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Avatar for Jordan Kahn

Jordan Kahn

jordankahn

Dir. Partnerships

9to5Mac / 9to5Google / 9to5Toys / Electrek.co / DroneDJ / SpaceExplored

Jordan manages the internal Partner Program for sponsorships and partnerships across the 9to5 network’s media brands including 9to5Mac, 9to5Google, 9to5Toys, Electrek.co, SpaceExplored and DroneDJ.com.

Jordan also writes about all things Apple as a Senior Editor of 9to5Mac. He covers Google for 9to5Google.com, the best gadgets and deals on 9to5Toys.com, and EV and solar news on Electrek.co. He also co-authors 9to5Mac’s Logic Pros series and makes music sometimes.

Contact Jordan with partnership inquiries and long-winded complaints:  

Connect with Jordan Kahn

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New mockups claim to show ‘iPhone 5S’ and ‘iPhone 5C’ designs [Gallery]

Vietnamese website Tinhte, which has a solid track record of getting its hands on pre-release Apple products and accurate mock ups,today posted what it claims are mock ups of two next-generation iPhones. One is the full-fledged “iPhone 5S” upgrade, while the other claims to show the much rumored low-cost “iPhone 5C” that we’ve been hearing a lot about recently. It’s worth noting that Tinhte says the source of the images, Vietnamese accessory supplier PhukienGiare, also supplied the publication with accurate pre-release mock ups of the iPad mini leading up to its launch.

For the iPhone 5S, the design of the mock up appears to be largely the same as the current iPhone 5. Most rumors seem to agree with that much, and the site notes its report from earlier this year that claimed the device will pack in a new 12-megapixel camera. The mock up also shows the dual LED flash that is rumored to make an appearance on the device.

The second mock up shows what the site is referring to the “iPhone 5C“, and shows the all-plastic design that we’ve seen several times in other alleged leaks. The site notes that the Lightning connector looks slightly smaller on the mock up, but it’s unsure if this is just on the mock up or if Apple is experimenting with tweaked connector designs. (The iPhone in the images with the leather skin is an iPhone 5 for comparison).

Earlier this week photographs leaked showing the iPad mini-like design for the next-generation 9.7-inch iPad that we posted of photos of back in January.

All Developer Center services back online, members receiving one month extension for downtime

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Apple has been slowly restoring various services and overhauling its Developer Center since the company shut down all services to investigate an attempted breach into the system late last month. After outlining its plan to restore remaining services earlier this week, today the few developer services that remained down are now back online. That includes the Member Center, Program Enrollment and Renewals, and Technical Support. In addition, Apple has extended all developer memberships by one month as a result of the service interruption.

Following the security threat last month, Apple said it would work to completely overhaul its developer services, including “updating our server software, and rebuilding our entire database.” Since confirming the security issue and shutting down the developer center, it’s taken the company just over 3 weeks to rebuild its developer system and restore all services.

Apple provided extensions for developer memberships set to expire during the outages, and also launched a new System Status page for developers that shows the status of each developer service.

Here is the email that was sent out to developers:
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Apple wins ITC ruling, some Samsung devices to receive US import ban

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Image by CNET

Image by CNET

According to several reports fresh off the wire, the International Trade Commission has just ruled in favour of Apple in the company’s long-running attempt to get the courts to implement a sales ban on certain infringing Samsung devices. The case stems back to a countersuit that Apple filed in 2011 following a lawsuit launched by Samsung that claimed several Apple device’s infringed its patents. Fosspatents reports:

Today the United States International Trade Commission (USITC, or just ITC) handed down its final ruling on Apple’s July 2011 complaint against Samsung. An import ban has been ordered and will take effect at the end of the 60-day Presidential review period.

The ITC found that Samsung does indeed infringe on the two patents asserted in the original case, including one often referred to as the “Steve Jobs” patent that covers touch screen features and another that detects when a headset or other device is plugged into an iPhone. 
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Twitter #music app gets new ways to discover artists, scans iPhone library for personalized recommendations

Twitter-Music-iconTwitter updated its Twitter #music iPhone app today with several new ways to discover new artists in addition to personalized recommendations based on the content in your iPhone’s music library.

Version 1.2 of the app now allows users to “listen to artist’s top tracks, similar artists, and the artists that your favorite artist follows on Twitter.” However, another interesting new feature will scan the device’s music library in order to serve up relevant recommendations based on your past listening habits.

Twitter is also making it easier to find artists that you like by making it easy to quickly access the artists that you’ve tweeted about in the past.

Personal recommendations based on previous listening habits is becoming a prerequisite for just about any music app ahead of Apple’s iTunes Radio launch. Apple’s upcoming service will rely heavily on its personalization features similar to iTunes Genius, and Rdio and others have been adding similar features that focus more on stations custom tailored to the user’s listening preferences.

Lastly, the app gets support for a number of new languages:

What’s New in Version 1.2

We’ve added a bunch of new ways of discovering music. Listen to artist’s top tracks, similar artists, and the artists that your favorite artist follows on Twitter.

We also scan your iPhone’s music library now to suggest more relevant artists to you. And we show you the artists that you’ve Tweeted about so you can always get back to them.

Finally, we’ve localized #music into all of your favorite languages. If you’re one of those good looking people living in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, or Switzerland then we’ve got you covered!

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Textbooks rolling out to Google Play Books iOS app

screen568x568Google announced back in July during its Google I/O keynote that it would be rolling out textbooks to Google Play Books sometime in August, and today the listings for textbooks have finally arrived in the store via an update to the iOS app. The textbooks get their own section in the Google Play Books store, and are currently only available to users in the US.

Google’s new textbooks are available to purchase, but some titles will offer a rental option that allows users to rent the book for a lower-cost over a six month period. Google is also providing free samples for the new textbooks. The service is currently available through the Google Play Books apps on Android, iOS, and on the web.

Google is also piloting a new Google Play for Education service and accepting app submissions ahead of a full roll out.

What’s New in Version 1.6.0

Highlighting and note-taking are now supported in scanned pages books.
Added support for rental books.
Added sepia reading mode.
Stability and performance improvements.

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Google introduces new local ads experience in Google Maps on iOS & Android

Google today announced on its blog that it’s introducing an “updated ad experience” for Google Maps on iPhone, iPad, and Android that will display a small banner at the bottom of the screen when a user performs a search. Google used to display smaller banner ads that would pop up as an overlay on the map after searching for a location, but the new experience brings ads into the new bottom bar that Google introduced in its recent redesign of the Google Maps mobile apps. 

Relevant ads on the Google Maps app can now appear at the bottom of the screen after a user performs a search. They include a title, ad text, and a link to get directions. Users can tap or swipe upward to see more information — this is a new click type known as “Get location details” and results in a standard CPC charge.

Just like the previous ads, tapping or swiping up on the new ads placed at the bottom of the screen will pull up details about businesses including images, reviews, phone numbers and addresses. Google’s recent update to the Google Maps mobile apps also brought Zagat ratings and Google Offers into the local business search results displayed on the new bottom navigation bar.

Google provides more information for advertisers interested in display local ads in Maps in its blog post here. 

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Rdio apps get revamped Stations with personalized “You FM” feature

Subscription music service Rdio announced today that it’s completely overhauling how stations work through the service.  While stations and the player get a refresh with new endless station types to pick from, the big new feature is something Rdio calls “You FM”:

You FM — A brand new, personalized, adjustable station that leverages Taste Profiling technology from The Echo Nest and incorporates all your listening history, track voting, Facebook likes, Twitter follows, and more to create a truly unique and individualized listening experience. As your tastes grow and evolve, so does You FM.

The new player will let users “vote on individual songs, tune stations towards familiar or adventurous sounds, and pivot stations based on favorite tracks” in order to fine tune stations. You’ll even be able to listen to others’ You FM stations. An endless station that’s automatically customized to the user’s listening habits seems like a must have feature for apps competing with Pandora and Spotify, and it’s something that Apple’s upcoming iTunes Radio app will take advantage of heavily.

The Rdio iOS app has already received the update and the new features are available on Android and the web app as well.

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Apple looking to hire iCloud mail engineer to build new anti-spam/abuse system

iCloud-SpamApple today posted a job listing on its website seeking a software engineer to help “implement new mail anti-abuse infrastructure” for iCloud mail services. The candidate will join Apple’s iCloud team and must have experience with mail and spam systems/architecture, so it appears Apple is looking to cut down on the amount of spam that iCloud users receive.

Consider joining a small team writing the software which provides mail services to iCloud customers. We are looking for an extremely capable engineer who has a strong background in building high-performance, scalable and extensible systems. In this highly visible position, the successful candidate will both further develop existing mail systems while collaborating with cross-functional engineering teams to define and implement new mail anti-abuse systems.

There have been some hiccups with Apple’s iCloud mail service in the past (apart from frequent iCloud service outages), including a problem with the service’s automated spam filters that caused legitimate emails to be sent to spam. Apple does have a way for users to report spam and set up filters with iCloud mail, but complaints of users frustrated with spam have continued.
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YouTube co-founders launch MixBit video editing app for iOS

Available starting today, YouTube co-founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen have launched a new app called “MixBit” that appears to be a Vine-like approach to video editing on the go. Unlike Vine, and Instagram’s new video feature, MixBit will allow videos much longer than the rather short, up to 15 second long videos offered through competing services. You’ll also find the majority of videos uploaded to the service are much longer than those on Vine and Instagram, making the experience of browsing and watching videos feel much more like YouTube than Vine. MixBit will allow users to record video clips up to 16 seconds in length and stitch up to 256 clips together into a single video that plays back seamlessly. Videos on MixBit can be up to an hour in length.

It also differs from the other guys in that clips are stored separately even after stitching them together and uploading a video. That means you’ll be able to pull from individual clips from your own or other’s videos at any time to create another video in the future. Some basic editing functions for rearranging clips exist, but the app doesn’t go much beyond that yet. For now the app is only available on iOS, but an Android version is on the way.

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50% off ZAGG’s invisibleSHIELD screen protectors for 9to5 readers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZOKAsNRTn8

9to5Toys.com exclusive:

Zagg, the company that made its name creating military grade “invisibleShield” screen protectors (and more recently some of our favorite iPad keyboards), is teaming up with 9to5Toys to offer 50% off any invisibleSHIELD for a limited time.

Through tonight, you can get 50% off invisibleSHIELD products through Zagg’s website using the discount code “9to5ZAGG″ at checkout. The deal ends at 11:59 PM MDT tonight and the code is valid for up to three items per order.

Not only does Zagg offer invisibleShield protectors for iPhone, iPad, and iPods, it also offers the incredibly tough transparent shields for MacBooks/laptops, digital cameras, watches, and wide range of other devices.

invisibleSHIELD by ZAGG 50% off for a limited time with checkout code “9to5ZAGG”

IDC: Android reaches 80% of smartphone market in Q2 due to low-cost offerings, iOS falls to 13%

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Following a report last week from IDC on smartphone market share by vendor, the research firm is out today with its report covering market share by operating system. Much like Apple’s growth had slowed on the hardware front with its second-lowest year-over-year growth rate for the iPhone in nearly four years, IDC reports that Apple is losing share to Android and Windows Phone when looking at the market by operating system.

During Q2 2013, IDC says that Apple posted a year-over-year decline dropping from 16.6% with 26 million iPhones shipped in Q2 of last year, to 13.2% of the market with 31.2 million iPhones shipped in Q1 of this year. The loss in market share is of course attributed to the lack of new product launches during the three month period, as was the case with IDC’s report on tablet market share earlier this week. But it’s also losing ground to both Android and Windows Phone, both of which increased market share and shipments year-over-year during Q2:
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Facebook Messenger iPhone app adds support for attaching Instagram photos

Facebook-Messenger-iPhoneFacebook updated its Messenger iOS app today making it easier to send photos and emoji with a few new features. Facebook is deeper integrating Instagram into Messenger, allowing users to attach photos from Instagram albums (in addition to any other album on their iPhone) right in the app. Version 2.6 of the app also makes it easier to send photos and emoji with a new paper clip icon that users can tap from any message.

What’s New in Version 2.6

Now it’s easier to send photos and emoji:
– Just tap the paper clip from any message
– Choose photos from Instagram and any other album on your phone

Don’t forget about stickers: Tap the smiley to see what’s new in the sticker store.

Bug fixes

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New “American Legend” trailer released for upcoming JOBS film, Ashton Kutcher hosting Reddit AMA

Update: Open Road Films just sent over another brand new clip from the upcoming JOBS film (below).

In case you missed that YouTube hangout last week with the stars of the upcoming Steve Jobs biopic, Ashton Kutcher and co-star Josh Gad debuted the latest trailer that includes several previously unreleased clips from the film. The movie will officially hit theatres later this month on August 16th, but on Thursday Ashton Kutcher and Josh Gad will be hosting a Reddit Ask Me Anything to answer questions about playing Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in the movie.

The Reddit AMA will be taking place on Thursday, August 8th from 9:30am-10:30am PST/ 12:30pm- 1:30pm EST, and we’ll update with a link here when available.

New Nokia 925 ad parodies Apple’s ‘Photos Every Day’ commercial, claims iPhone 5 takes subpar photos

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http://youtu.be/PqfEE_X5cpQ

Nokia has released a new ad for its Lumia 925 today comparing the device’s camera to the iPhone 5 and simultaneously parodying Apple’s recent “Photos Every Day” TV spot. It’s not surprising that Nokia would choose to focus on the Lumia 925’s camera, as it made a big deal of the device’s 8.7 megapixel camera, dual LED flash, Carl Zeiss lens, and enhanced software camera features when it was unveiled. The dual LED flash is a feature that happens to be rumored for the next-gen iPhone. This also isn’t the first time that Nokia has compared the iPhone 5’s camera to its own smartphones, but it’s certainly the first time it has done a parody of an Apple commercial. Some scenes, like 50 seconds into Nokia’s ad, are taken directly from Apple’s commercial.


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Google releases official AdSense iPhone app

Following Google’s release of an official AdSense Android app on Google Play last week, today the company has released an iOS version of the app. Much like the Android version, this is the first official AdSense client Google has released for the platform, and brings competition for some of the free and paid third-party clients already on the App Store. The app also provides much of the same functionality of the Android app, allowing users to access most reporting features available through the Adsense website, as well as payment alerts (which unfortunately can’t be dismissed at this point).

The AdSense app provides an easy way to access key data from your AdSense account. Access reporting features anywhere, directly from your iPhone. The first version of the app gives you access to: the key earnings information, top custom and URL channels, ad units and sites reports, payment alerts.

Apple drops to 32% tablet market share in Q2 amidst strong YoY Android growth

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IDC is out today with its latest report tracking worldwide tablet shipments, reporting that total shipments have experienced a sequential decline during Q2 at the expense of Apple and the iPad. Apple already announced that it had sold 14.6 million iPads during the quarter, a significant drop from the 17 million it sold in the year ago quarter, but today IDC gives us some insight into where that puts Apple in its lead over Samsung as the top tablet vendor.

Apple was able to pick up 32.4% of the market during Q2, continuing its lead as the top tablet manufacturer, but dropping from the 60.3% of the market it had in Q2 last year. While Apple’s tablet shipments are clearly suffering from lack of new product announcements this year, it’s also losing share to Samsung and others. IDC reports 277% year over year growth for Samsung, giving it 18% of the market with 8.1 million units shipped during Q2. All of the top 3 vendors– Apple, Samsung, and ASUS– experienced a drop compared to Q1 2013, but the Android tablet makers have experienced significant growth compared to Apple since last year.
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Report: Apple could tap Pegatron for future iMac production

imacs

DigiTimes is reporting today that Pegatron may be picking up contracts for production of upcoming iMacs with “upstream supply chain players revealing they sent iMac components to Pegatron recently.” Both Pegatron and Apple’s current partner for Mac production, Quanta, aren’t commenting on the rumor, but perhaps Apple could be looking to add additional partners to produce its next round of iMacs after experiencing significant delays following the launch of its latest iMac refresh.

While Quanta produces the majority of Apples Mac lineups, Pegatron is already an Apple manufacturing partner for iOS devices. However, last month the company came under fire when a report from China Labor Watch alleged poor working conditions at several Pegatron facilities in China.

Watch Ashton Kutcher talk about upcoming JOBS film in live YouTube hangout

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Ashton Kutcher and Josh Gad, stars of the upcoming JOBS film, are currently hosting a live hangout on YouTube to answer questions about what it was like playing Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in the film. You can tune in live above and submit questions for Kutcher and Gad to answer through #AskJobsMovie.

Yesterday, we posted the latest clip from the film showing the key moment when Jobs and Wozniak came up with the “Apple Computer” name.
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Google copies Find my iPhone with new ‘Android Device Manager’

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Google today announced on its Official Android Blog that it’s launching a brand new tool called ‘Android Device Manager’ that will let users easily locate and remotely wipe misplaced or stolen devices. Anyone familiar with the Find My iPhone feature that Apple has made available to iOS device users will already be quite familiar with how the software works.

Much like Apple’s service, Android Device Manager will let users locate their device on a Map in real-time, as well as remotely wipe the device of all data if happens to get into the wrong hands. You’ll also be able to make your device ring at maximum volume if you happen to misplace it in a nearby location.

If you ended up dropping your phone between those couch cushions, Android Device Manager lets you quickly ring your phone at maximum volume so you can find it, even it’s been silenced. And in the event that your phone or tablet is out of earshot (say, at that restaurant you left it at last night), you can locate it on a map in real time

Google’s announcement comes at a time when government officials are pressuring Apple, Google, and other smartphone manufacturers to implement new theft deterrent features. While Google’s new tool would be one step in the right direction, it doesn’t appear to go beyond what Apple has already had in place since back in 2010.

Recently, Apple announced a new Activation Lock feature that requires an Apple ID and password to reactivate a stolen phone after being remotely erased/wiped by the owner through the Apple Find my iPhone feature. The login information will also now be required to turn off Find My iPhone. If a user’s device is stolen, wiping the device clean will essentially leave the thief with a device that is inoperable without the user’s Apple ID and password. It doesn’t appear that Google’s new tool includes a similar feature.

Google said the new Android Device Manager service will available later this month for devices running Android 2.2 and up, and an Android app will also be available to help users manage their devices.

DOJ proposes settlement in Apple ebook price fixing case: end current agreements, link to other stores

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After reaching settlements with just about every publisher involved in the long-running Apple/Amazon e-book price fixing case, The United States Department of Justice today published its proposal to end the case with Apple after finding the company guilty of conspiring to fix ebook prices during trial earlier this month:

“The court found that Apple’s illegal conduct deprived consumers of the benefits of e-book price competition and forced them to pay substantially higher prices,” said Bill Baer, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division.  “Under the department’s proposed order, Apple’s illegal conduct will cease and Apple and its senior executives will be prevented from conspiring to thwart competition in the future.”

Among the key points in the proposal:
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Akai’s legendary MPC drum machine now available for iPhone

Back in March, Akai Professional released an iPad app that aims to emulate its classic MPC drum machine. Akai is perhaps best known for the MPC— a series of physical drum machine/midi sequencer/samplers that come with samples you’ve likely heard on many of your favorite hip-hop, dance, and pop songs. Today the MPC emulator, dubbed “iMPC”, makes its way to the iPhone for the first time for $2.99 on the App Store, slightly less than the $6.99 that the iPad version sells for.

You’re not going to be able to get full-on MPC emulation for less than $5, but Akai has included a ton of great samples and features stripped straight from its legendary MPC series:

Turn your iPad into an MPC. With more than 1,200 samples, 50 editable programs, 80 editable sequences, and iconic MPC workflow, iMPC is the first app to bring the look and feel of the classic Akai Pro MPC to your iPad. iMPC includes everything you need to create a beat quickly and easily, including built-in effects, plus the ability to create new sequences and record and overdub beats. Time correction from 1/8 note to 1/32T with variable swing, and Note Repeat from 1/8 note to 1/32T with latch control are also built in. The app’s built-in sampler can record samples three different ways: using the mic on the iPad, using the line input on the iPad, or using the multi-touch turntable interface in iMPC to record samples directly from iTunes or other music libraries.

BioShock Infinite for Mac set for release on August 29, preorders start today

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Back in March, when the latest installment in the popular BioShock franchise was released on consoles, Mac gaming heavyweights Aspyr announced they would be bringing the game to Mac this summer. Today it has finally announced an official release date for BioShock Infinite, as well as details on pre-order bonuses, DLC, and SteamPlay support.

BioShock Infinite for Mac will officially become available starting August 29th and, yes, the title will support SteamPlay, allowing users to purchase the game once and play on both PC and Mac through Steam. It will also be available on the Mac App Store. However, Aspyr’s own distribution service, GameAgent, is offering some pretty enticing pre-order bonuses if you pick up the title through them.

Not only will pre-orders through GameAgent get you the “Columbia’s Finest DLC,” but Aspyr is also promising an extra 20% off the $59.99 price tag for GameAgent customers. The “Clash in the Clouds” DLC will be available to purchase at launch, and plans are in place to support any additional DLC for the title following its release.

You might have noticed that Mac versions of many big games have been arriving a lot sooner after their initial release than in the past. For that we have Aspyr to thank, the company that ports the majority of big titles that eventually end up available for OS X. Earlier this year we sat down with Aspyr to talk about the process of porting games to Mac:
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Watch Jobs and Woz come up with the Apple name in new clip from ‘JOBS’

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Ahead of its upcoming August 16th debut in theatres, Open Road Films just released a new clip from the JOBS film starting Ashton Kutcher as Steve Jobs. In the latest clip, Jobs and and Steve Wozniak, played by Josh Gad, come up with the name “Apple Computer,” a story that we’ve heard straight from the real Jobs and Wozniak in the past.

Tomorrow Ashton Kutcher and Josh Gad will also be hosting a live YouTube Hangout at 11am PST/2pm EST to answer questions about the JOBS movie submitted using #AskJobsMovie. The event will be hosted on the JOBSthefilm YoutTube account.

If you want to hear the story of the Apple name straight from the source, the real Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs give their versions of events in the videos below:
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Motorola announces its new Moto X smartphone, arrives next month for $199

Motorola today launched its new flagship “Moto X” smartphone, the first device Google has launched under the brand after acquiring the company and taking it in a new direction. We already knew a lot about the device leading up to today’s event, but now we have all the details on specs and the many customization options that Motorola is hoping will help differentiate the device. With all the rumors of a next-gen iPhone possibly landing in multiple colors, it will be interesting to see if Google has any success with the Moto X customization strategy– Motorola is providing up to 32 color combinations (2 on the front, and 16 on the back) and around 2000 total customization options through a new online tool called “Moto Maker.” Moto X also includes some pretty respectable hardware for the $199 price point, but that of course puts it in direct competition with the iPhone. Get all the details on the device over on our sister site 9to5Google.com:

Motorola officially announces the Moto X, coming late August/early September

Moto X coming to AT&T for $199/$249 with exclusive colors & customization options

New ads show off Moto X ‘Quick Capture’ & always-on voice command features

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXyCbrdQEyA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpU1mW0Mjm8