Glen Keane on the Making of “Duet,” Now Available on Moto X and Moto G 4G LTE

Starting today, "Duet" is available globally as Google's Advanced Technology and Projects group third Spotlight Story on the new Moto X, Moto X (1st Gen.), and Moto G 4G LTE. "Duet" is an interactive love story that brings the timeless art of hand-drawn animation to a new mobile format. Animator Glen Keane spent 38 years animating some of Disney's most beloved characters for movies like "The Little Mermaid," "Aladdin, "Beauty and the Beast" and "Tangled." Today, Glen Keane shares what it was like to work on "Duet" in his own words. We hope you enjoy. 

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Duet is an interactive animated story. It is a synthesis of the most ground breaking virtual world technology and the most ancient of all art forms—drawing. From the beginning of this project we knew it would be a celebration of life through line. The entire production was a creative adventure. We are a small team of artists and programmers working together to accomplish the charge of ATAP’s Regina Dugan set before us. “I want you to make something beautiful and emotional,” she said. “You push yourself creatively and that will push us technologically.”

Duet is a love story between two characters, Mia and Tosh, whose paths cross throughout their lives. Different than the traditional linear story, Duet employs a multi-layered approach that could best be described as a double helix in which the characters’ story arcs literally spiral around one another. Figuring all of this out was enough to make our collective heads spin! Fortunately we were blessed with an incredible ATAP team of technical engineers led by Rachid El Guerrab. The artistic half of our creative suite was led by our producer Gennie Rim and Production Designer Max Keane. Together, my assistant Sarah Airriess and I drew over 10,000 drawings to create the animation for Duet.

Again and again, we were surprised by the freedom this interactive storytelling provided. Jan Pinkava, who pioneered and directed the first Spotlight Story, “Windy Day”, continually encouraged us to put the camera into the hands of the audience. However this is not an easy or natural thing for a filmmaker to do. The tendency is to want to control the visual composition, but with Duet we learned to coax rather than control. Because of the nature of this virtual world technology there were no individual shots cut together. It is all one continuous living moment. I think of it less as a traditional film and more as a visual poem.

Our music composer, Scot Stafford, may have had the greatest challenge of all. Not only was he tasked with creating an emotional score, but it also needed to respond at any moment to the viewers' choice and seamlessly switch themes from one character to the other. Duet is in every way a partnership between the visual and the musical.

Throughout my 40 year career as an animator I have benefitted each time new technology crossed my path because it invariably forced me to become a better artist. In a similar way, Duet has stretched all of us creatively who worked on it.

We have learned that when it comes to storytelling, everything is possible. There still remains so much more to discover.

We are thrilled to share Duet with you today.

Glen Keane
Director / Animator of Duet

Editor's note: We made a mistake in earlier version of our blogpost when it said "Duet" would be supported on Moto G (2nd gen.). Unfortunately, that was incorrect. It is currently only supported on Moto X (1st and 2nd gen.) and Moto G 4G LTE. We're very sorry for getting that wrong.

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#MotoTips for Using Android 5.0, Lollipop on Your Moto Phone

So you’re a Moto user and one of the first in the world to use Android 5.0, Lollipop, which we began rolling out recently—what should you do next with your phone?

As part of our work as consumer experience designers, we’ve had a chance to get familiar with this new release and wanted to share a few tips and tricks for getting the most out of what Lollipop has to offer.

Check out the short videos we’ve put together for you below. It’s our job to talk to consumers (like you!) to improve our products, so let us know how you like them and if there’s anything else you’d like to know. If you’ve discovered any of your own favorite #MotoTips, please share them on Twitter using the hashtag #MotoTips.

Enjoy!

Hello from Kristin and Lexi!

How to Quickly Dismiss Your Notifications

Quick Tips for Your Lockscreen Notifications


Quick Tips for Accessing and Using your Settings


Quick Tips for Using the New Downtime and Interruptions via the Volume Settings

Posted by Kristin Arnold and Lexi Valasek, Consumer Experience Design

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Going Ballistic with DROID Turbo

Does anyone else, before leaving the house, recite the trinity? Keys, wallet, smartphone. Our phones travel everywhere with us—in all types of weather and situations.

These days, our phones must be as visually appealing as they are durable. Which is why we’ve equipped our new DROID Turbo with ballistic nylon, a first for any smartphone.

But Just What Is Ballistic Nylon?

Ballistic nylon is the strong, lightweight, tightly woven material used on the back of DROID Turbo. It’s a tough aesthetic that matches the hardcore features of the device: a 48-hour battery, a top-of-the-line quad-core 2.7 GHz Snapdragon™ 805, a 565 ppi screen, and a 21 MP camera.

The material’s history goes all the way back to World War II. Ballistic nylon was originally developed for use as flak jackets to protect airmen from flying debris in combat and served its purpose well.

But ballistic nylon didn’t disappear after that. Through the years, the materials have been used in everything such as:

• Extreme weather backpacks
• Tactical bags for the military troops
• The US Army’s combat boots
• Hunting supplies
• Super durable watch straps (Take it from this guy.)
• Skin-on kayaks (Warning: This video may be too awesome for kayak enthusiasts or ballistic nylon lovers.)
• Motorcycle jackets and pants

Why Ballistic?

Ballistic nylon, unlike other nylons, is not only known for use in tough situations, but it is also versatile. The military uses it because the fabric is resistant to tears, holes, and high temperatures, not to mention it provides a level of water resistance. Companies use it for some of those same reasons, but unlike some other highly durable materials, ballistic nylon also offers more flexibility in design and execution. We love it because of the material’s association with all of those things.

When it comes to phones, ballistic nylon offers unique visual and tactile aesthetics. It looks sleek and feels strong in your hands. Which is why bringing the ballistic fabric technology to phones for the first time makes sense.

Because why can’t your phone be built to last with a tough look to match?

Posted by Jenny Schroder, Product Marketing

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Update 2: It's time to unwrap: Android 5.0, Lollipop is here

Get ready for something sweet! Android^TM 5.0, Lollipop is officially here for some of our Motorola devices!

We’ve started to roll out Lollipop in phases just a week after the public release of the software to the following devices in the US:

• Moto X (2nd Gen.) Pure Edition
• Moto G (2nd Gen.) US GSM 
• Moto G (2nd Gen.) Global GSM retail versions sold in the US

The most ambitious release yet, Lollipop brings a number of tasty enhancements, including:

• A new look and feel. Google brings its all-new Material Design to life with a bold, new visual style. The new user interface is designed to enable better, more natural touch screen interactions and introduces vivid new colors, typography, and edge-to-edge imagery to make using your phone more fluid.
• Your device, your rules. Catch up with notifications on your lock screen and even dismiss them without unlocking. New "Downtime" and "Interruption" settings also allow you to decide what people and what notifications get through at times that you choose.

• Share your device. You know that moment when your kid plays with your phone or a friend needs to borrow it? Use "Guest" mode or another account you’ve set up to share your device. You can also pin a view to limit the user to a particular application. 
• Let there be light. Shine a light by using the new flashlight in Quick Settings. Just swipe down with two fingers from the status bar to see it. 
• Battery saver. The Battery settings panel now shows an estimated projection for how much time you have left even while you're charging. You can also enable a new battery saver mode that will save power by reducing performance and most background data operations to extend your battery life. 

For more about these new features, find details at our Lollipop support page and on Google’s official Lollipop page. We’re working hard with our carrier partners to bring this update to more of our devices as soon as we can. You can always check out the latest upgrade status for your phone by visiting our software updates page.

Hope you find the update as sweet as we do.

Updated November 24, 2014

Gobble, gobble! We have begun rolling out Lollipop to Moto X (2nd Gen.) users on Verizon in the U.S

Updated December 12, 2014
We have begun rolling out Lollipop to Google Play Edition Moto G (1st Gen.) and have also begun the rollout to retail Moto X (2nd Gen.) in Brazil and Mexico. 

Posted by Seshadri Tangutur, Software Engineering

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Q&A with David Pascual, Winner of the Moto 360 Design Face-Off

Earlier this year, thousands of you participated in our Moto 360 Design Face-Off, a competition in which users submitted their ideas for watch face designs and then voted on their winner. The talented victor, David Pascual, won a Moto 360 and the chance for his design to be officially included on the watch.

The winning watch face, along with four additional new watch faces, is available to all Moto 360 owners through an update on the Motorola Connect app. Also available with this new update is the ability to create your own custom watch face, selecting everything from the background image to the style of the tick marks and watch hands.

We sat down with David to chat more about the nuances of his design, how he came up with the idea, and what advice he has for other Moto 360 designers.

David Pascual (Photo Credit: Maro Hagopian)

What do you do for a living?
I am the Director of Web Content Development for SiriusXM Satellite Radio. I’ve been at SiriusXM for roughly seven years working on just about everything that touches our site. Our service has an incredibly wide variety of content and it makes for a consistently challenging and fun job.

I’m also a student at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business working on obtaining an MBA. I’m focusing on entrepreneurship and marketing, two areas I’ve long been interested in. This contest actually validated one of the reasons I elected to go to Georgetown—the close supportive nature of the students. During the voting period, I posted my design to a class Facebook page and received overwhelming support. I’ve been stopped many times by students asking if I’m “the watch guy” and to let me know they liked and voted for my design.

What inspired the design you submitted to the contest?

I started following Moto 360 ever since the original announcement in March. I think that, like so many people, I loved that the form was being focused on as much as function. For many guys, a watch is essentially the primary—perhaps only—piece of “jewelry” that they wear. With that in mind, I wanted to create a face that followed classic design cues and would look good on an analog watch. Then I wanted to enhance it with the functionality that digital enables. For me, the biggest opportunity was the integration of a glance-able calendar. This really pushed the final design that has essential markings along with a prominent calendar ring.

I was pretty excited to create a design that I thought fulfilled that simple yet useful objective. Still, I didn’t imagine it would go on to be in the top 10, let alone win. There were a ton of great designs, so it was particularly rewarding to see so many people seem to share the vision I had of a watch face.

Were their any particular experiences that either led to you design or that had an impact on you as a designer as a whole?

At work, we spend a lot of time thinking about who or why someone might use or consume a piece of content, and this really drives design and development decisions. This principle greatly applied here, and I spent a lot of time considering what makes for a successful watch. One of my conclusions was it needed to retain the ability to be usable at a glance above all else. Everything on the face is designed to be simple enough to read within a few seconds.

What nuances are there to your watch face that might not be immediately apparent?
Probably the calendar ring. It is actually two rings sandwiched together. There’s an inside and outside ring for AM and PM event indicators. If the inside ring has a filled region from 4-5, this means you have a 4am-5am appointment. Conversely, if there were an outside ring shaded from 4-5, it would mean you have a 4pm-5pm appointment.

You're a Moto 360 user and also a designer of a watch face interface. What do you think are important considerations when creating watch faces that people can choose from?

I think it’s really important to consider what the objective is before starting the actual design. Why is it people would want to use your face? I’ve always found it’s easier to create a successful design—whether it be a web page, app, design face, etc.—if you can clearly state what the definition of success is.

Do you feel there was anything different about creating a round design instead of a rectangular one?
Actually designing a round face felt natural since I’ve only ever owned watches with round faces. It was a nice departure from rectangles, which is the shape of virtually everything else I work on.

David with the Moto 360 team at Google I/O

Did you learn anything from working with Motorola to bring the watch face to life?

The Motorola team did all the real work to take my design concept to an executable face [Editor’s note: We really just helped!]. I included a few things that weren’t yet possible in Android Wear, so they helped iron those issues out. They also helped add some finishing so the display would be optimized for the number of pixels on the Moto 360. It was awesome seeing their expertise help translate a concept into a finalized face.

Any advice for other designers and developers creating app experiences for Moto 360?

I think the best piece of advice is to get a Moto 360 and really see how and when you use the watch. It will help clarify both face design and app opportunities. One of my favorite apps, for example, is a tip calculator. It’s perfect in the moment application because the result is immediate and inputs are minimal. I’m sure many other situations exist where having a ready display on your wrist can remove the need for getting out and using your phone to complete a task.

Now that you've used the watch for a while is there anything you would have designed differently? Any plans for future designs?

I’m pretty happy with how the designed turned out. I do have a better understanding of what’s possible, so future designs would be slightly different with those parameters in mind. I’ve already started working on a few additional faces actually. Free time is a bit short at the moment so I’m hoping to finish them up in December after the school term ends. In the meantime I’ll keep downloading every face I can get my hands on. It’s been a lot of fun to see what others come up with. I’d like to thank everyone again who voted for my design. It was fun to create and submit to the contest and overwhelming to see the support it received. Thank you!

Posted by Noelle Chun, Social Media

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The Moto X in Football Leather: Try Not to Spike it

Calling all football superfans! Don’t get sidelined with a boring phone. Up your smartphone game with the limited edition Moto X in football leather. Featuring the same Horween genuine football leather trusted by college and pro athletes, the new “football” phones will be available exclusively at Verizon Wireless stores and on verizonwireless.com beginning today. Or, if fans want to put their personal touch on it, they can also visit MotoMaker.com to further customize the Moto X with Football leather starting November 14.

Either way, nothing connects you to the game quite like the feel of genuine leather in your hands. So whether you’re checking your fantasy stats, texting about the next tailgate or reading the latest on your favorite team, bring yourself closer to the game you love with this limited edition Moto X.

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Moto 360: Choose a watch that fits your style

We’re introducing more choice for Moto 360. From new metal watches and a selection of interchangeable bands, to enhanced experiences that promote a healthier lifestyle, Moto 360 offers a diverse portfolio of modern timepieces. 

New metal offerings

Moto 360 now comes with metal bands that are as durable as they are beautiful. Crafted from aircraft-grade stainless steel, these bands feature a modern, contemporary tri-link design that complements the round face of Moto 360. Starting today, Moto 360 with light and dark metal bands are available on motorola.com for $299. Coming soon, we will offer Moto 360 with new slim bands, which is an option for smaller wrists or for people who want a different look. Slim bands will be available in time for the holidays in light metal ($299) and a brand new champagne gold finish ($329).

New accessory bands

Already have a Moto 360? We’ll offer interchangeable stone, black and cognac leather bands along with light and dark metal bands. Plus, we’ve partnered with some really cool brands through our M4DE program to bring you even more choices. DODOcase will offer stitched leather bands in four new colors. TYLT is working on colorful silicone bands to give you an entirely new look.

New watch faces

Choose from new watch face designs or even create your own. The new My Design watch face option allows you to customize everything from the background image to the style of the tick marks and watch hands. We’ve also added the watch face created by the winner of our Moto 360 Design Face-Off. These new watch face options will be available for all Moto 360 watches through an update on the Moto Connect app¹ within the next few days.

New wellness features

Moto 360 can help you make the most of every day. That’s why we’re bringing you Moto Body, an experience designed to inspire a healthier lifestyle. You can track your steps, distance, heart rate and calories. Based on the information collected, Moto Body will provide new goals to keep you motivated. Moto Body will be available to all Moto 360 users through the Motorola Connect app update.

Have questions?

Join us tomorrow for an Ask Me Anything (AMA) on Reddit at 12:30 p.m. to 1 p.m. CT. Moto 360 product manager Eric Berdinis and designer Rick Hoobler will be there to talk all things Moto 360. 

Hope to chat with you soon!

Posted by Lally Narwal, Product Marketing

IMAGES: Follow this link for images (you agree to our license terms when downloading images or video).

1 Moto Connect available for download in Google Play store

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Moto Maxx: Choose to live life unplugged Coming to Brazil, Mexico and other Latin American countries soon

Strength. Stamina. Sophistication. Those are just some of the qualities of the new Moto Maxx -- our most powerful and long-lasting smartphone to date.


Our smartphones are our lifeline to the world in many ways, and with Moto Maxx you can go multiple days* without having to recharge. And when you do, our new Turbo charging feature gives you up to eight additional hours in just 15 minutes!**

With a huge battery, the time you save staying unplugged allows you to do more with your device -- from watching videos to playing games to capturing photos and viewing them on the Quad HD display. Combined with the most powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon processor you can get, Moto Maxx gives you the confidence to live life to the max day in and day out.

Here’s what else you can count on with Moto Maxx:

Long lasting, fast charging
With Moto Maxx, you can go up to two days* without limits thanks to the long-lasting, fast-charging 3900 mAh battery — the largest battery of any smartphone. When it’s time to charge, get a quick burst of battery life when you need it most. The Motorola Turbo Charger included in box provides up to eight hours of power in just 15 quick minutes of charging.**

Accelerated performance
Moto Maxx is designed to outperform your expectations with the newest and most powerful features. Use the 21-megapixel camera to capture stunning pictures and movie-quality 4K video, and play it back on the 5.2-inch Quad HD display, the sharpest display of any smartphone with 565 ppi. The newest and most powerful Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ quad core processor gives you all the performance you need — and then some. It also uses the latest 4G LTE technology, so you can experience faster download and upload speeds. Plus, you get a huge 64GB of storage, perfect for your collections of music, movies, books and games.

Enduring protection
On the outside, Moto Maxx is designed with premium ballistic nylon, a first for the industry. It’s a high-quality, durable material with a distinctive texture and rich color - you might recognize it from outdoor gear, like backpacks. Under that, is a layer of DuPont Kevlar® fiber, a material that is five times stronger than steel. Moto Maxx is protected inside and out with water-repellent nano-coating and then topped with Corning Gorilla Glass.

Pure Android experience
You’ll get a pure Android experience, which means fast upgrades. Moto Maxx also incorporates the same Moto software experiences that are available on the new Moto X. So you can interact with your Moto Maxx more naturally, using the same voice commands, and your Moto Maxx will learn your preferences and adapt to you, making it even easier to use.

Pricing and Availability
Moto Maxx will be available on motorola.com starting today in Brazil and coming mid-November in Mexico. Moto Maxx will come to additional Latin American countries soon.

IMAGES: Follow this link for images (you agree to our license terms when downloading images or video).

Posted by Motorola

* All battery life claims are approximate and based on an average mixed use profile that includes both usage and standby time on a 4G LTE network.  Battery life claims vary by market.  Actual battery performance will vary and depends on many factors including signal strength, network configuration, age of battery, operating temperature, features selected, device settings, and voice, data, and other application usage patterns.

**Battery must be substantially depleted; charging rate slows as charging progresses.  Charging rate varies by Market. 

MOTOROLA and the Stylized M Logo are registered trademarks of Motorola Trademark Holdings, LLC. Android and Google are trademarks of Google Inc. Qualcomm is a registered trademark and Snapdragon is a trademark of Qualcomm Incorporated. Corning and Gorilla are registered trademarks of Corning Incorporated. Kevlar® is a registered trademark of DuPont used under license by Motorola Mobility LLC. DuPont™ Kevlar® is a registered trademark of E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company or its affiliates. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. © 2014 Motorola Mobility LLC. All rights reserved.

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At Heidi Klum’s Halloween Party

Halloween is all about expressing your personal style - whether it’s witty, wild or wacky, anything goes. When it comes to this time of year, no one does it better than the Queen of Halloween - Heidi Klum. Each year she dazzles fans with costumes that push the envelope on creativity and design. They are part art, part high fashion, and always a full expression of Heidi’s bold, personal style. And this year was no exception. At her annual Halloween extravaganza in New York, Heidi stepped out in a beautiful butterfly costume. To complete her look, Motorola created a special customized Moto X inspired by her costume.



Don’t feel like waiting for October 31st to roll around again to express your style?  Head over to Moto Maker and design your own custom Moto X and show your colors all year long. Need some inspiration? Here are some of the best costumes from the night at Tao Downtown on New York City’s westside.



Questlove of The Roots and Heidi Klum



Zoe Kravitz and Joe Jonas



Designer Christian Siriano and Brad Walsh



Orange is the New Black’s Matt McGorry



A close up of Heidi Klum’s customized Moto X

Posted by the Motorola Blog Team

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Quick and Easy Halloween Costume Ideas Using Only Your Smartphone

The Halloween party is tonight, and you've been too busy to come up with a clever costume idea.

Fear not! That’s plenty to work with. A little resourcefulness and your phone can go a long way to making a crazy awesome costume.

Where Is Thy Sting?
With your phone out of sight, turn its volume way up, and play this. Then spend the entire evening swatting at an imaginary bee. Amp it up with a little red makeup to add a few bee stings to your arms, neck, and face. Bee careful not to get stung.

Tweet, Tweet 
Place your smartphone in the inside pocket of a coat and play this with the volume turned up. Pad the pocket with a small towel to give it an ever-so-soft chick-like bulk. Carry on normal conversation with friends, pausing only to pull bread crumbs from another pocket that you’ll use to “feed these cute little things.” You said you wanted something creepy, didn’t you?

Everybody Loves a Photo Booth 
Affix your smartphone to your chest with the screen facing out. Open your camera app and switch to the rear camera. Let people queue up and take selfies. For partygoers who didn’t get in the spirit and dress up, carry a small bag with you that includes accessories like make-up, a feather boa, fun hats, sunglasses, props. Moto Voice users will have the added benefit of doing all of this hands free (just say “take a selfie!”).

A Superhero We Can’t Name (But Know You’ll Figure Out)
Let’s say that copyright law prohibited us from naming a certain superhero. And let’s say that a visit to a certain element 26 on the periodic table would get you started on an idea. Let’s say you installed a free wallpaper on your device, tucked it under a tight black t-shirt, penciled on a thin black beard and moustache, and voila—you know what we’re talking about, man.

Tell us, what simple costume ideas can you think of? Share your zany costume ideas with us. Enter to win a Moto X when you share your costume on Twitter with the hashtag #MotoHalloween and #MyMotoX!

Posted by The Motorola Blog Team

Photo by Christopher Deutschler (Twitter: @ChrstphrDtschlr)

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