Moto G vs Moto X: 6 key differences for potential buyers

The recently unveiled new Moto G smartphone is designed to offer a premium experience for all. Mainly by offering a device with well rounded specs for an extremely low price. In doing so it could instantly rival other devices, including the company's own Moto X.

With a $ 179 Moto G now on the scene, and the popular Moto X already being available from all major US carriers, now for as little as $ 49 with a new 2-year contract, we're here to rundown a few key differences between the two. The Motorola Moto G isn't available yet, but you'll want to know all the details once it arrives across most US carriers following the holiday season.

Comparing these two very similar devices may be tough but the main and biggest difference here is the price. The main goal is to offer a premium for Motorola handset for anyone and everyone. From prepaid to emerging markets around the globe. As a result they've designed a quality smartphone for only $ 179. Yes, $ 179 outright, no contracts. When compared to a Moto X being offered originally at $ 199, and now $ 99 with a new 2-year contract.

The driving point with the price is the Moto X can run upwards of $ 529 outright without a contract, vs. just $ 179 outright for the new Moto G. That is a major difference for a smartphone, especially two with such similar options and overall design, even if the specs and features are quite different.

When looking at the major price swing above, you're probably wondering if the specs are really that much higher or lower to warrant the difference. In reality, it isn't all that different. There's some key changes that makes the Moto X a high end device, but the G isn't too bad either. Motorola offers a 4.7-inch 720 p HD display, and is powered by a new X 8 Mobile Computing System. Offering a 1.7 GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor with 2 GB or RAM, and addition Cpus for the hands-free voice actions. Ones which aren't on the G. Then you'll enjoy 16 GB of internal storage, and a quality 10 mega pixel "clearpixel" camera on the rear. All powered by a 2,200 mAh battery which promises 24-hours of mixed battery life.

The Moto G on the other hand actually comes with a narrower, more crisp 4.5-inch 720 p HD display, and a 1.2 GHz quad-core processor with 1 GB or RAM. The under the hood is Qualcomm's Snapdragon 400 budget series, and isn't the same as the X 8 system from the Moto X, but we're expecting it to offer pretty excellent performance too. Especially once it launches with Android 4.4 KitKat here in the US. You'll get 8 or 16 GB of storage with the Moto G, and only a 5 megapixel camera on back.

The Snapdragon 400 should provide an excellent experience all around, and the only areas that we'd say are actually lacking with the Moto G are the camera, and narrower 2,070 mAh battery. Well, and one other major specification that needs its own category.

The only big list feature the Moto G is lacking is 4 g LTE support. Offering faster data speeds to smartphones and tablets all over the world. However, in an effort to keep the price down, battery last longer, and offering an exceptional device on a budget the Moto G lacks LTE. When looking at the big picture the G is aimed at emerging markets, many of which don't even support 4 g LTE, which is why it's somewhat understandable that Google and Motorola left this out.

On the other hand it is almost 2014, and 4 g LTE is the standard in many regions, and will continue to grow and expand all of next year. The Moto X supports LTE on Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, AT&T and more. So one major feature that many need, isn't available on the G. However, for the mass emerging markets in other parts of the world, it won't be missed, and the G should technically be a big success.

One selling point, popular or not on the Moto X, is the wide array of customization options. Allowing customers to pick the rear color, accent colors, engravings, and even the wallpaper one first boot. All completely customized and made in the USA delivered to your door. Initially an exclusive on AT&T this is now an option from all US carriers, and we're expecting the same for the Moto G.

Shown above is an image provided from Motorola or the Moto G custom backs, which will be available soon. Not only will users be able to choose the color of their purchase, but there's also $ 179 accessory covers in an array of colors that can snap on the back. Offering a different color for each day of the week, should you choose. While we can't confirm they'll all be made in the USA too, in Motorola's Texas plant, most likely the exact same options will be available to all with the Moto G. This brings us to our next difference between the phones.

The Moto X is willingly available across all major US carriers, and we're expecting something similar for the new G. However, Motorola didn't confirm too many details during the announcement. Only stating the new Moto G will be coming to multiple US carriers and prepaid options. Not having 4 g LTE you'd think Verizon will pass, but they've already confirmed to be offering the wallet-friendly G in early 2014, sometime before Q1 ends.

At this point you can get the Moto X for $ 99 from most carriers, and even $ 50 from Verizon, and until more carriers confirm the Moto G we can't detail this further. However, given the price is $ 179 off contact, we could very well see the device absolutely free with a new 2-year contract from AT&T and others.

Just as mentioned above the Moto X can be purchased from all major US carriers, and is willingly available. The Moto G however, isn't. For those debating the purchase, price aside, the Moto G won't arrive in the US until 2014. You'll have to wait roughly 2 months or more, as Motorola hasn't revealed an exact date but said sometime in January.

By 2014 the Moto G will be available in 30 countries with more than 60 partners on board, and many of those will be US operators. You'll also be able to buy the Moto G carrier, SIM, and bootloader unlocked at Motorola.com while those outside the US can get it this week in Brazil and parts of Europe.

So while availability isn't important for those outside of the US, the wait for those stateside could weigh on a possible purchase decision given the wait time.

Read: Moto X Review

The Moto X is an excellent smartphone available today, and those willing to wait for the Moto G to arrive early next year will be in for a treat. It might not be on the bleeding edge of mobile tech, sacrifice the best specs, or have the biggest screen or best camera, but for $ 179 the Moto G is hard to beat. This is the mobile revolution Google's been aiming for, and it will only get better next year.

All buyers wants and needs are different, but for those on a budget the Moto G will probably receive high praises and be one for the holiday shopping list.

Windows 8.1 is here: Can it win over skeptical PC buyers?

 

If you could synthesize a year's worth of mixed reviews into just a few words, Windows 8 would probably boil down to these three: confusing, contradictory, and unfinished.

Today, almost exactly one year after shipping Windows 8, Microsoft released its successor. Windows 8.1 (a free update for Windows 8 users) now has the formidable challenge of rehabilitating its predecessor's tarnished image and convincing consumers and businesses that new Windows-powered hardware is a smart choice.

I've spent the past several months using the Windows 8.1 Preview and the final shipping code on a variety of devices: traditional desktop and notebook PCs, all-in-ones with touchscreens, and tablets and touch-enabled devices in many shapes and sizes.

Last week, as I was preparing to write this article, I rolled back a few of those machines to their original installation, and returned to Windows 8 for a few days. That experience was enough to confirm for me that the changes in Windows 8.1 are substantial and go a long way toward overcoming the objections that early adopters had to Windows 8.

The new features, new apps, and refinements in Windows 8.1 probably won't be enough to win over the diehard haters. If you think the Windows 8 design style was a sharp turn in the wrong direction, you should probably stop reading right now. But for anyone who thought Windows 8 was basically a good idea, poorly executed, Windows 8.1 is worth a serious look.

Windows 8.1 has the advantage of arriving in a far more welcoming ecosystem than its predecessor faced. When Windows 8 launched, most of the new touchscreen devices it was designed for were still on the drawing board. Those that were available for sale were typically priced too high. Today, there's a very broad selection of aggressively priced touchscreen notebooks, tablets, and all-in-ones from just about every PC OEM.

Today's public release—General Availability, or GA, in MicroSpeak—doesn't contain too many surprises. Most of the new features were already in the Windows 8.1 Preview, which has been publicly available for more than three months. A few extra features made their debut in the RTM code, which has been available for MSDN and TechNet subscribers and for Volume License customers since early September. (For details of the Preview release, see Hands-on with the Windows 8.1 preview. For an overview of what's in RTM, see Windows 8.1 RTM: What's new, what's next? and the accompanying gallery, What's changed in the Windows 8.1 RTM release?)

The real story today is the widespread availability of the update, which should roll out to every Windows 8 PC over the next 30 days or so. Along with that wide release, Microsoft is lighting up back-end services, including some improvements in the Windows Store and some additions to the new apps it's shipping with Windows 8.1.

In day-to-day use, Windows 8.1 feels far more refined than Windows 8. Most (but not all) of the rough edges of Windows 8 have been smoothed out. The unfinished bits are, for the most part, complete. Some (but not all) of the controversial decisions Microsoft made with Windows 8 have been reversed, most notably the decision to ditch the Start button and ship with no online tutorial to help new users get over that disorienting feeling.

In reality, though, the return of the Start button is only one small part of a much larger story. The design goals for Windows 8.1 are pretty much a case study in objection handling.

Consider these all-too-common Windows 8 objections.

The Windows 8 user experience is confusing, especially on non-touch hardware.

Windows 8.1's most obvious response to this objection is the return of the Start button, which restores a familiar element to the desktop. You'll also find a tutorial on the Start screen as well as some tips that appear at startup when you sign in with a new account for the first time.

In Windows 8.1 the Start screen gets a major redesign to make it easier to customize, with a wider range of tile sizes to accommodate more items on the Start screen. And of course there's a check box that lets you bypass the Start screen and go straight to the desktop.

What you won't find is a Start menu, at least not from Microsoft, which stuck to its guns and left that field open for third-party developers.

The transition between the new and old Windows experience is jarring.

One of the biggest unfinished pieces of Windows 8 was the PC Settings app, which covered a handful of high-profile settings but required a visit to the desktop Control Panel for most configuration tasks. In Windows 8.1 the list of options available in the touch-friendly PC Settings list is far more complete.

The result is you can usually choose which interface you want to use. On a PC where you have a full keyboard and a mouse or trackpad, you can use the desktop Control Panel. On a tablet or other touchscreen device, you can use the PC Settings option. The latter is often cleaner and easier to work with, even on a conventional PC, as this example shows.

There aren't enough apps.

You can't convince developers to build apps for a platform that isn't shipping, which explains why Microsoft had to ship Windows 8 with a weak assortment of third-party apps and then wait for developers to catch up.

They made the problem worse by shipping a weak collection of built-in apps, with Mail and Music especially egregious examples.

After a year of development, the third-party selection is much better, although still weak compared to the iPad's rich selection. But with Windows 8.1 the built-in apps are now of uniformly high quality. The Mail app, for example, is full-featured, with IMAP support and the ability to drag messages into folders. Both the Music and Video apps are greatly improved, and although they have strong hooks to the Xbox services they work well enough as standalone products.

And a slew of high-profile third-party apps are slated to ship around the same time as Windows 8.1. The long-awaited Facebook app, for example, arrived in the Windows Store a few hours ahead of the official Windows 8.1 launch. You'll see it prominently featured on the Start screen after an upgrade, now that the Windows Store includes support for live tiles.

What's in it for the enterprise?

Most of the early development efforts for Windows 8 focused on consumer devices. That's not surprising, because consumers tend to lead the market whereas enterprise customers are notoriously slow to change. But there are some interesting new enterprise features baked into Windows 8.1. The list includes a new feature called Workplace Join that allows personal devices (tablets and PCs) to be registered on a Windows Server 2012 network.

And the security story is also encouraging. Widespread adoption of UEFI and Secure Boot basically puts all current rootkits out of business, and it's hard to see how malware writers can work around that protection. Similarly, there's now fully integrated support for fingerprint logins. Windows has supported this technology for several versions, but Windows 8.1 adds a consistent user interface. The biometric technology is also reportedly more sophisticated than what Apple released with the iPhone 5S; we'll see if hackers are able to break into Windows 8.1 using a plastic copy of a fingerprint.

In fact, there's plenty of new stuff in Windows 8.1 that should be of interest to IT pros, enough material for me to write a 140-page ebook on the topic. If your job responsibilities include corporate network management, deployment, or BYOD management, you should take a look at Introducing Windows 8.1 for IT Professionals. (It's a free download in PDF format.)

Ultimately, though, Windows 8.1 will rise or fall on the strength of Microsoft's OEM partners. Intel's latest processors, 4th Generation Core (Haswell) and Atom (Bay Trail) offer dramatically better battery life than their predecessors, which is essential for mobile devices. Dell, Toshiba, and Lenovo are all shipping good-looking 7- and 8-inch Windows 8.1 tablets this fall, and Acer is about to release the Iconia W4, an 8.1-inch tablet thathas a much better CPU and screen than its weak first entry, the W3-810. And of course, Microsoft has refreshed versions of its Surface hardware coming out next week.

For anyone already running Windows 8, the update to Windows 8.1 is a must-have. The big question is whether new hardware and a spiffed-up Windows 8 can win over consumers and businesses.

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Amount of first-time iPhone buyers dropping; upgrades increasing

Summary: Sanford Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi wonders if there are enough wealthy people in to sustain iPhone unit growth.

Sanford Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi produced the chart above for a report that tells an interesting, and potentially troubling, story for Apple.

According to his research the amount of net new iPhone customers (those coming from another platform or no previous smartphone) – the black bars in the chart above – will shrink from 62 percent in 2012 to an estimated 54 percent in 2013, a 13 percent decline. 

Sacconaghi's concludes "barring a signed contract with China Mobile (CHL) or an iPhone priced to sell to the developing world, there is a slim margin of error that Apple will attract sufficient first-time iPhone buyers going forward to meet consensus forecasts for [fiscal year 2014 and 2015]."

He estimates that 2014 and 2015 will see further declines in new iPhone customers (37 and 28 percent, respectively) and that the percentage of people buying iPhones as "replacements" (the blue chunk of the bars above) will increase to almost 70 percent in 2015.

While not exactly the death knell for Apple, the company sold nine million iPhones in their first weekend after all, the trend would be troubling for Cupertino and mean that the company is selling more iPhones to upgraders. This would mean that less new customers are coming into the Apple ecosystem, which could slow the growth of content sales (including apps, music and movies).

Sacconaghi's data assumes that Apple won't sign an agreement with China Mobile, which already has 42 million iPhone users according to some estimates. If such a deal is announced (presumably after China Mobile's LTE deployment) Apple could easily add a large number of China Mobile's 700 million subscribers to its new customer numbers.

Tip: Fortune/Philip Elmer-DeWitt (@philiped)

Jason O'Grady is a journalist and author specializing in mobile technology. He has published six books on Apple and mobile gadgets and his PowerPage blog has been publishing for over 17 years.