First, and most importantly, Motorola Mobility isn’t going away. In fact, just last August Motorola Mobility assumed a much more central role in Lenovo’s smartphone business. As a wholly owned subsidiary, we remain the engineering, design and manufacturing engine for all of the Mobile Business Group’s smartphones and wearables. Motorola’s engineering heritage is hugely important to this effort, and that isn’t going to change.

But brands do have to evolve, and ours has been evolving for some time. Over the years, we have made font and color changes, and more recently we made the strategic decision to focus on “Moto” as our primary product brand. “Moto” is synonymous with Motorola, and it conveys the Motorola brand to consumers in a contemporary and engaging way. That wasn't the only thing that evolved -- the iconic batwing was static blue or red for many years, and we made it fun and colorful. That symbol, which has come to represent the “Moto” brand, continues to play a prominent role, and will remain on our products and in our marketing.

Now, as we have to think more holistically about our entire smartphone portfolio, we’ve made the decision to focus our marketing efforts on “Moto” and “Vibe” as our hero smartphone product brands globally. At the same time we are not abandoning the iconic Motorola brand. Although it will not be the focus of our marketing, it will continue to be used on packaging and elsewhere, so as to ensure that the rich history and association is never lost. The legacy and the goodwill associated with the Motorola brand will also live on through our licensees.

We also will now use the Lenovo brand to the fullest as we participate in one of the most competitive businesses in the world. Lenovo was recognized last October as one of Interbrand’s top 100 global brands. We are one of the few technology companies that can offer people a complete PC + tablet + smartphone experience and we see that as a major competitive advantage.

This latest move is all about where we focus our brand marketing efforts in the future. That will be on our two hero smartphone brands: Moto and Vibe, with the Lenovo corporate brand tying all of our consumer and commercial products together more holistically.

The Motorola legacy is near and dear to us as product designers, engineers and Motorola employees, and clearly it’s important to many of you who have had long relationships with us. We plan to continue it under our parent company, Lenovo.

We challenged Schude to capture 21 moments in a single shot using the 21 MP camera on his Moto X while choreographing more than 60 people doing what they love. The result is what we’re calling “21 in 1.” Behind each of the 21 moments is a story, some of which have connective threads with others, told in video shorts. Taken with the Moto X Pure Edition, the image highlights the power of the top-rated camera and creatively demonstrates the phone’s ability to enable you to do more of what you love. Take a behind-the-scenes journey of the planning, preparation and final product of Schude’s “21 in 1”:

With built-in GPS, heart rate monitoring and a music player, Moto 360 Sport has all the tools you need to hit the road and push for your personal best or just free your hands up to do more important things.

• Designed for sport. Built to last: Push yourself to the limit without worrying about your watch. Strong silicone construction doesn’t absorb sweat and resists fading or staining, while side ventilation channels help you stay cool.
• Built-in GPS keeps you going: Moto 360 Sport has built-in GPS that works seamlessly with Moto Body to measure your performance. Track your distance traveled, pace, lap times and more. There’s no need to carry your phone to know exactly how you’re doing.
• Popular fitness apps¹: Moto 360 Sport works seamlessly with Android™ fitness apps including MapMyRun®, Under Armour Record™, Strava, Google Fit and Fitbit™. Moto Body records your workout data and syncs with these apps, so your exercise history is always up to date.
• Heart rate at a glance: Continuously track your heart rate during a run to monitor your performance. And with Moto Body, measure the time you spend in different heart rate zones to make sure you’re achieving your fitness goals².
• Brilliant, indoors and out: Motorola AnyLight is the world’s first hybrid display that lets you see things clearly both indoors and out. Indoors, it works like any beautiful LCD screen. Step outside and it reflects natural sunlight, making the screen easy to read.
• Better view. All the way around: On a watch face, every millimeter counts. The classic round design of Moto 360 Sport features edge-to-edge glass and an exceptionally thin bezel, giving you the most viewing area in the least amount of space.
• Wear it for life: Moto 360 Sport gives you the power of Android Wear™, so you can keep up with your entire life, not just your workouts. Read Gmail messages and calendar invites, reply to friends on WhatsApp, get up-to-the-minute traffic and weather reports, and so much more of what matters to you all while staying in the zone.
• Music on the move: Sync your favorite playlists and podcasts from Google Play™ Music with your Moto 360 Sport, then listen to music on your run or at the gym without taking your phone along for the ride.
• Just a little coaching: Receive spontaneous notifications throughout the day that keep you informed, up to date and inspired. Plus get a weekly email summarizing your progress, or even more detailed information using the Moto Body phone app.
• All day battery. Even with Always On: The new Moto 360 Sport gives you better battery life than ever before. Now with Always On, the time is constantly visible and the battery still lasts an entire day³.

Moto 360 Sport will be available in the UK and France starting December 18. In the U.S., you can start your New Year’s resolutions off right and get your Moto 360 Sport for $299 beginning January 7 on Motorola.com and at select other online retailers. On January 10, look for Moto 360 Sport in Best Buy stores nationwide and our Moto Shop in downtown Chicago. Moto 360 Sport will also be available in Brazil, Canada, China, Mexico and Spain in the new year.

For more information visit www.moto360sport.com.

¹Not compatible with iPhone.
²All activity measurements and calculations are estimates. Accuracy is affected by various factors including physiology, location of device, and different movements.
³ All battery life claims are approximate, and will vary based on usage and settings.

The collection will be available for pre-order at Motorola.com/JonathanAdler beginning November 24, and will officially go on sale December 3 for $474.99 (32GB). To help round out the rest of your shopping list, we asked Jonathan to share his top holiday gifting tips for the style-obsessed friends and family in your life.

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Hey Moto fans, it’s Jonathan Adler here! I’m excited to be collaborating with Motorola. Like them, when I approach design, I encourage self-expression and ignoring the “rules” - and, I’m obsessed with my phone. So, why not embrace more choice when it comes to phone design? We all deserve phones as stylish as we are.

I’m sure many of you are thinking about your holiday gifting, so here are my tips for selecting the perfect gift for the design lover in your life.

• Make it Personal: Give a gift that appeals to everyone's favorite person: themselves. Even the least vain person in your orbit won't say no to a cozy baby Alpaca throw with their initials on it. Soft, squishy and luxurious -– what could be better?
• Think Outside the Gift Box: One of the best gifts I give myself every year is a trip to Capri each summer. If you're gifting a trip, try to find a little something for the recipient to open in advance – our Jet Set candles are available in squillions of scents and locales and provide an olfactory preview of your trip.
• Be Unexpected: I think good gifts are any combination of the following: super thoughtful, super premium or super unique. I love the idea of taking something utilitarian that you use every day and jazzing it up – just like I did with my new designs for Moto X Pure Edition. If it's going to be in your hand 24/7, might as well make it chic and unique.
• Bow & Go: I strive to make products with packaging that's as beautiful as what's inside. Just bow and go; when you're not spending an eternity wrapping it, you’ll have more time to devour the hors d'oeuvres at a holiday party.
• Give Good Game: I love to give games, and not just because I'm a super competitive person. If the conversation ever starts to lag at a holiday party you can just whip out a game and vanquish your boring seat mate at a round of backgammon.

Happy shopping!

Jonathan Adler

Shop Moto X Pure Edition designed by Jonathan Adler.

Think about all the instances when you’ve placed your phone’s needs before your own -- the times you’ve found yourself crawling on dirty floors looking for an outlet to charge from, jumping out of bed in the middle of the night because your phone rings or chimes, or sticking your hand in a toilet because it slipped out of your pocket at precisely the wrong time. We sleep with them, eat with them, even shower with them. And do we need to mention the heartbreak felt when they’re dead, lost or worse, shattered by an accidental drop?

#PhoneLove is the intense and many times irrational relationships people have with their smartphones.

This isn’t bad, it’s simply true. To prove it, Ashton Kutcher conducted a series of real-world social experiments to see what happens when people are forced to choose between themselves and their phones. The purpose of these experiments is simple: to prove that people care about their phones more than they realize, but those phones aren't always loving them back.

Check out people being put to the test to see just how long they can go without touching their phones in this first #PhoneLove experiment:

At Moto, we believe you deserve a better mobile relationship with your phone. One that is reciprocal and two way. Unobtrusive, yet intuitive. Supportive, but not co-dependent. Where all the care and devotion you show is returned.

We’ll continue to share Ashton’s #PhoneLove experiments in the coming weeks to test this theory further. In the meantime, we want to hear about your cases of #PhoneLove on social! For better or for worse.

Explore #PhoneLove.

So when it came time to develop a new startup animation -- the animated Motorola logo that appears on your display when you turn your phone on -- we approached renowned product designer Peter Crawley, best known for his “Stitched Illustrations,” in which he hand-pierces paper with a pin, and then stitches it with a needle and cotton thread, resulting in pieces of art that you can almost feel just by looking at them. This felt like a perfect match with our innovative design spirit at Motorola.

“I knew from the start that I wanted the finished piece to have a real tactile feel to it -- for the customer to be able to see the texture and natural qualities of the paper and thread,” Crawley explains. “We played a lot with the existing Motorola color palettes, but felt that the blues and yellow used would not only work best with the screens but also really highlight the textures of the natural materials. The paper stock is sourced from a traditional English paper mill and is usually used for watercolor paintings, but it had such a great texture that is acts as a rich canvas for my work, too.”

So how does a primarily visual artist make the jump into digital animation? Check out the video below to get a behind-the-scenes look at the making of our new “Stitch” boot-up.

“It was the first time I had worked on an animation of this type, but the animation team was very experienced in this space and did a fantastic job in pulling together the concept and making the final piece exactly what we envisaged,” adds Crawley. “Seeing my work come to life in this way is really rewarding, but knowing it will be in people's hands all over the world is absolutely amazing.”

Look for "Stitch" on your Motorola device soon. For details on when upgrades will be coming to you, please refer to our software upgrade page for the latest and specifics by country, or follow G+ posts of our release announcements.​

Today, it's starting to roll out on the retail 2015 Moto X Style (3rd Gen) in both Brazil and India, and on the retail 2014 Moto X (2nd Gen) in Brazil retail.