a USB Type-C port, and omit the 3.5mm headphone jack. However, both smartphones ship with a USB Type-C to 3.5mm adapter.

The Moto Z features the slimmer construction of the two and is just 5.2mm thin with aircraft-grade aluminium and stainless steel. There's a 5.5-inch QHD AMOLED display on the front. It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 SoC coupled with 4GB of RAM, and a choice of 32GB or 64GB of storage, which is expandable via microSD card (up to 2TB).

On the back we have a 13MP camera unit that features laser autofocus, OIS and a dual-tone LED flash. The front-facing camera is a 5MP unit and offers a wide-angle lens and a front-facing LED flash as well. It also sports a water-repellent coating. The company says the smartphone's 2600mAh battery can deliver up to 30 hours of battery life, with TurboPower charging to give 8 hours of battery life in 15 minutes.

The second smartphone is the Motorola Moto Z Force. The device is packed in a slightly thicker shell and at 6.9mm , one would expect it to pack in a better camera and a bigger battery and it does pack in both of those.

The Moto Z Force features a 5.5-inch QHD AMOLED display but is protected by Motorola's ShatterShield tech which the company guarantees won't shatter from drops. In other terms it is quite similar, except for the the larger 3500mAh battery, which is rated to provide up to 40 hours of battery life. With TurboPower charging, it is said to provide 15 hours of battery life in just a 15-minute charge. It also bears a 21-megapixel rear camera with OIS, phase detection autofocus (PDAF), and laser autofocus.

The Moto Mods, which connect to the 16 dots at the rear, will at launch include the JBL SoundBoost, the Moto Insta-Share Projector (meant to deliver a 70-inch projector experience), and the Incipio-designed offGRID Power Pack (said to provide up to 22 hours of additional battery life). Style Shells will also be available, and offer finishes like real wood, leather, and fabric.

Apart from Moto Z series handsets and the Phab 2 Pro, Lenovo at its Tech World 2016 event also showcased the Lenovo Phab 2 and Lenovo Phab 2 Plus budget and mid-range phablets.

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