Google uneveils Moto X Smartphone

Google has unveiled its eagerly-awaited flagship Moto X smartphone, which gives customers the option to personalise their device.

The handset has a 4.7 inch screen, with 720p resolution, and boasts a 10-megapixel camera. It weighs 130 grams and has a curved, lightweight plastic back.

In an innovation Google hopes will attract customers from key smartphone rivals, Moto X owners will be able to choose from 18 different back covers, and an option of black or white fronts, along with seven different metallic accents for details such as the volume button. This customisable option means there are more than 2,000 possible style, colour and material variations of the new phone.

Google added that in autumn it would offer Moto X users the option of four variants of wood for the phone's back cover.

Other key technical features include advanced voice control, allowing users to speak to the handset, even when in sleep mode.

Google claimed: "Moto X doesn't guess like other phones do. It knows." It said that even if their phone is locked, users can say "OK Google now," to create and send a new message, activate the camera, or enable turn-by-turn navigation via Google Maps.

Google said the new handset is power-efficient, claiming it will run for 24 hours on a single charge.
The Moto X has been billed as Google's answer to the Apple iPhone, and to the expanding success of Samsung's Galaxy. It is the global search leader's first smartphone built completely in-house, and the first ever smartphone constructed entirely in the US.

It was designed by Motorola engineers who joined Google after it bought the company last year.
The Moto X will be available from the end of this month, or early September, for 199 US dollars (£132) via the five leading US wireless carriers. A UK launch date has yet to be announced.