My Departure From Motorola

At the end of March I will step down from my post as CEO at Motorola Mobility to join Dropbox as COO. This was not an easy decision to make, but I leave knowing that Motorola is in great hands - now and in the future.

In the last 18 months, Motorolans have built two of the company’s best loved phones ever, introduced customization to the industry, brought unprecedented quality and performance to a value-priced smartphone, and created experiences that changed how people use and interact with their smartphones.

It was a reinvention the likes of which many 85-year-old brands could not have achieved. And it was astonishing to be a part of.

I'm excited about what the next chapter in Motorola's storied history will bring under the new ownership of Lenovo. While Google imbued simplicity and software sensibility into the company, Lenovo will bring it the scale it deserves. I have no doubt the two companies together will be a force for good in the mobile industry

To ensure that Motorola maintains its current momentum and successfully transitions to Lenovo ownership, Jonathan Rosenberg, a longtime Googler and SVP of Products from 2002 to 2011, will step in as COO at Motorola Mobility as of April 1. Jonathan worked very closely with me to build the leadership team at Motorola and has been intimately involved in steering business and product decisions alongside with the current leadership team. Google Chief Business Officer Nikesh Arora will remain Executive Chairman of the Motorola Operating Board, and continue to oversee the strategy.

With their support, the entire Motorola management team remains focused on our current strategy and on creating great mobile devices that deliver the mobile Internet to millions more people around the world.

That's something we can all rally behind.


Sincerely,
Dennis Woodside

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Motorola to Join Lenovo to Create a Truly Global Smartphone Company

Today Google CEO Larry Page announced that Lenovo will acquire the Motorola Mobility smartphone business for about $2.91BN.

Since being acquired by Google in 2012, Motorola has transformed itself, focusing on solving real consumer problems and providing amazing experiences built on a foundation of pure Android. The result has been Moto X, Moto G, and a reinvigorated Droid line. Together, these devices have won over consumers and critics alike and helped re-establish the Motorola brand around the world.

Now, as we set our sights bringing the mobile Internet to the next 100 million people, Lenovo is the perfect partner to help us achieve that goal. As Larry wrote in his post,

“Lenovo has the expertise and track record to scale Motorola into a major player within the Android ecosystem. They have a lot of experience in hardware and they have global reach. In addition, Lenovo intends to keep Motorola’s distinct brand identity--just as they did when they acquired ThinkPad from IBM in 2005.”

Combined, our two challenger brands will become a true force in mobility. Per Yang Yuanqing, chairman and CEO of Lenovo,

“We are confident that we can bring together the best of both companies to deliver products customers will love and a strong, growing business. Lenovo has a proven track record of successfully embracing and strengthening great brands – as we did with IBM’s Think brand – and smoothly and efficiently integrating companies around-the-world. I am confident we will be successful with this process, and that our companies will not only maintain our current momentum in the market, but also build a strong foundation for the future.”

Google will maintain ownership of the vast majority of the Motorola Mobility patent portfolio, including current patent applications and invention disclosures. As part of its ongoing relationship with Google, Lenovo will receive a license to this rich portfolio of patents and other intellectual property. Additionally Lenovo will receive over 2,000 patent assets, as well as the Motorola Mobility brand and trademark portfolio.

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals in the U.S. and China. You can find more information in the press release.

We look forward to a new chapter and bright future with a new brand steward.


Posted by Dennis Woodside

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The Download: New Gallery, Migrate, and More KitKat Sweetness

So it might be a little cold in the last days at our Libertyville offices—but there isn’t a polar vortex that could stop us from us from cranking out the new software updates!

Here’s the latest Download:

New Year, New Gallery Look - Our Motorola Gallery has a fresh, new look! True to our promise to enhance the best parts of Android, we’ve developed a new Motorola Gallery UI that looks a lot cleaner and a lot more beautiful. The navigation is faster, the album drawer is streamlined, and the thumbnails are bigger and bolder.

Move Over, iPhone - It’s even easier to move your information over from an iPhone in our latest update to Motorola Migrate, the app that allows you to move your personal content from your old phone to your new phone. Now you can transfer your iCloud contacts and calendar events right from the app and not just in the MotoMaker web tool like before. So whether your old phone was an Android or iPhone, it’s a breeze to move over to your new Motorola phone.

KitKat Gets a Boost—Literally - We have begun releasing KitKat to Moto G on Boost Mobile. Check our upgrade pages for Australia and the U.S. for more information.

KitKat Comes to Moto X in Canada - Do KitKats come in maple? We started this week rolling out KitKat to Moto X on Rogers and Fido, the first Moto X to receive KitKat version 4.4.2. See the upgrade page for Canada to learn more.

As always, we welcome your thoughts, feedback, and comments on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook. We listen to them, and they make our products better.

Posted by Punit Soni, Product Management

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Moto X with Wood Finishes: Inspired by Nature, Designed by You

Sometimes, even in the technology industry, the best inspiration comes straight from nature. We recently introduced Moto X with Bamboo, the first-ever smartphone incorporating real bamboo into the body. Since then we’ve been hard at work crafting new options, and are excited to announce three new natural wood finishes for Moto X: Walnut, Teak and Ebony.

Featuring natural finishes and distinct grains, these wood backs are undeniably unique and provide a whole new level of sophisticated customization for your smartphone. Every wood grain is different, so every phone is too - just like you!

Moto X is now available for the everyday starting price of $399 off-contract. We want to make the upgrade to a wood finish just as accessible to people, so we're making it available for just $25 more. Bamboo will be available with this new price on Moto Maker starting today and Walnut, Teak and Ebony finishes will be available starting January 21st.

 

Posted by Lior Ron, CVP Product Management

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Moto X Comes to Europe.

On the heels of a great reception for Moto G in Europe, we're happy to announce that Moto X has also crossed the Atlantic and will be available in the UK, France and Germany from 1st February.

Since its global launch Moto X has already started changing how people interact with their smartphones. Touchless Control, Motorola's sophisticated voice control system, enables your Moto X to respond to your voice so you can check the weather, get directions, or do just about anything without lifting a finger. With Touchless Control people use Google Now as much as three times as often. Motorola's Quick Capture enables you to launch your Moto X's camera with two quick twists of your wrist so you never miss the perfect moment, and it's encouraging Moto X users to take as many as 30% more photographs. And Moto X users are interacting with Active Display on average eighteen times a day, thus lighting up their screens less often, and enabling Moto X's already great battery life to stretch even longer.

All of these experiences are built on a foundation of pure Android with no skins to slow you down, clutter your phone or get between you and Google's best-in-class mobile services. And because you've told us that having the latest software is important to you, Moto X will come with Android 4.4 KitKat right out of the box. Altogether, touches like these have helped Moto X make nearly 20 "best of 2013" lists.

Now, with Moto X, smartphone buyers in the UK, France and Germany have two great Motorola devices to choose from. Prices for Moto X start from £25 per month in the UK and €399 in Europe. Click here for more information on pricing and carriers in Europe.

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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

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Moto X now $399 everyday for everyone.

When we launched Moto X, our goal was to solve real consumer problems and give people refreshing new choices in the sea of smartphone sameness.

We heard from people that they wanted more control in how their phones looked, so we introduced the Moto Maker customization tool and made it available on all major carriers. That enabled our customers to choose from hundreds of color combinations and, for the first time, real bamboo backs. We heard that battery life was a major pain point, so we engineered Moto X to go all day long. And we heard that having the most current software was really important to our owners, so we made sure that Moto X was the first smartphone to upgrade to Android 4.4 KitKat.

But we're not stopping there.

We've been hearing a lot recently from people who want a new premium smartphone at a reasonable price without having to wait for a contract upgrade. That came through especially loud and clear during our holiday flash sales.

So from today forward we're offering Moto X at an everyday starting price of just $399 on any major US carrier, without a contract. This includes customized devices.

Today several wireless carriers offer good month-to-month or prepaid service plans that cost much less than the contract plans that come with subsidized devices. Combine one of those plans with our new $399 everyday pricing and you could save hundreds of dollars over two years while keeping the freedom to change service providers when you feel like it. We can even help you finance your purchase* so you pay monthly for your contract-free Moto X.

Because you should have the freedom to buy a great device when you want, without chaining yourself down.

Happy new year!

Rick Osterloh
Senior Vice President - Product Management


*$0 down and zero Interest on all purchases if paid within 6, 12, or 18 months. Interest will be charged to your account from the purchase date if the balance is not paid in full within the promotional period.

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The Download: Moto G Gets Android 4.4.2, KitKat, in Record Time! And more.

We don’t know about you, but over the past few weeks we’ve had visions of KitKats dancing in our heads. We’re excited to tell you we’re starting to roll out Android 4.4.2, KitKat—the very latest version—TODAY on Moto G!

What better way to kick off The Download—a regular feature that gives you the scoop on the many software updates we are rapidly cranking out. In addition to the roll out of KitKat on Moto G, our software team has been busy as elves in a workshop shipping new features for you.

Here’s the latest Download, issue 1:

Android KitKat Comes to Moto G - Our KitKat family is expanding! When we launched Moto G last month, we committed to delivering Android, KitKat, to devices by early 2014. We are thrilled to start delivering on that promise early. Starting today, we are rolling out Android 4.4.2 to Moto G phones bought on Motorola.com or Amazon.com in the U.S. KitKat will come to other Moto G carriers and regions soon as well. This latest version of Android brings some cool new features, including printing emails and photos from your phone. Read our release notes for detailed information.

This update continues our effort to get our users the latest Android software as fast as humanly possible. We began by pushing KitKat out to Moto X users on Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile, just weeks after Google announced the new OS—and our most recent expansion over the past few weeks includes Moto X on US Cellular and Sprint and DROID ULTRA, DROID MAXX, and DROID MINI. We also started to roll out the software in Brazil for retail devices. More carriers and regions will follow very soon.

For more information on KitKat and deployment on Motorola devices, check out our software upgrades page.

Enhanced Touchless Control - With our latest update to this feature, customers who use a device PIN to lock their phone can use Touchless Control without entering the PIN first. Don’t worry—no personal information is divulged without a PIN. And, you can also use your voice to enter your PIN. Go to the Google Play Store for more information.

Spreading Holiday Cheer - We’re getting into the holiday spirit! Turn your Moto X running KitKat off and on—and experience a little cheer with our new start-up animation. For those with a Moto G, download the Motorola Boot Services application from the Google Play Store to take part in the animated holiday tidings.

More Camera Goodness for Moto G and DROID - We’re taking the latest Camera features on Moto X on KitKat and making them available for Moto G, DROID MINI, DROID MAXX, and DROID ULTRA. This brings some enhancements photographers will love—such as Drag to Focus and Expose (manual exposure and focus with just a touch), locking exposure during Panoramic shots, and additional language support. Check out the Google Play Store for more information.

Improved Active Display - We’ve squashed some bugs! Active Display—battery-friendly notifications that fade in and out when the phone display is off—is now optimized for KitKat and works better than ever. It’s all part of our mission to listen to our users and iterate quickly. Go to the Google Play Store for more information.

More Kernel Sources! - Over the last few weeks, we released the Android 4.3, Jelly Bean kernel source for Moto G, and yesterday we released Android 4.4, KitKat kernel source for Moto X. Enjoy your custom ROMs!

The Download - Yeah, that is pretty recursive if you ask me. But our last big feature is a regular software blog which provides you with the latest on all the cool, shiny, new features and upgrades that are headed your way. Subscribe in the upper right column to stay up to date on the latest.

The last few months have been quite a wild ride. We are working hard to continually improve the experience on Motorola devices and look forward to hearing from you. Your feedback will be heard and acted on. Feel free to comment here or on our profiles on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook.

Posted by Punit Soni, Product Management

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Disney Legend Glen Keane Joins Motorola’s Spotlight Stories

To animate means to bring to life.

Glen Keane’s work seems larger than life. As the creator and animator of beloved Disney characters such as Ariel from The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Pocahontas, the Beast from Beauty and the Beast, and Tarzan, Glen has drawn more than figures on a screen. He has made the stories and characters of our childhoods. He gave us imaginary friends, admired heroines, misfits in search of understanding, and at least a Halloween costume or two.

At Motorola’s Advanced Technology and Projects group, we believe in the power of storytelling, so we’re building new stories made specifically for mobile. Not stories made for the big screen but shown on a small one. Not flat content. We’re building interactive, immersive stories made for your smartphone.

So we’re excited to announce that Glen—the artist behind so many classics—is working with us to push the future of animation with an original Spotlight Story.

Expected to release the middle of 2014, in this third Motorola Spotlight Story, Glen is going back to the drawing board. Literally. Together with the engineers who unlocked the graphics technology that made our first Spotlight Story, Windy Day, possible on the Moto X, we’re pushing new edges. The raw emotion of the hand-drawn line brought to life in our technological world. And yours.

What will happen when a master animator of the big screen jumps to an innovative, mobile canvas? We’re excited to see.

Stay up to date with Spotlight Story happenings on our Tumblr or join our Google+ community.

Posted by Baback Elmieh, Technical Program Lead, Advanced Technologies and Project (ATAP)

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A phone as unique as you: Now Featuring Bamboo for Moto X

You’re different. You go against the grain. So you need a phone that’s as unique as you are. That phone is here. Introducing Moto X with Bamboo.

We’ve always had fun experimenting with different materials in our devices. From DuPont(TM) Kevlar(R) to aircraft-grade aluminum, we love to push the envelope and bring you quality materials that have a meaningful purpose or unique sense of style. Bamboo represents new territory for the smartphone industry and expands the thousands of customization options available via Moto Maker. Since each back is made from real Bamboo, no two devices will ever be the same - it’s truly a smartphone as unique as you are.

Starting now, the Bamboo back option is available online for January delivery. Initial quantities are limited, so order yours today. And because it’s designed by you, you still have all the great customization features offered through Moto Maker. Choose your accent and front colors, memory, even include a custom signature on your bamboo back. Then choose your carrier -- Verizon, AT&T, Sprint or T-Mobile.

Moto X with Bamboo will be available online only*, for $199 with a new two-year contract with Verizon, AT&T and Sprint, or unlocked with no contract for as little as $0 down with special financing terms.**

Moto Maker provides new and unique design opportunities that enable self-expression like never before, so stay tuned for more design options and materials in the new year.

Additional questions? Visit our FAQ.

Posted by Lior Ron, CVP Product Management


*Not available for use with Moto Maker redemption PINs purchased in-store

**$0 down and zero Interest on all purchases if paid within 6, 12, or 18 months. Interest will be charged to your account from the purchase date if the balance is not paid in full within the promotional period.

Subject to credit approval. Deferred Interest Minimum Payment Required Promotional Plan: Interest will be charged to your account (at the standard variable apr 28.99%) from the purchase date if the purchase balance is not paid in full within the promotional period or if you make a late payment. Minimum monthly payments are required for this plan during the promotional period. At no time will the minimum monthly payment be less than $25.00. Minimum Interest charged is $2.00 per credit plan. Required minimum $549 pre-tax purchase for the 18 month credit plan. Motorola Credit Accounts are offered by Comenity Capital Bank who determines qualifications for credit and promotion eligibility. US residents only. Not valid on previous purchase.

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