Motorola continues to impress, this time rolling out an update to Touchless Control. The app, which is limited to their devices with an X8 processor, has some interesting new features. It also makes the hit Moto X a lot more useful, and takes contextual commands to a new realm.
The most interesting wrinkle is the ability to speak commands form the lock screen. We will no longer have to have the phone unlocked before starting with the “Ok, Google Now” command. It would be nice to drop the “Now” and make it a bit more uniform with the rest of Google’s stuff, but that’s just a wish list item. We’re happy to see the feature become more contextual, and useful in more scenarios.
With the update, we’ll now get the ability to speak our PIN code, should we have one enabled. That’s treacherous territory, but still requires your device should anyone want to see what you’re hiding away. The changelog also notes that more Google Now commands will work with your device, but “emails, messages, and contacts” will still be PIN or password protected.
Sadly, this will only work with Android 4.4, meaning it’s pretty much relegated to the Moto X for now. The Droid lineup has the chops for this, but not the Android version necessary. If Verizon and Motorola see fit to update them at some point, this would likely make its way to those devices as well.
The fact that the three Droids are stuck on Jelly Bean and the Verizon Moto X is on Kit Kat speaks volumes about the deals between Motorola and Verizon. Perhaps Motorola got control over the Moto X in exchange for – or at the expense of – the Droids.