Earlier this year we knew there was a new Android smartphone coming, although not much was known at the time. We were not sure of its name, as many of us were calling it the Motorola X Phone, while others called in the Google X Phone, as it was a collaboration with Motorola and Google. However, we now know for certain that it will be called the Moto X, but that’s all we know.

Moto X Phone specs – All that we have suggested in the past has been mere rumors, but we had assumed it would be a high-end smartphone capable of taking on the Galaxy S4 and the next-gen iPhone, as well as the HTC One. However, if what we are now hearing is true, then the Moto X Phone could be a fail because the latest rumors suggest the specs are mediocre at best.

We say this because the Moto X hardware could consist of a 1.7GHz dual-core processor, 2GB of RAM and just 16GB of internal storage. In the tweet that leaked these details it also suggests a 10-megapixel camera and a less than impressive 720p display.

Moto X Phone Android version – We had first assumed this to be Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie, but following Google I/O last month we expected it would be Android 4.3 instead. However, that same tweet is now suggesting Android 4.2.2 instead, which we have to say would be rather disappointing.

It had been assumed that the new handset from Motorola would be treated like the Nexus range, and would have the latest version available to them, but Google has since said that they will treat Motorola like they would any other manufacturer, which at first seems strange, but then this would only anger those partners committed to Nexus. Then again, look at the Galaxy S4 and HTC One, as there are bare versions of these.

If the upcoming Moto X Phone is released with sub-par specifications, do you think this would be a fail for them, as they would get lost in the sea of mid-range smartphones?

Having already ascertained that Apple’s next-gen Mac Pro for 2014 will be assembled in the USA, many of us assumed that it would be Foxconn who would get the gig, but this might not be the case because according to an analyst, they believe that Apple will partner with Flextronics instead.

This is not the first time that such a rumor has presented itself, and so we have to start considering the prospect that Flextronics will be behind the Made in USA Mac Pro. However, that is not the most interesting thing, because if this news from Apple Insider were the real deal, then the 2014 Mac Pro would share the same production facilities as the Moto X Phone, or the Google X Phone as it is more commonly known.

Questions are being asked as to why Apple decided to go with the new Mac Pro to be assembled in the USA rather than one of their other products, and the most obvious reason is because of low volume. However, the plant is geared up to handle big volumes, especially when you consider the Moto X will be assembled there, although demand for that product will be nothing like it is for one of Apple’s iOS devices.

Speaking of the Motorola X Phone, or Moto X now, we find it strange how Motorola made the smartphone official, but has not shared any information in regards to its hardware. Over the months we have reported on conflicting reports, such as this being the ultimate smartphone, to it being just a mid-range device – personally I’d go with something in-between.

We say this because Motorola has the backing of Google now and needs to prove they have what it takes to regain some of the market share they once held, and releasing just a mid-range device is not the way to do this. However, the Moto X could be a new range like the Galaxy range, and so could offer a variety of new smartphones to cater for different markets?

We’re almost halfway through 2013, and already we have seen several decent smartphones released, such as the HTC One, Samsung Galaxy S4, and the LG Optimus G Pro, along with several others. The next half of the year is expected to be pretty much the same, as we expect to see the Nexus 5, Moto (Google) X Phone and the rumored iPhone 6, though it’s more than likely going to be the 5S model – although Apple could surprise us this year.

If the new iPhone was just going to be a minor upgrade to the current version, then sales will still be very impressive, but the technology inside will be a different story, as the other two Android handsets will have far better specs – well that’s the theory. However, let’s say that the iPhone 6 was going to be released later this year, then how will these three smartphones stand up against each other, in what could be the Clash of the Titans?

Nexus 5 – With the success of the Nexus 4, we had assumed that it would be LG working closely with Google once again, but the South Korean phone maker has ruled themselves out. LG states that they have not fallen out with Google, but just wanted to work on their own flagship products instead. However, we cannot help think the stock shambles has played a small part in this separation.

As you would imagine, when it comes to the Nexus 5 specs it’s all guesswork, although the possibility of a flexible plastic display is very high, considering LG has already said they will have a new handset with a flexible display on the market by the end of the year. Several rumors do suggest that the hardware will be rather special in the Nexus 5, which we explained in more detail here.

Moto X Phone – We’ve discussed what some of you have been calling the Google X Phone for a while now, so it’s finally nice to learn that the handset has been made official during D11 and will now be known as the Moto X and not the Motorola X Phone, which we discussed in more detail a couple of days ago. We assumed that the smartphone that is expected to help change the fortunes of Motorola would have been announced during Google’s I/O event last month, but that was not to be.

As you would expect, there has been a great deal of speculation as to what those all-important Moto X specs will be, and we do have a few ideas.

iPhone 6 – okay, so we know that it is wishful thinking that Apple will release a radical new iPhone for 2013, especially after Tim Cook said they will not be pressured into releasing a new product when they are not ready. However, let’s say that they do, what can Apple do to help get them back on top?

The easiest suggestion would be for them to launch two models, one a premium model and the second a low-cost model made from polycarbonate. However, we recently discussed the possibility that Apple would not need to go down the route of plastic, as they could use highly recyclable aluminum, which would also be cheaper than the material Apple currently uses.

One thing we do know, if Apple were to release the iPhone 6 this year, then it needs to offer some truly radical specs, as Apple is starting to be left behind. It’s very well Tim Cook saying they will make the changes their users want when they are ready, but this could lead them down a slippery slope.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been an Apple man for years, and have had an iPhone from the start, and also own an iPad, MacBook Air, iMac and an Apple TV, but even I have started to become disillusioned with how they have allowed their rivals to do a far better job with the evolution of their products, especially Samsung. Okay, they may not be the best built devices, but most of us much prefer the tech rather than the the materials used on the outside, after all, most of us end up using a case anyway.

So if all three are released this year, which of the three will come out on top in terms of radical new features?

It has been a long time coming, but at last we can finally say that the Motorola X phone or the Google X phone whatever you want to call it, is a real thing. Motorola’s CEO confirmed the news everyone had been waiting to hear at D11 this week, also confirming that the device will officially be known as the ‘Moto X’.

The Moto X will indeed be the company’s new Android flagship device that has been keeping the rumor mill churning these past months and we’re pleased to hear straight from the horse’s mouth that the Moto X will be a ‘broadly distributed’ device. That is a key piece of information to digest, as it dispels any such speculation that the Moto X could have ended up a Verizon exclusive, due to the company’s past exclusivity with the Droid line.

Another key piece of information about the device is that CEO Dennis Woodside revealed that the phone has been built in a way so that it is “contextually aware”, implying that the phone will know when a user takes it out of his or her pocket, when it is inside a car travelling at high speeds and so on.

Mr Woodside didn’t want to go into specifics on this just yet, but did add that the phone ‘will know what you want to do, before you do it” – which sounds very intriguing indeed. The device is aiming to go head-to-head with the likes of the already available Samsung Galaxy S4 and the soon to be released new iPhone from Apple, Woodside has confirmed.

Motorola’s CEO also knows how to tease the world as well, as he revealed that he had a Moto X in his very pocket at D11, but was unwilling to take it out for showing just yet of course.

Motorola has confirmed that this ‘broadly distributed’ device will be available towards the end of Summer and will also be joined by a collection of other new smartphones. We just hope that we get a first look at the device soon, as August is going to come around very quickly.

What is your reaction to the Moto X and the fact that it will ‘know what you want to do, before you do it’? Sounds like Microsoft’s new Xbox One Kinect system all over again.

The new Motorola X Phone is expected to be a very special smartphone for so many reasons, one of which is because it could be customizable. We’re not too certain how much of the handset you will be able to change, but something is better than nothing right?

To customize your handset this will take more of a personal touch, and not by tens of thousands of workers from the likes of China. As a result it would be wiser for the so-called Google X Phone to be assembled on home soil. This is not a stretch of the imagination, because this is just what Apple plans to do with their next Mac mini refresh.

If the rumor is true then we could see Motorola X Phone production in the USA, so not only would they be designed in the US, but assembled there as well. That’s not saying that a Chinese company would not have a hand in building the new handset, as Motorola is expected to use the Foxconn plant in California, just as Google Glass will be.

There is a concern that this plant will be unable to keep up with demand, but there’s another US-based Foxconn plant in Texas. It seems as though the Chinese company is aware that companies such as Motorola and Apple want to create more Made in the USA products.

We still expect to see many of the components in these devices to be made in Asian countries, so Samsung can rest assured that they are still needed, although Apple is reducing their need on Samsung. However, they could be changing over to rivals LG instead, which must be like sticking a knife in Samsung.

With the amount of hype surrounding the Motorola X Phone, we find it hard to believe that Google is abandoning the project and allowing the phone makers to get on with it themselves.

In a recent article there was a suggestion by a certain analyst (often not trusted) who suggested that Google is no longer interested in the X Phone project because they do not think the phone is radical and innovate enough. If this were the case then that would mean Google would rather back Nexus rather than the X Phone, which we find hard to believe.

There are numerous reasons why we would say this, and the biggest being the fact that Google has put a lot of money into Motorola, and so they want them to succeed in their next range of Android smartphones.

Going back to one of the reasons why the analyst believes Google has pulled out, the idea that the they are not happy with the progress in terms of its innovations, we really do find this hard to believe. We say this because there has been a lot of discussions on the Internet in regards to the Motorola X Phone specs and features, which shows that it would be a smartphone with some of the most impressive hardware we have seen in some time, although these are also just rumors.

Let’s say for one moment that it is true and Google were unhappy with the progress, would this be an admission that they would prefer to back Nexus instead, and if so does this mean those crazy rumors in regards to Nexus 5 specs could have some truth to them?

While all eyes are on the inevitable unveiling of the elusive Google X phone from Motorola, it looks like the smartphone manufacturer has other immediate plans in the meantime. A lovely looking blue version of the popular Droid RAZR HD has been spotted, and it could be joining the other various color schemes for the device on Verizon soon.

We’ve seen evidence from Samsung that if you have a popular phone on your hands, like the Galaxy S3 – release as many versions of it as you can while its still hot. The Droid RAZR HD is already an upgrade from the Droid RAZR released in November 2011, but we hear from EVLeaks that one more color is ready to be churned out – maybe before attention is then switched to the infamous Google X project.

Leak specialists EVLeak have released another official image, showing the unannounced and unreleased blue Droid RAZR HD in the flesh. A blue smartphone is a little strange perhaps to a lot of you – but then again, a lot of consumers love to stand out from the crowd anyway.

As a result, it may not be long at all until we see an announcement from Verizon, stating that a ‘metallic blue’ version of the Droid RAZR HD is coming soon. We expect the color will only be the main change from the original, meaning that hardware specs are likely to remain untouched – Jelly Bean, dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 2530mAh battery and so on.

The question is, are you still willing to pay full price for a Droid RAZR HD, knowing too well that the Google X phone is on the horizon? The mystery device could come with some monster specs, not to mention a brand new version of Android that we haven’t seen before.

Is it really worth taking the gamble on this new color, despite it looking very stylish? Give us your thoughts on the constant color releases for the device.

The Google X phone rumors keep on coming it seems, and it looks like we have a fairly big one for you to digest to kick off the week in style. The highly anticipated ‘unannounced’ device could be due for an unveiling at Google I/O, but in the meantime we have some details on potential US carrier availability and color options to share with you.

We’re trying to remember of similar levels of hype for a previously unheard of smartphone, one which has received minimal information on like the Google X phone from Motorola – there are not many. The device is surely on the way though and now we have word that it could be landing on all four major carriers in the US.

That means that the Google X phone could be on AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon before the end of 2013. The information has come from 9to5Mac’s sources, who also reveal some very interesting details regarding colors. Traditionally, we now see new smartphone releases in two main color options – either black or white.

However, it looks like Motorola and Google could be changing this in a big way, with the additional of 25 Google X colors to choose from, drawing similarities with Apple’s never-ending iPod Touch colors – with the vast amount of color schemes proving to be very popular with consumers.

If this becomes a reality, we could see the Google X become the ‘it’ phone of 2013. Forget the iPhone 6 in Black or White, as consumers may be racing to find that perfect obscure color as the latest fashion accessory of the year. Having said that, this is still a pretty adventurous rumor to think that 25 colors will be available at launch for the Google X.

What do you make of this latest revelation on the Google X phone from Motorola? Would you fully support a move to offer 25 colors at launch? More importantly – what would be your dream Google X color scheme?

With Google’s I/O event coming up towards the end of this month, speculation is starting to reach fever pitch on the likelihood of a new smartphone announcement, a device that has been built in partnership with Motorola and has been dubbed the ‘X’ phone. We now have some pictures to show you, which could give some new evidence that Motorola’s X phone is on the way to AT&T in the US.

The elusive Motorola X phone is easily one of the most anticipated smartphones of 2013, despite the fact that we are still yet to see any conclusive evidence that the device is real, or indeed hints from Google that they are planning to follow up on their Nexus 4 so early, which was released in partnership with LG.

Android 5.0 is thought to be the next major version of Android after Jelly Bean and could be the operating system that the X phone will launch with. As we await official news from Google and Motorola, feast your eyes on these leaked images courtesy of EVLeaks, featuring a mystery smartphone that has been enclosed in a ‘black box’ to conceal its design shape to the public and keep it a mystery.

While we have no idea of the shape of the device, we do see from the Android interface shots that this device is running on AT&T’s network. One piece of potential evidence linking the images to the X phone rumors though, could lie in this additional image, which appears to state ‘XFON AT&T’ on the back.

If it’s real, then it could be the latest images of the X phone in the wild. What other unannounced smartphone would Motorola deem necessary to protect in such a way with a black box casing around the edges? Given the timing of the images so close to I/O as well, tells us that things are probably going to get very soon indeed.

Take a look at the images over on Twitter and let us know if you have held off from a Galaxy S4 purchase, solely due to this mystery phone.

It’s obvious that we already know some of the big smartphones for 2013, such as the Galaxy S4 (released today on AT&T), the HTC one and the next-gen iPhone. However, we also expect the Motorola X Phone to be a huge deal as well, although we have yet to receive confirmation of this handset, but that could change next month at Google I/O.

We’re pretty sure the phone is coming, we just don’t know when. We recently reported on a rumor that threw a curveball on the imminent Motorola X Phone release, as there were believed to be delays with Android 5.0. However, we had to take this rumor for what it is, and new details has come to light that could throw doubt on that report.

According to an article a Motorola X Phone benchmark has been leaked, which shows the handset running Key Lime Pie. We can’t say for certain how much truth there is to this unreliable Motorola X Phone benchmark result, because of the mixed reports we have been seeing in regards to the phone and Android 5.0 for that matter.

One of the reasons we doubt this latest rumor is in the benchmark, as it shows a 1.5Ghz processor getting a score of 15479. Surely this cannot be true because the result does not show a high-end smartphone ready to take on the top players, especially when the Google X Phone is expected to be one of the more powerful smartphones, once it comes to the market that is.

These benchmarks can be faked easily, which is the reason we find this one of the more unreliable rumors. However, we have no reason to doubt some of the others, such as limited customization, and the fact that it will be the first handset to run Android 5.0.