Tuesday, February 18, 2014

The Download: KitKat Sweetness Comes to Moto G in India

It’s been an exhilarating few weeks for our team, and it’s hard to believe that it was just days ago that we launched Moto G in India. We promised that we would deliver KitKat quickly, and today we’re thrilled to share that we were able to start rolling out that update within a day of making the commitment. It’s official: Moto G phones in India are now being updated to Android, KitKat 4.4.2. This very latest build brings a number of cool, new features to Moto G, like an improved phone dialer, new photo editing options in the Gallery app, the ability to print documents and photos, and more. For more information, check out the release notes and our updates page.

We know that super fast updates like these are important to our users, and we’re more committed than ever to keep releasing them. Keep watching as we continue to update our software experiences quickly and continuously just as we have been. Your phone will just keep getting better.

Check out some of the other software enhancements we’ve been releasing. Here’s the latest Download:

Getting in the New Zap Zone - Our latest update to Droid Zap allows all Android users to quickly and easily share pictures with others who are nearby. It also introduces a brand new app feature, Zap Zone, that allows any Droid user to get in the party mood and automatically share with any Android friends who have joined their Zone.

We’ve Moving to Github! - By popular request, we are now hosting our kernel sources on Github instead of Sourceforge. Developers, rejoice! Our first release on GitHub is the Moto G Play Store Edition kernel sources. We’ll continue to host kernel sources released before January 10, 2014 on Sourceforge, and moving forward all new kernel sources will be hosted on Github. Check out our new Motorola developer resource page.

More KitKat Treats - More KitKat for more people! In addition to KitKat for Moto G in India, we’re rolling out the latest Android KitKat version for Moto X on T-Mobile, Moto X on U.S. Cellular, and Moto G on Verizon, our first splash with 4.4.2 in North America. For more information, check out our updates page

We can’t wait to show you more in the coming days and months. Please keep sharing with us your thoughts and feedback at on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook. Your thoughts are key as we continue to launch and iterate quickly.

Posted by Steve Horowitz, SVP, Software

Thursday, February 13, 2014

My Departure From Motorola

At the end of March I will step down from my post as CEO at Motorola Mobility to join Dropbox as COO. This was not an easy decision to make, but I leave knowing that Motorola is in great hands - now and in the future.

In the last 18 months, Motorolans have built two of the company’s best loved phones ever, introduced customization to the industry, brought unprecedented quality and performance to a value-priced smartphone, and created experiences that changed how people use and interact with their smartphones.

It was a reinvention the likes of which many 85-year-old brands could not have achieved. And it was astonishing to be a part of.

I'm excited about what the next chapter in Motorola's storied history will bring under the new ownership of Lenovo. While Google imbued simplicity and software sensibility into the company, Lenovo will bring it the scale it deserves. I have no doubt the two companies together will be a force for good in the mobile industry

To ensure that Motorola maintains its current momentum and successfully transitions to Lenovo ownership, Jonathan Rosenberg, a longtime Googler and SVP of Products from 2002 to 2011, will step in as COO at Motorola Mobility as of April 1. Jonathan worked very closely with me to build the leadership team at Motorola and has been intimately involved in steering business and product decisions alongside with the current leadership team. Google Chief Business Officer Nikesh Arora will remain Executive Chairman of the Motorola Operating Board, and continue to oversee the strategy.

With their support, the entire Motorola management team remains focused on our current strategy and on creating great mobile devices that deliver the mobile Internet to millions more people around the world.

That's something we can all rally behind.


Sincerely,
Dennis Woodside