Putting an end to a long stream of rumors, Motorola officially announced the Moto G at an event that took place in Brazil earlier in the week. The event included details on the hardware and software as well as the pricing and even a bit about the availability. Motorola has the Moto G launching with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean, and while they promised a Kit Kat update by January, it looks like some markets will see the handset launch with Android 4.4.
Basically, whether the handset will launch with Android 4.3 or 4.4 depends on the wave. According to details coming from Omio, there will be two waves in total. The first will have the handset launch with 4.3 and get updated to 4.4 in January. The second wave will launch with 4.4.
Some of the countries included in wave one are Brazil, France, Germany, Mexico and the UK. The first wave also looks to include Canada and in fact, TELUS and Koodo Mobile have said the handset will be arriving “this month.” The second wave hasn’t been fully detailed just yet, however Motorola has said that will include US and Southeast Asia. And for that second wave, shipments are expected to begin sometime after Christmas.
In total, Motorola has said the Moto G will be available in more than 30 counties and through 60 carrier or channel partners. As for the US market, we have already heard from Verizon Wireless, who have announced the handset will be joining the prepaid lineup in early 2014. Below you can see a bit of the Moto G from our initial hands-on time.
Aside from the Moto G, there has also been some talk of Android 4.4 Kit Kat coming for the previously existing Moto handset — the Moto X. This one will ultimately come down to carrier approvals and timelines, however Motorola does expect the update to arrive in a “matter of weeks.” For that, there has been some speculation that it may be arriving for Verizon Wireless users sooner rather than later.
