Google kicked off its new Google Play Edition program earlier this year by announcing a stock Android version of the Samsung Galaxy S4. It was quickly followed up by a Google Play Edition HTC One. Other manufacturers are also rumoured to be considering such variants of their flagship smartphones. Among them are Huawei with its Ascend P6 and Sony with their Xperia Z. It also appears that Motorola will take the plunge with their just announced Motorola Moto X.
Like the other smartphones in the program, the Google Play Edition Moto X will run a stock version of Android. While the Moto X has not heavily customized the user interface, it has added features like Touchless Control, Active Display and Quick Capture. It is not clear at this point whether these would be included or not. It also remains to be seen if Google would support customization via Motomaker for this variant once the program expands beyond AT&T.
But there would also be advantages to such a device. Based on the speed that Android 4.3 updates rolled out to the current Google Play Edition devices, such a Moto X variant would likely see upgrades far more quickly than those offered by carriers. It would also come unlocked and without the bloatware that carriers typically saddle their devices with.
It’s not clear when the Google Play Edition Moto X will go on sale. Pricing also remains a mystery. Would Google subsidize it the way it does the Nexus 4? As much as we would like to see that, we suspect that Google may decide to only subsidize Nexus devices, especially as it does not want to be seen to give Motorola any preferential treatment.
Source : The Verge