I think , but am not sure, that I spotted a Moto prototype device last week.
Location: I live in Chicago, working about a half mile north of Moto's headquarters and living in an area west of downtown which is reasonably popular with young tech types.
A certain sense of curiosity makes me just glance at what phones people around me are using, especially if it's a device that I can't recognize at first glance. I was taking the bus from work to home one day last week in mid/late afternoon. The route I was on has/used to have a Motorola facility (that didn't have a lot of branding, but did have banners visible in their entry way), and again, was on a route that a Moto employee might use to either get to that facility or from Moto HQ home.
This device was very eye catching, though I didn't want to stare. What I first noticed were long, flat speaker grilles that started at the very top/bottom of the device - no bezel whatsoever above or below. The device had a dark back, and from the edge looked very thin. When the guy was using it in his hand, it became clear that it had a tapered back, just like the Moto X always has, but the edges of this device looked significantly thinner than any Moto device I've actually seen. I didn't get a good look at the camera part on the back, but it didn't seem to be in a raised circle like the Moto Z
At this point, the guy seemed to kind of notice me glancing at his phone so I stopped looking, but I did notice: 1) What looked like a small 'M' logo etched in the glass top left of the phone, and 2) what looked like a series of numbers/letters (maybe 6 long?) etched into the glass elsewhere.
I had a 1st gen Moto X (but never as my daily driver), so I'm familiar with that device (and a Moto G I used for a short while), and this phone looked like it wasn't that much larger but was much thinner at the sides. If I had to guess, I'd say a 5- to 5.2 inch screen, again, curved at the sides (unlike the Moto Z), with no camera 'island.'
It wasn't until after getting off the bus that the pieces clicked in my head - this device looked premium, it was definitely smaller than the near-phablet that the Moto X has become, and way thinner; it definitely had a Moto logo etched into the screen, and that suggested to me that it might be a prototype. I looked up images of Moto's past few years of phones, and none have that. So, I'm wondering: Could I have spotted a new Moto X? If so, it's actually a device that I'd be interested in buying (I've liked the X's design but since the original, it's felt too big and bulky).
Thoughts?
Location: I live in Chicago, working about a half mile north of Moto's headquarters and living in an area west of downtown which is reasonably popular with young tech types.
A certain sense of curiosity makes me just glance at what phones people around me are using, especially if it's a device that I can't recognize at first glance. I was taking the bus from work to home one day last week in mid/late afternoon. The route I was on has/used to have a Motorola facility (that didn't have a lot of branding, but did have banners visible in their entry way), and again, was on a route that a Moto employee might use to either get to that facility or from Moto HQ home.
This device was very eye catching, though I didn't want to stare. What I first noticed were long, flat speaker grilles that started at the very top/bottom of the device - no bezel whatsoever above or below. The device had a dark back, and from the edge looked very thin. When the guy was using it in his hand, it became clear that it had a tapered back, just like the Moto X always has, but the edges of this device looked significantly thinner than any Moto device I've actually seen. I didn't get a good look at the camera part on the back, but it didn't seem to be in a raised circle like the Moto Z
At this point, the guy seemed to kind of notice me glancing at his phone so I stopped looking, but I did notice: 1) What looked like a small 'M' logo etched in the glass top left of the phone, and 2) what looked like a series of numbers/letters (maybe 6 long?) etched into the glass elsewhere.
I had a 1st gen Moto X (but never as my daily driver), so I'm familiar with that device (and a Moto G I used for a short while), and this phone looked like it wasn't that much larger but was much thinner at the sides. If I had to guess, I'd say a 5- to 5.2 inch screen, again, curved at the sides (unlike the Moto Z), with no camera 'island.'
It wasn't until after getting off the bus that the pieces clicked in my head - this device looked premium, it was definitely smaller than the near-phablet that the Moto X has become, and way thinner; it definitely had a Moto logo etched into the screen, and that suggested to me that it might be a prototype. I looked up images of Moto's past few years of phones, and none have that. So, I'm wondering: Could I have spotted a new Moto X? If so, it's actually a device that I'd be interested in buying (I've liked the X's design but since the original, it's felt too big and bulky).
Thoughts?
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