Tag Archives: personalization

Meet Moto X, the smartphone designed by you and assembled in the USA

On top of the three new Droids detailed last week, Motorola–a Google company!–dropped another new smartphone into consumers’ laps. While the 2013 Droids are Verizon Wireless exclusives, the newly announced Moto X is coming to all major U.S. carriers. What also sets the Moto X apart from its cousins is that it’s highly customizable in the looks department. Motorola is developing a website called Moto Maker that will allow customers to personalize their handsets before ordering them. Specifically, prospective buyers will be able to select from a wide range of colors to paint the back plate and accents of the phone; Moto claims over 2,000 combinations are possible. The front plate, meanwhile, can be made black or white. Additionally you can add a signature to the back of the device. Internally, you can customize the memory (16GB or 32GB) and even set a personal wake-up message and wallpaper before it ships to your door. Before checkout, you can also choose a case, matching headphones by Sol Republic, and a wall charger featuring two USB ports to boot.

Sadly, yes, there is one catch. All of this exciting customization (as well as the option to upgrade memory to 32GB) through Moto Maker is exclusive to AT&T customers. Verizon Wireless, Sprint, T-Mobile, and US Cellular customers will have to choose from a stock black or white handset. Lame! Since Moto X’s specs and Android functionalities are so similar to that of the 2013 Droids’, the Moto Maker personalization is this device’s major selling point. The fact that it won’t be available to all carriers is downright disappointing.

The Moto X sports a 4.7 inch AMOLED 720p (316 ppi) display and is powered by Android 4.2.2 running on Motorola’s X8 mobile computing system. There’s a 10MP shooter on the rear and a 2MP front-facing one and they both support 1080p video capture. A 2200mAh battery promises “mixed usage” up to 24 hours. The most fascinating bit about the Moto X’s design is that it’s the first smartphone to be wholly manufactured in the United States. After you customize your phone through Moto Maker, it will be shipped to you within four days direct from an assembly line in Ft. Worth, Texas.

Software-wise, the latest version of Android Jelly Bean brings the following to Moto X: Touchless Control (say “Ok Google Now…” to wake up the device and perform a function), Active Display (the device will intermittently reveal important information (i.e. the time, new notifications) without you having to press to the wake up button), and Quick Capture (with two twists of your wrist you can access the camera to shoot stills or video).

Moto X is coming to the US, Canada, and Latin America in late August/early September at $199. AT&T subscribers can upgrade to a 32GB model for an extra $50. Click after the break to watch the Moto Maker experience and see the Moto X in action. Continue reading Meet Moto X, the smartphone designed by you and assembled in the USA

Twitter embraces filters, more profile personalization

Twitter is imitating its competition–namely Instagram, duh!–by giving its users the ability to place a variety of filters on top of photos. At launch a total of eight filters, “ranging from black & white to vintage,” are available to play around with. You can see how each filter affects a single image at once, or you can swipe through each one full-size. In addition to filters, the latest update to the app also brings auto-enhance and cropping for photographers looking to tweak their images on the go. Download Twitter in the App Store and Google Play today.

In related news, the character-limiting social networking company is introducing a new way to further personalize your profile page. Since Twitter’s inception users have been able to upload a profile picture and a background image for desktop tweeters to see. Now there’s a third option thrown into the mix: header photos. Now you can choose an image to display on your profile page that exists above your timeline and behind your profile picture. If you choose not to upload one, a static grey rectangle will house your profile picture, name, handle, about info, location, and website. To add a header photo, go to Settings, Profile. Once put in place, like your profile picture it will be viewable on mobile devices as well as the desktop interface. This was initially introduced in September, but as of December 12 it has rolled out to all users. So have at it!

Jump after the break to view two cartoony clips that explore Twitters new announcements.

[Via Twitter 1, 2] Continue reading Twitter embraces filters, more profile personalization

Google makes homepage customizable with background images

You may have noticed the addition of a new link in the bottom left-hand corner of Google’s homepage.  Last week Google introduced the ability to customize the background of its homepage, “making your search experience more relevant, useful and fun through personalization.”  Put another way, they must have picked up on the success of competitor Bing’s background offerings and decided to give its users a similar option.  You can set your background image from your computer, your own Picasa Web Album, or a public gallery hosted by Picasa after logging into your Google account.  Now that the feature has rolled out internationally, Google feels the need to “inspire” its users to personalize by featuring a selection of well-known artists, sculptors and photographers on all Google homepages for the next 24 hours.  The collection includes works from Dale Chihuly, Jeff Koons, Tom Otterness, Polly Apfelbaum, Kengo Kuma (隈研吾), Kwon, Ki-soo (권기수) and Tord Boontje, and photos from Yann Arthus-Bertrand and National Geographic.  Inspired yet?

Update: Google took down the featured images earlier than expected.  Hello good ol’ minimalism.

[Via GoogleBlog, here & here]