Google X Phone possibly hinted at by Motorola’s Guy Kawasaki Google+ handset personalization remarks

 

We’ll continue to explore Google X Phone rumors today by tying recent X Phone reports with certain remarks Motorola’s Guy Kawasaki made on his Google+ account.

Former Apple fan now turned into Motorola advisor Kawasaki on Thursday wrote an interesting message on Google+ that reads:

Wouldn’t it be great if you could personalize your phone like this [see video below]?

In addition to the question, he also posted a 5-minute YouTube video that shows how Porsche cars can be exclusively customized to meet the needs of buyers. “Porsche Exclusive – the most personal car,” posted on Porsche’s YouTube channel only a few days ago, is definitely an interesting video, showing how the car maker can help buyers feel at home with their new Porsche purchases.

But why is it important for Android? By itself, Kawasaki’s message doesn’t mean anything. However, when making the connection between that question and recent X Phone rumors, the message suddenly gets hidden meanings.

Did Kawasaki just confirm that, to some extent, some Motorola handsets will be customizable by users in the future – namely the X Phone line?

A couple of recent reports have suggested that the X Phone will not be just a new Google handset, but a family of devices meant to challenge the competition. The X Phones could feature a unique, never before seen feature in a mobile device: user customization. According to that pair of articles, X Phone buyers will be able to personalize the hardware of their handsets to some extent: RAM, storage and color. On top of some hardware customizations, users will reportedly also be able to setup the device – in an HTC Get Started way – even before receiving it.

Those individual X Phone devices would have budget-friendly prices and will be shipped in about a week after being ordered. Moreover, they would most likely run a vanilla Android OS, which will be updated by Google not the carriers – on that note, the reports also say that at least one Android upgrade will be guaranteed for X Phone handsets.

Naturally, we’ll tell you again that we’re looking at unconfirmed details for now, and we’re just going to have to wait for Google I/O to arrive to get more information on this potential family of smartphones.

With that in mind, we can’t say whether Kawasaki’s apparently innocent remark is just a marketing stunt, meant to remind Android fans that the X Phone is coming, or whether it’s all a simple coincidence.

But since we did mention coincidences, we’ll also remind you of a similar situation that followed a different sort of script, Google’s Vic Gundotra posted on Google+ a short while ago that the company will continue to improve the camera experience of future Nexus handsets, and just a few days ago another unconfirmed report, this time on the future Nexus 5, claimed that the device could come with a Nikon camera inside.

Is Google pushing its next line of smartphones, the X Phone and Nexus, with fresh rumors and such almost-cryptic Google+ messages, or are we making too many connections? What do you think?

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Google’s X Lab to announce a new project “in the coming month”

 

Google’s secret X Lab is nothing short of amazing. The company is responsible for stunning products like Google Glass, self-driving cars and 16,000-core neural network that works like a virtual brain. Despite the company’s output being sporadic, Google’s X lab could be getting ready to unveil something new that could be ready for a launch soon.

Speaking at SXSW and reported on by GigaOm, Google’s Astro Teller detailed the Google X lab, but more interestingly revealed that we should be expecting an announcement of a new discovery “in the coming month.”

 First Google X Phone prototype was actually leaked this week, new report says

There is, of course, a lot of speculation surrounding Teller’s statement, including Andy Rubin stepping down as head of Android. AllThingsD reports that Andy Rubin isn’t likely to join Google’s X Lab though, as he wants to work on robotics and home automation, which seems to relate to Android @ Home.

We’re just going to have to sit back and relax until we hear an official announcement from the Mountain View-based company of what this new discovery is. The chances of finding out what it is aren’t likely. Google’s X Lab works on 100 projects at a time before allowing the public to glimpse their eyes on even one of those projects.

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First Google X Phone prototype was actually leaked this week, new report says

 

The day before the Galaxy S4 event in New York City we showed you two different Motorola leaks, one from Brazil and one from Vietnam, and wondered whether the latter was showing us the X Phone or not.

When looking at its specs and features, we concluded that this unnamed device can’t be the X Phone, and that instead it could be related to the phones spotted in Brazil.

Later that day, Motorola announced the RAZR D1 and RAZR D3, two low- to mid-range Android Jelly Bean phones, but neither one looked anything like the phone spotted in Vietnam (image above).

Now, a new Android and Me report tells us that the phone that was leaked in Vietnam actually represents an early X Phone prototype, even if it’s not necessarily a high-end device.

The same publication got wind yesterday, with just a few hours to go until the Galaxy S4 announcement, that the X Phone will be a new family of handsets for Google. A brand mean to challenge Samsung’s Galaxy family in the process.

That report said the X Phones will be user-customizable when it comes to hardware, that they will be guaranteed at least one Android update (which would be pushed out by Motorola and not the carriers) and that they will come with a budget-friendly price in mind, with Google interested to sell these devices directly to buyers.

Is the rumor too wild for your taste? Well hang on to your grain of salt, as the website has followed up with a second update on the story.

According to updated information from “several anonymous sources within Motorola,” the X Phone will start shipping in late July, not June as it was said yesterday.

The Vietnam phone appears to be the first X Phone, and while it’s an early prototype, its design has been only slightly changed. Apparently the back of the phone will include a touch-friendly Motorola logo that will be used to offer users access to some sort of controls – maybe the previously rumored human language system for the X Phone (which we have no idea what it really is yet). And yes, Google is interested in placing some controls of the back of a handset, according to a recent patent.

However, the Google X Phone will not be about top-of-the-line hardware, as Google is looking for something else:

Google is not focused on specs or software gimmicks (like Samsung) for their upcoming products. Instead they want to produce an ultra-affordable mobile device that connects to a bunch of wearable accessories they plan to release later this year. Google Glass and Google Watch are two examples of these accessories, and we are told more are in the works.
And when I say “ultra-affordable” mobile device, I’m talking a starting retail price of $199 or less. Google and Motorola will sell smartphones for the same prices that people are willing to pay for today’s flagships, but these devices won’t be tied to a two year contract.

We’re certainly going to keep tabs on these X Phone rumors, as they’re certainly getting more and more interesting. We’ll also point out that we were right to wonder whether Google will release some sort of X Phone rumor campaign around the Galaxy S4 launch, because, as it turns out, we had plenty of X Phone rumors these days.

Meanwhile, let us hear what you think about an Android device that would run the latest Android version and offer users the ability of choosing at least some hardware components? Would you be interested in buying such a handset, even if it won’t offer the high-end specs?

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Google SVP Jeff Huber Steps Aside As The Company Divides Mapping And Commerce Units, Will Join Google X

A new report from the Wall Street Journal just out say that Google has made more major executive staffing and organizational changes today, breaking up the Maps and Commerce units, with SVP Jeff Huber stepping down from his position in charge of those divisions.

The news comes just a day after Google announced another major shakeup, by replacing Andy Rubin with Sundar Pichai as the head of its Google Android division. Huber, whose official title had been SVP of Geo and Commerce, has been with Google since 2003. Huber will move to Google X, which is the experimental division headed by Sergey Brin where Google works on its more ambitious projects like Google Glass.

Google’s Mapping unit will now become part of the Google search division, led by SVP Alan Eustace, and commerce will join the advertising team under SVP Susan Wojcicki, according to the WSJ. These changes were announced within Google alongside the change around Andy Rubin, Pichai and Android leadership.

Huber earned the title of SVP of Commerce and Local in 2011, moving from a previously held position as SVP of Engineering. It’s worth noting that Google announced yesterday that it was shutting down the Search API for Shopping, in order to shift focus to building a “better shopping experience for users through Google Shopping.” Overall, the company seems to be making moves to streamline its product offerings (killing some beloved services in the mix), as well as the management team and internal organization.

Frederic suggested yesterday that exiting Android chief Rubin might also be finding a place at Google X. The company seems to be putting more investment into that department, perhaps based on recent interest in high-profile projects originating form that unit like Google Glass and driverless cars. Staffing up what is arguably the most exciting center of innovation at Google could be a nice byproduct of making sure the management team and overall corporate structure is as efficient as it can be.

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