The Moto E is Motorola’s latest smartphone, priced at just $129 unlocked. Outside of the Nexus program and the rumored Android Silver initiative, Motorola is the one manufacturer who seems dead serious about offering consumers an Android software experience that is closely aligned with Google’s vision of the operating system. Starting with the Moto X, the company made a decision to remove a large percentage of manufacturer code from their software builds. What they found was a nimble operating system that didn’t need the latest and greatest processor in order to provide for a great experience. Features in the Moto X were incremental. They were far from bloatware, instead building in options that really resonate with customers. In the Moto E, their best selling device to date, they delicately removed some of the higher end features. The removal was offset by value, with a $200 price point that did not require a contract. Last month, the company set out to prove they could go even lower. Did they make too many compromises or will the Moto E redefine expectations of what you can expect from a $129 smartphone? Okay, the title of our Moto E review is a bit of a spoiler, but read why this phone succeeds.
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Will HTC end up the biggest loser this summer?
Android is hotter than ever. Google has made tremendous strides in the OS with the release of Android 2.1 and the forthcoming Android 2.2 Froyo release. There’s plenty of talk about how fragmentation is hurting Google, but a bigger issue that’s hurting adoption of the platform has been the inability of carriers to keep popular phones in stock. Both phones, the Droid Incredible and HTC EVO 4G, are both manufactured by HTC. With the Droid X coming, will HTC be the biggest loser in the Android wars this summer?
