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Some more bad news for the Moto X has come to light ahead of its official release. According to a Motorola spokesperson, custom engraving for the Moto X will not be available at launch. Apparently, the quality of the engraving process is not yet up to Motorola’s standards, so the company wants to make sure it’s perfect before unleashing the feature onto the masses.
This news is really only damning to AT&T users, as those are the only folks getting access to the Moto Maker at launch. It’s possible this feature might not be ready for other carriers by the time AT&T’s period of exclusivity is over, but we’ll try and get over one hill before talking about the next. Motorola hasn’t indicated they would give those who order the device ahead of time the ability to send it in for engraving later, but we’ve pinged them to find out.
The Moto X is Motorola’s first smartphone inspired by Google, and it’s an exciting device in many different respects. From the ability to fully customize the color of the chassis to its “assembled in America” roots, there are many things making us overlook the fact that it doesn’t have the biggest, baddest processor or a full HD display. You can read more about those things in our official hands-on (and coming up soon in our review). That said, if the Moto Maker (which we took for a spin on video) experiences any other snags it will no doubt lose a couple of cool points with us.
Fine by me….I can’t upgrade for another few months anyways
In a few months there will have been rampant rumors about the next Nexus and this phone will already be an after thought.
More than just rumors, the next nexus phone should be for sale in a few months. It should also have better specs and a lower price. If googlerola really wanted this phone to sell at that price, they should have gotten it out, on all carriers with all customizations, by the end of August. That would have given them a solid few months of sales before nexus season. Same goes for the G2.
Pretty sure this phone is already an after thought unless you’re on att.
Some more bad news
What was the other bad news? Carrier exclusive customization? You say this as if the phone has been plagued with bad news.
The other “bad news” is that the phone didn’t live up to the wild, often unrealistic expectations some people had. It can’t be customized for hardware, it can’t be colored with the entire Pantone palate, it’s not top of the line and practically free, it doesn’t morph into the user’s ideal of a phone so it can be all things to everyone…
People wanted this to be the best spec’d phone with Nexus like pricing, heck i wouldn’t be surprised if people expected this phone to be able to suck their own d*ck.
I think most people are upset at the HTC One like pricing for a mid-range phone.
Just remember that it was Motorola and Google who set the expectations. All those teasers, the deliberate leaking of features, the “first phone with the full input of Google, etc”. When a company creates the buzz, they have to live up to it.
Of course but couple that with the constant rumours from the previous year and it was never going to live up to anyone’s expectations. Instead of taking it with a grain of salt, people were eating up the rumours and thinking this was going to be the most advanced phone ever and be cheaper than other flagships.
No, i want it to be specced similarly to other phones that cost $250 on contract. Its really not that hard to understand. Its not like I can go pick this up at ATT for $200 with no contract signed… You do realize this right?
Relax, you seem to be taking my comment a little too seriously.
Practically free is $200 or $250 down? Wow, didn’t know that became free, especially considering this is the subsidized price of other high end phones (which this is not). The bad news is this: You pay high end prices for a mid range device, and the only gimmick that might have sold this phone has a carrier exclusive. To add insult to injury the other half of the gimmick, personal engravings, won’t be available at all. I’d go ahead and call this one a botched launch, we’ll see what the sales numbers look like on release but I wouldn’t expect much.
Yes, when it costs more than that in parts alone.
If you grew vegetables and set up a stand to sell them, would you sell than at less than the cost of the seeds?
Your statement makes no sense. The price is $200 or $250 SUBSIDIZED. Subsidized means that the carrier who is selling the phone pays the manufacturer the difference between the subsidized price and the full price. They do this because their customers sign a 2 year contract. That 2 year contract ensures that the difference between the subsidized price and the full price is covered over the course of that 2 years, so no one loses money and in the end you pay the full price. When this phone comes out if you try to buy it from ATT without a contract I guarantee you won’t be paying $200 – $250, you’ll be paying in the $600 range which is for profit.
So to answer your question, yes I would sell vegetables that I grow for less than the cost of the seeds if a store was paying the difference and I still made the same profit.
As for it being sold on google play for the subsidized price, that’s a gamble google is taking with the pay offs coming in the form of apps purchased and advertisements viewed.
Other bad news is only available in North America, priced higher than the competition and not actually available anywhere yet. Not available SIM free at launch (remember “freedom”?) Oh, and the key selling point customisation is only available from one carrier.
engravings are stupid anyway. Will be harder to sell a phone that has engravings when you are done with the phone
This phone is the Mark Reynolds of Android phones. Swing and miss.
Really should wait until everything is available before releasing this overpriced phone.
If the engraving process is to to take place on the back of the phone, Moto will simply engrave a replacement back and ship it to people who want/need it.
The backs aren’t removeable though, at least not without a special tool and some prying.
You have to applaud Google for their bravery. Each hardware launch includes some cutting edge feature that brings them to their knees.
Nexus 4 was a bold attempt at e-commerce. Nobody had managed thousands or orders simultaneously on a single e-commerce site, and so the site just crashed.
Nexus Q was an attempt to pioneer streaming of digital files to home stereo equipment. No wonder it was canceled as soon as it launched.
Nexus 10 was going to introduce a tablet with a flip cover (!) and a new charging system. The cover took 6 months to develop, though, and the charger never appeared.
And nobody has ever offered custom engraving on an electronic device – we were dreaming if we ever thought this would work, but bravo, Google, for trying.
/s
Apple has been offering custom engravings on their devices since the 1st gen iPod. Many electronics have custom engraving.
Of course you’re right.
In fact, every one of the ‘cutting edge features’ I listed has been managed successfully by others. And Google seems to have built lots of good hardware for their internal use (servers, routers, etc.).
I can’t figure out how Google manages to keep screwing up the consumer launches.
Hmmm, Apple managed this 6 years ago and onto aluminum not plastic. Just one more fail for the Moto X – add it to the list of no global launch, ATT “exclusive” on MotoMaker, poor spec, high price, etc, etc.
“Nexus 4 was a bold attempt at e-commerce. Nobody had managed thousands or orders simultaneously on a single e-commerce site, and so the site just crashed.”
HAHA. +1
They also offered to email people who signed up to be notified when the Nexus 4 would be available, but it turns out, a lot of people signed up, so that was hard too. :)
Yep. Spot on. Tiny startups like Mailbox seem to handle waiting lists exceeding a million people, and Google can’t handle a couple hundred thousand at most. Perhaps they should have managed Play Store with some third-tier ecommerce solution out of Moldova.
By the way, PhinneasJW, you’re a GENIUS!
hahahahaha so much for exclusivity ATT.. derps. I wonder how much money ATT gets back for each feature they have to remove from Moto X customization site prior to official launch. None! HAHAHA ATT