The Download: KitKat Sweetness Comes to Moto G in India

It’s been an exhilarating few weeks for our team, and it’s hard to believe that it was just days ago that we launched Moto G in India. We promised that we would deliver KitKat quickly, and today we’re thrilled to share that we were able to start rolling out that update within a day of making the commitment. It’s official: Moto G phones in India are now being updated to Android, KitKat 4.4.2. This very latest build brings a number of cool, new features to Moto G, like an improved phone dialer, new photo editing options in the Gallery app, the ability to print documents and photos, and more. For more information, check out the release notes and our updates page.

We know that super fast updates like these are important to our users, and we’re more committed than ever to keep releasing them. Keep watching as we continue to update our software experiences quickly and continuously just as we have been. Your phone will just keep getting better.

Check out some of the other software enhancements we’ve been releasing. Here’s the latest Download:

Getting in the New Zap Zone - Our latest update to Droid Zap allows all Android users to quickly and easily share pictures with others who are nearby. It also introduces a brand new app feature, Zap Zone, that allows any Droid user to get in the party mood and automatically share with any Android friends who have joined their Zone.

We’ve Moving to Github! - By popular request, we are now hosting our kernel sources on Github instead of Sourceforge. Developers, rejoice! Our first release on GitHub is the Moto G Play Store Edition kernel sources. We’ll continue to host kernel sources released before January 10, 2014 on Sourceforge, and moving forward all new kernel sources will be hosted on Github. Check out our new Motorola developer resource page.

More KitKat Treats - More KitKat for more people! In addition to KitKat for Moto G in India, we’re rolling out the latest Android KitKat version for Moto X on T-Mobile, Moto X on U.S. Cellular, and Moto G on Verizon, our first splash with 4.4.2 in North America. For more information, check out our updates page. 

We can’t wait to show you more in the coming days and months. Please keep sharing with us your thoughts and feedback at on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook. Your thoughts are key as we continue to launch and iterate quickly.

Posted by Steve Horowitz, SVP, Software

Read more ►

The Download: Voice Texts, Zap and More Kernels

It’s a New Year and the Motorola software team's 2014 resolution is to continue to rapidly deliver delightful software experiences to our users. Over the holidays, we’ve been working on a number of software enhancements that we hope will help start your year off right.

Here’s the latest Download:

Your Personal Text Messaging Assistant - Love getting text messages read aloud to you while driving? Now you can reply back—completely hands-free using just your voice with Motorola Assist.

As part of this update, we’ve also enhanced Motorola Contextual Services, the key magic behind some of our Motorola applications. It provides the secret sauce behind activity detection in Assist and optimizes Touchless Control. This latest update helps make drive mode detection faster and more accurate using Bluetooth for Assist.

Zap Your Photos and Videos - This app is a really fun way to share stuff with friends near you. Droid Zap uses your phone’s GPS/WiFi functionality to send photos and videos with a simple gesture. This latest update gives a sleek, new look to the app and offers support for KitKat. Available on DROID Ultra, DROID MAXX, and DROID Mini.

KitKat Breaks into Europe - The KitKat goodness continues to roll out at a furious pace! Last week we began rolling out Android, KitKat 4.4.2 to carriers and regions in Europe. Check the software updates release page for the latest on your device.

Kernel Sources for Moto G - For our developer friends, we’ve released the Kernel Sources for Android, KitKat 4.4.2 on Moto G. Download the kernels here. Knock yourselves out!

We think 2014 is going to be a great year. We’re here, we’re listening, and we’re making your Motorola phones better all the time. We're committed to bringing you many more software innovations over this next year. Want to tell us something? Feel free to comment on our profiles on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook.

Posted by Punit Soni, Product Management

Read more ►

The New DROIDs Have Landed

For tech enthusiasts who demand a smartphone with high performance and stand out design, an all new team of DROID devices have arrived. DROID ULTRA and DROID MAXX are now available exclusively at Verizon Wireless stores, and DROID MINI will be available in-store over the coming days.

The next-generation DROIDS feature advanced design and performance that matters. DROID ULTRA is the thinnest 4G LTE smartphone you can buy, measuring 7.18mm, with a 5-inch HD display. DROID MAXX is the longest lasting 4G LTE smartphone in the world, giving users two full days of battery performance on a single charge. DROID MINI is a super compact device that proves that power comes in all sizes.

True to the DROID heritage, these new devices continue to pioneer innovative features. We’ve re-engineered the DROIDS from the inside out to enable amazing new software capabilities including: 

Touchless Control: lets you use the phone hands-free even when the device is asleep, allowing you to place phone calls, send texts, find directions, or search the web.

Active Display: provides the information you need to know just by glancing at the phone’s display - for stuff like time, texts, social updates, calendar notices, etc. Active Display subtly lights up a portion of the screen with notifications without having to wake the phone or pick it up.

Quick Capture: DROID can go from pocket to picture in an instant. Just shake to wake by quickly twisting your wrist and tap anywhere on the screen to snap a pic, or press and hold to capture an action sequence with rapid-fire shots.

DROID Zap: the fastest and easiest way to share photos and videos with a friend or a group of friends nearby. Swiping up on a picture instantly shares it with fellow Android users nearby, and to receive, all they need to do is swipe down on their screen.

The new DROID devices help you do things faster and stay connected to what matters most. DROID ULTRA will be available for $199.99 and DROID MAXX for $299.99, with a new two-year customer agreement. DROID MINI is $99.99 and will be available August 22. For more information, visit droiddoes.com.

Read more ►