Some Changes In Our Leadership

We’re in a very exciting time at Motorola Mobility. Our recent devices are delivering unprecedented value to consumers and have had a great reception in the market, with Moto G officially the best selling smartphone in our history. Moto E is meeting with similar enthusiasm, selling out in India on its first day and gaining notice as a true game changer in the industry. We shipped 8.6 million devices in the second quarter, up 130% from last year’s Q2 and more than 30% from last quarter. People are buzzing about the upcoming Moto 360 watch, and we have many more amazing products in development. We’re excited about our new home in Chicago’s Merchandise Mart, and looking forward to the close of the Lenovo acquisition, and all the possibilities that it will create for us.

It would be easy for us to take a breath and pat ourselves on the back, but I believe this is the perfect opportunity to make some changes to our leadership that will help us to continue building on this success.

Charlie Tritschler is now Senior Vice President of Product Management, overseeing all of our product development, product marketing and ecommerce efforts. Since joining our team a little over a year ago Charlie has been one of the leading forces behind Moto G and Moto E. 

As our global presence expands again, we will rely more on our regional leaders who deeply understand their local markets. As a result, regional sales heads will now sit on our senior leadership team. They include: 

• Jeff Miller, Corporate Vice President, North America and Global GTM Operations
• Sergio Buniac, CVP, Latin America 
• Magnus Ahlqvist, CVP, EMEA and APAC 

Each has built strong distribution partnerships and grown our share in incredibly competitive markets around the world. 

Our products depend on powerful and integrated marketing and branding to cut through the clutter and capture people’s imaginations. Adrienne Hayes, SVP, Marketing and Communications, will lead a newly combined marketing and communications organization that will be responsible for our brand image, advertising and reputation globally. In her year with Motorola Adrienne has successfully launched Moto X, Moto G and Moto E globally, and revitalized our company’s voice and social media presence.

These changes ensure that our leadership team accurately reflects our priorities and organization structure, and put us in the best possible position to continue growing our success. Congratulations to all the leaders in new roles, and my thanks to everyone who helped bring us this far.

Rick Osterloh
President

You can find more information on our executive team here.

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The Download: Getting the Most Out of Bluetooth Connections #MotoTip

As a product manager at Motorola, I spend most of my time thinking about two of our experiences—Motorola Connect (the Chrome extension that allows you to send and receive messages and calls from your desktop ) and Motorola Migrate (the app that lets you easily transfer your phone’s information from an iPhone or Android to a Motorola device).

But I'm using a ton of Motorola features on a daily basis because Moto X is my day-to-day smartphone. Here’s my #MotoTip as part of this week’s Download, which is all about getting the most out of trusted bluetooth devices. I use it all the time while I commute. It makes it easier to go about my day without the hassle of unlocking my phone all the time, while keeping my phone secure when I’m not connected to a trusted device.



Exactly how do you set up a trusted device?

When you first set up a new bluetooth connection, you’ll be prompted to make it a “trusted bluetooth device.” But if you missed it the first time around, it’s really easy to set up.

Under Settings, go to “Security” and tap on “Trusted Devices.” Simply opt into the feature, confirm your password, and then select the devices you trust to keep your phone unlocked. Now you will no longer need to enter a password to unlock your phone when connected to the device. Once you disconnect from it or when your phone is too far from the device to connect, the phone will again require the password settings you’ve set up to unlock, so that your personal information stays secure.

I really rely on this feature, and I think you'll like it, too.

Posted by Eve Bills, Product Management

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Now You Can Unlock Your Moto X with a Digital Tattoo

A phone should be as unique as you are—not only in the design of your device, but how you use it. Last year at the All Things D “D11” conference, Regina Dugan talked about new digital tattoo technology that would make it easier to unlock your phone. Now the moment is here: We’re excited to see this new technology brought to life for Moto X by Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects group and VivaLnk Inc.

Made of super thin, flexible materials, based on VivaLnk’s eSkinTM technology, each digital tattoo is designed to unlock your phone with just a touch of your Moto X to the tattoo, no passwords required. The nickel-sized tattoo is adhesive, lasts for five days, and is made to stay on through showering, swimming, and vigorous activities like jogging. And it’s beautiful—with a shimmering, intricate design.

It’s another step in making it easier to unlock your phone on the go and keep your personal information safe. An average user takes 2.3 seconds to unlock their phone and does this about 39 times a day—a process that some people find so inconvenient that they do not lock their phones at all. Using NFC technology, digital tattoos make it faster to safely unlock your phone anywhere without having to enter a password. 

You can buy the digital tattoos in packs of 10 on VivaLnk.com.

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Redefining the low-cost smartphone with Moto E

Former editor at Engadget Darren Murph joins us to take a deeper look inside Motorola’s present and future. Over the next several weeks, he will be sharing behind-the-scenes stories from the people that are building the company’s future.

Until recently, those in search of their first smartphone faced only a couple of options, and none of them were particularly thrilling. They could either opt to carry on using a flip phone or feature phone, devoid of critical features such as a web browser, access to a thriving app store, and turn-by-turn navigation. Or, they could turn to an antiquated and feature-stripped “smartphone,” many of which tested the very definition of the term. The third option — out of reach for many — was to cobble together well over $500 for a top-tier, premium smartphone.

Thankfully, we no longer live in a world where you’re forced to either stretch your budget or continue to live without one of the world’s most transformative technologies.

Earlier this year, Moto E was revealed to a global audience. It was a project many years in the making, and according to an interview I conducted with VP of Product Marketing Steve Sinclair, it was a phone that was built very deliberately. At $129 with no subsidization (nor strings attached), Moto E is amongst the most affordable smartphones on the planet. But the true allure of the E goes beyond the price — it’s the unprecedented performance at its price that makes it special.

In speaking with a number of engineers, designers, and executives within Motorola’s walls, I learned that the price tag was meaningful on a number of levels. After leaving Apple to join Motorola, Sinclair told me that he “wanted to build high quality products that more people could afford.” Echoing my own sentiments, he continued: “Bringing high quality smartphones to the masses is something that we as an industry should’ve been focusing on.”

I’ve witnessed entire swaths of society transformed by gaining access to broadband Internet for the first time, and in a similar vein, the price point of the Moto E stands to enable the next billion to get connected on a device that punches above its weight.

Sinclair stated that Moto’s decision to build the E was based heavily around research. “We knew the market was going in this direction,” said Sinclair, “as people were migrating from feature phones.” In studying what customers at all levels were interested in, Moto’s team found that display quality were high atop the list. The challenge, of course, was to include these features on a phone that wasn’t just affordable, but enjoyable to use.

Perhaps the most critical differentiator for the Moto E is the power that it possesses. For years, sub-$200 phones were built with old internals and substandard materials. In a nutshell, they paled in comparison to high-end flagships, and left a sour taste in the mouths of many buyers. Too many corners were cut to achieve a rock bottom price, and the user experience suffered mightily. Motorola’s team wanted to make sure such a scenario wouldn’t unfold with the E.

As Sinclair explained to me, each Motorola handset — the E included — has to endure a grueling process before it’s deemed market-ready. A total of 45 key performance indicators are evaluated, with engineers doing everything they can to shave milliseconds from app launch times to the time it takes to answer a phone call. Even with the Moto E, the team insisted on finding a way to include an all-day battery — a cell that could survive Moto’s internal mixed-usage test for 24 straight hours.

The Moto E was built to serve a growing market that was hungry to find an affordable phone that they’d be proud to own, and the Moto X that came before it most certainly helped to set the stage. Per Sinclair, “To compete in the premium phone space, you have to meet incredibly high quality, reliability and durability standards, so we just applied that knowledge to Moto G and E.” He also noted that Motorola’s approach to Android — an approach that strives to deliver a nearly stock experience with no bloatware and plenty of optimization — enabled it to “squeeze out more performance per dollar than anyone else.”

When asked about driving forces behind Moto E, I urged Sinclair to opine on how a mass market-ready phone could impact societies around the world. Personally, I’m intrigued by the notion of millions upon millions of people suddenly being able to afford a smartphone that launches them into the digital economy, and Sinclair seemed to share in that excitement.

To quote Sinclair: “We really think that mobile access to the Internet and everything that the Internet brings — education, job opportunities, social connections, entertainment – should be available to everyone. Our hope is that we’re delivering that kind of freedom and access to people. They could find work, or they could sell something they've built, or stay in touch with their daughter who left home for the first time – that's a powerful thing, and not everyone can afford the highest end device to pull that off."

For many people, this is the only connected device they’ll ever have, so why shouldn’t it be good one?”

We’re @motorola on Twitter -- tell us what you think!

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The Download: Join Motorola Assist Product Manager in an AMA July 17. Plus, Android 4.4.4 News.

Mark Rose is stretchin’ his fingers. He’ll be typing fast and furious in a Google+ Ask Me Anything (AMA). Join Mark one week from today at 2 pm CT for a 30-minute chat where he’ll answer your questions live in a Google+ event.

Mark is our product manager focused on making your phone useful to you wherever you are. Specifically, he leads product management for Quick Capture and Motorola Assist, the app that knows when you shouldn’t be bothered and that can read messages aloud when you’re driving or at home. In a meeting? The app can silence your phone. Driving to work? It can tell you who’s calling or read your texts out loud. Want to take a quick photo? Pull out your camera and twist it to pull up the camera app in a flash.

Mark has been in product management for 15 years and is eager to take your questions! Ask him anything about Assist, share your suggestions, delve into his experience, or even chat about his love of coding, building apps, and the beach.

Join us next Thursday, 7/17, at 2pm-2:30pm CT. Check out the Google+ event page and take part in the conversation by commenting.

In other software news, here’s the latest Download:

Connect Gets a New Look and a New Ring Feature - Our latest update to Motorola Connect brings a sleeker more beautiful interface (and new icon!) to the app that allows you to see text messages and calls coming into your Connect-enabled phone on your computer’s Chrome browser. As always, you can read and respond to texts using your computer’s keyboard and know who’s calling before you decide to reach for your phone. But now you can call your phone right from your desktop—for all those times you lose your phone in the couch cushions. We’ve also moved the app to your app drawer to make Connect easier to find.

Android™ 4.4.4, KitKat® Begins Rolling Out - We’ve begun rolling out Android™ 4.4.4, KitKat® to our phones! This latest update includes all of the goodies of 4.4.3—such a new dialer, the ability to pause during video recording, and enhanced camera image quality—and includes enhanced security for OpenSSL. We just started rolling out in Brazil and India for Moto G; in Brazil, France, Canada, and Asia Pacific for Moto E; in the U.S. for DROID Ultra. We are always working to deploy the latest software as fast as possible and expect the update to come to many more phones soon. Check out the software updates page to see if your phone has been upgraded yet.

Posted by Steve Sinclair, Product Marketing

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Moto 360: Why a Watch?

It’s practical. It’s stylish. It’s as old as time.


From sundials to wrist watches, time was meant to be told round. And that’s what inspired us when it came to creating Moto 360, a classic timepiece powered by Android Wear coming later this summer.

Hear more about the inspiration behind Moto 360 from Lior Ron, product lead for the watch.



Sign up to stay up to date on the latest Moto 360 news.

Posted by Motorola

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#MotoFriends: Spotlight on Alex Pasquarella

Warm rays, long days, and no school—what better reasons to celebrate summer for those of us in our hottest seasons. That was the thinking of Moto fan Alex Pasquarella who was inspired to share some Motorola-themed wallpaper designs to help people personalize their phones.

Alex kicks off a new series: #MotoFriends, in which we spotlight you, our users, and the cool stuff you do.

Alex is a designer who creates awesome phone wallpapers for his website. He’s made a number of Moto-inspired styles to deck out your phone (download his Moto Pack, Series 1, Series 2, and Series 3). Now he presents some beautiful Motorola summer wallpapers to dress your Moto phone for warm weather.

Name: Alex Pasquarella

Age: 20

Occupation: Systems Manager and Graphic Designer

Where I Live: Rochester, NY

Favorite Motorola Product (and color scheme): Moto X with white front and back

In his own words: “I was first inspired by the Moto X's boot animation, which sort of places the Motorola logo as the earth. I also figured ‘Celebrate your summer with Motorola’ would be a good tagline to have in mind while conceptualizing the design. With that in mind, the idea of Motorola's products and innovation surrounding you throughout daily outdoor activities prompted me to allude it to the sun, since it is an overbearing symbol of summer that encompasses everything we do.”

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VIDEO: Sneak Peek at Moto 360 in Action

Hello from Google I/O in San Francisco! We are here supporting the launch of Android Wear, Google’s new platform for wearables, and showing off Moto 360 in action.

Moto 360 sets itself apart with a design that reimagines time for the modern era - a distinctive round display, carefully chosen materials, and fine craftsmanship all while keeping you on track and up to date without taking you out of the moment.

Moto 360 also responds to your voice. Just say “Ok Google” to ask questions like “What time is the US versus Germany soccer game today?” or “Is it raining?” You can also use your voice to schedule an appointment, send a text, set an alarm or take a note.

Here is an early look at our new watch. Tell us what you think.



Sign up to keep up with the latest on Moto 360.

Posted by Cathay Bi, Product Marketing

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And the winner of the Moto 360 Design Face-Off is…

After 1300 submissions, the people have spoken!

Putting you in the design seat, the Moto 360 Design Face-Off competition invited consumers, designers and developers alike to dream up their own unique face for our new watch, Moto 360. 

Ten finalists were selected by an experienced judging panel, who combed through every single entry to find the best-of-the-best, taking design aesthetic, originality and feasibility into consideration. Our panel was impressed by how beautiful, intricate and original all 1300 designs were.

Congratulations to our top 10 finalists: Tyler Allicock, Jose Azua, Layton Diament, Pawel Hanusowski, Dave McCarthy, Aramis Negron, David Pascual, Will Rodriguez, Paul Stringer, and Jason Wang.

From the top 10, we put the fate of the design in your hands, and as determined by the most +1’s, we are excited to announce David Pascual as the winner of the Moto 360 Design Face-Off! 

He wins one of the very first Moto 360s and the chance for his design to be featured on the watch. 

Well done, David, and thank you to each one of the participants - you inspired us with your creativity, insights and zeal.

For other Moto 360 designs, visit the G+ community. To learn more about Moto 360, sign-up for updates.

Posted by Motorola

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The Download: GOAL! Behind the Scenes of Our New Soccer Startup Animation

At Motorola, we are here to bring people together by connecting them to each other wherever they are. And for one summer every four years, the world comes together for the game of soccer (football, for some)—and what better reason to celebrate?

So when you’re not busy at home watching soccer (perhaps even using our new home mode in Motorola Assist, which we launched last week), check out our new soccer startup animation, which we rolled out Tuesday to Moto X, Moto G, and Moto E globally.

We wanted users everywhere to connect with our animation, so we decided to spotlight the different types of fields where people can play soccer across the world. After all, unlike other sports, you don’t need specific wood courts or tennis stadiums or 100 yards of grass. You just need yourself, a ball, and a wide open space, whether grass, concrete, asphalt, or packed dirt.

Taking our users to the various soccer fields—from dirt lots, to school practice fields, to concrete back alleys, to official turf in Brazil—meant creating four different globes in addition to the ball in a 3D computer environment—which we manually rotated to capture the finished story.

And thus our final animation was born:



The animation started rolling out Tuesday, but if you haven’t received it yet on your Moto X, Moto G, or Moto E, be sure to download the latest Motorola Boot Services and restart your phone. We hope you like it.

Posted by Meet Jariwala, Motorola Boot Services Product Manager

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