We asked a professional videographer at 9th Ave Studio in Hawaii to take a Moto X out to shoot time-lapses and this was the beautiful result:



Want to make the most of your Moto X camera? Here are some other cool built-in camera tricks:

• Take a short cut and open your Camera quickly. Use Quick Capture by simply twisting your wrist twice to launch your Camera app and never miss a shot.
• Add some drama with 120 fps slow-motion.
• Get the full effect with a panorama shot. Select panorama mode by opening by swiping right from the left edge of your screen.
• Save some time by using Recommended Shot which helps you choose the best picture.
• Take a selfie out of arm’s reach. Just call to your Moto X using your voice trigger and say, “Take a selfie.”
• Store and easily share your photos from the cleanly designed Gallery app.
• Backup your photos and videos automatically to Google Drive, so you don't need to worry about losing your memories.

What are your favorite Moto X videos and camera tips? Share them with us on our Google+, Twitter, or Facebook, using the hashtag #MyMotoX.

“When we were designing this new generation of Moto E, we went back to consumers who bought the first generation,” said Kristin Arnold, one of our consumer researchers. “We really listened to what they liked about the phone and how we could make this affordable device even more useful to them and more powerful.”

For instance, we heard you like taking pictures—selfies to be specific. So we added a front facing camera and, for the first time, we brought one of our most popular experiences on the Moto X to the new Moto E.

“Quick Capture has been one of the most popular features we have on Moto X. So we decided to bring it to Moto E, too. It’s just one more way we are able to bring our premium innovation into a smartphone that doesn’t break the bank,” said Michelle Gattuso, product management director.

There’s more than just Quick Capture, too. The new Moto E is engineered to include dual accelerometers that enable some of the most popular features found on Moto X. We included Moto Display and Motorola Assist. With Moto Display, the Moto E will stay dark until you nudge it or get a notification, so you can stay up on top of things with just a subtle glance. And with Motorola Assist’s Sleep Mode and Meeting Mode, you can tell Moto E when you don’t want to be bothered.

A phone is more than just what is inside of it. It’s also about how it looks and feels. The Moto E has a curved back, ergonomically designed to fit perfectly in your hand and not bend in your back pocket. You can also choose a soft touch finish on the black Moto E for a more comfortable feel and better grip.

And we sweated the small stuff.

“We embrace authentic materials and focus on even the tiniest design details, like the elegant spin finish around the camera bezel and texture on the buttons. This kind of attention to detail creates a premium look you usually see in more expensive devices,” said SangSoo Park, a designer for Moto E.

And we always want to give you the ability to personalize the device with customizable colors to fit your style. You can choose from among six colorful Motorola Bands that are easy to swap out. Not only are these patented bands designed to look great, but they also feature a unique ridged pattern which provides an even better grip.

Our President Rick Osterloh said it best, “We designed the Moto E with the idea that people shouldn’t have to pay a lot to join the connected world and experience it at its best. So we did what other companies weren’t doing with their affordable devices. We packed in great design, great engineering and great software. We’re also providing great customer service and software updates that continue long after you buy the phone. Now that’s real bang for the buck. And that’s what makes Moto E different. ”

Hear Rick share more about what it’s like creating experiences in a round space, instead of a square one.


What else is new in software this week?

• Hot off the presses is an update to Motorola Camera that brings you a remote shutter for Android Wear watches, so you can trigger a shot from your wrist. It also brings numerous performance improvements and bug fixes across Motorola products. We’ve now had over 1 billion shots captured by Moto G users and will continue to bring improvements to our customers!
• Motorola Assist was updated with important bug fixes for Talk to Me and Drive Mode. FM Radio has been updated on Moto E and Moto G to provide lockscreen controls and to support playback to Bluetooth speakers.
• Motorola Connect and the Motorola Connect Chrome extension have been updated to improve stability and support emoji (Chrome extension).

Hope you enjoy. Let us know what you think.

Posted by Lior Ron, Product

So we asked Miguel for some of his favorite tips for taking photos on Moto X. Here are his top five:

1. Clean the camera lens. Sounds simple, but it’s more important than you think!
2. Set the camera to HDR mode. This will make your photo look even more vibrant. The feature works especially well for scenes without motion. 
3. Manually adjust the exposure to create the desired look. You can turn on “Control Focus and Exposure” in Camera settings. Drag the circle to highlight your subject and the focus and lighting will adjust accordingly.
4. Prop up the camera. Use two hands or find something stable to set it on.
5. Never take just one photo. Take a few to make sure you have a good selection to choose from.

Miguel’s biggest tip? “Just experiment with those things and hopefully these tips, as simple and obvious as they may seem, can help others take better photographs,” he says.

Thanks for the tips, Miguel! 

How about you? Try these tips out and let us know what you think! What are your secrets to taking a great shot on your phone?

Posted by Noelle Chun, Motorola Social Media Team

Get It Together with Assist - Motorola Assist helps you out when you’re busy—reading messages aloud while you’re driving, helping you sleep in peace, and more. The app’s meeting mode, in particular, knows when you’re busy based on your calendar and silences calls when you don’t want to be bothered. With this new update to Assist, you can choose what calendars you want to use with meeting mode. So if it’s OK to be interrupted during your workout schedule but not OK to be interrupted during meetings and family time—you can make the choice.

Get Help in One Place - New to Google Play is our Help app, formerly called Moto Care. With Motorola Help, you can learn all about your phone in one place and get easy access to real people at Motorola Customer Care when you need to. Pro tip: When you register your phone at http://www.motorola.com/support, you can get personalized tips and protect your phone if lost.

Enhanced Active Display - We’ve squashed some bugs! Motorola Active Display now runs more smoothly.

It’s still early in the year. We have a lot to do! We hope you like this set of updates. Please let us know what you think of our latest on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook.

Posted by Punit Soni, Product Management

What better way to kick off The Download—a regular feature that gives you the scoop on the many software updates we are rapidly cranking out. In addition to the roll out of KitKat on Moto G, our software team has been busy as elves in a workshop shipping new features for you.

Here’s the latest Download, issue 1:

Android KitKat Comes to Moto G - Our KitKat family is expanding! When we launched Moto G last month, we committed to delivering Android, KitKat, to devices by early 2014. We are thrilled to start delivering on that promise early. Starting today, we are rolling out Android 4.4.2 to Moto G phones bought on Motorola.com or Amazon.com in the U.S. KitKat will come to other Moto G carriers and regions soon as well. This latest version of Android brings some cool new features, including printing emails and photos from your phone. Read our release notes for detailed information.

This update continues our effort to get our users the latest Android software as fast as humanly possible. We began by pushing KitKat out to Moto X users on Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile, just weeks after Google announced the new OS—and our most recent expansion over the past few weeks includes Moto X on US Cellular and Sprint and DROID ULTRA, DROID MAXX, and DROID MINI. We also started to roll out the software in Brazil for retail devices. More carriers and regions will follow very soon.

For more information on KitKat and deployment on Motorola devices, check out our software upgrades page.

Enhanced Touchless Control - With our latest update to this feature, customers who use a device PIN to lock their phone can use Touchless Control without entering the PIN first. Don’t worry—no personal information is divulged without a PIN. And, you can also use your voice to enter your PIN. Go to the Google Play Store for more information.

Spreading Holiday Cheer - We’re getting into the holiday spirit! Turn your Moto X running KitKat off and on—and experience a little cheer with our new start-up animation. For those with a Moto G, download the Motorola Boot Services application from the Google Play Store to take part in the animated holiday tidings.

More Camera Goodness for Moto G and DROID - We’re taking the latest Camera features on Moto X on KitKat and making them available for Moto G, DROID MINI, DROID MAXX, and DROID ULTRA. This brings some enhancements photographers will love—such as Drag to Focus and Expose (manual exposure and focus with just a touch), locking exposure during Panoramic shots, and additional language support. Check out the Google Play Store for more information.

Improved Active Display - We’ve squashed some bugs! Active Display—battery-friendly notifications that fade in and out when the phone display is off—is now optimized for KitKat and works better than ever. It’s all part of our mission to listen to our users and iterate quickly. Go to the Google Play Store for more information.

More Kernel Sources! - Over the last few weeks, we released the Android 4.3, Jelly Bean kernel source for Moto G, and yesterday we released Android 4.4, KitKat kernel source for Moto X. Enjoy your custom ROMs!

The Download - Yeah, that is pretty recursive if you ask me. But our last big feature is a regular software blog which provides you with the latest on all the cool, shiny, new features and upgrades that are headed your way. Subscribe in the upper right column to stay up to date on the latest.

The last few months have been quite a wild ride. We are working hard to continually improve the experience on Motorola devices and look forward to hearing from you. Your feedback will be heard and acted on. Feel free to comment here or on our profiles on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook.

Posted by Punit Soni, Product Management

The world is full of lazy phones. Phones that blink at you most of the day and sleep the rest. These phones make you do all the work.

That’s why Moto X was built with one thing in mind - you. It responds to you...it does things for you...it’s designed by you.

Want information? It pulses with what’s important at a glance. Want to get directions, search the web, call a friend? Just talk and it responds to your voice – no touching necessary. Want Moto X to match the colors of your favorite kicks or sports team? Design it that way yourself.

Moto X is all about you and it’s all about choice. That choice includes the wireless carrier you want.

Moto X is now available in the US at AT&T, Sprint, U.S. Cellular, Verizon Wireless - and starting today - T-Mobile via Motorola.com. If you’d like to create a phone that’s uniquely yours through Moto Maker, the design experience is currently available with AT&T.

Outside the US, Moto X is also on-sale at Rogers in Canada, Claro in Puerto Rico, Vivo in Brazil, and at Movistar in Chile (also available at Claro in Chile later this week). Additionally, we’ll be announcing more availability across Latin America shortly.

In the meantime, check out Moto Match, our new Facebook and real-life Booth Experience. Moto Match uses color detection technology to create a Moto X based on your style.

On Facebook, Moto Match is the first phone configurator that allows you to use Facebook photos to quickly and easily create a customized Moto X that truly reflects your personal style. Simply choose a favorite pic from your Facebook timeline, and the app will do the rest by identifying the photo’s most prominent colors and creating Moto X to match. You can create as many designs as you like and share them with your friends, not only on Facebook but Pinterest too.



In the Moto Match Booth (below), fashionistas step in and the screen recognizes what you're wearing, then picks a Moto X to match your look. You can then personalize the photo with your signature and email the image to share with your friends or purchase it later.