Well, it's official. The Motorola X Phone is real, and it's been officially dubbed the "Moto X." Not much is known about it at this point, but one of the main things people will be wondering about is whether the device will launch with Jelly Bean 4.3, or whether Google will use it to spotlight Android Key Lime Pie's big debut.
Right now, we know the Moto X will be the first smartphone assembled in the U.S., will sport an OLED screen, and will feature some interesting sensors that will be able to tell when it's in your hand or even boot up the camera when you want to take a picture. Google is also very focused on battery life and build quality.
But what about the operating system? Motorola's press release offers no information on this, but it does state the Moto X will arrive this summer. That opens up some intriguing possibilities.
As you may know by now, many originally expected Android Key Lime Pie to be shown at Google I/O. As the event came closer, that speculation shifted to a Jelly Bean 4.3 update instead, and even that didn't show up.
However, Google is widely expected to reveal Jelly Bean 4.3 very soon, and with a white Nexus 4 arriving on June 10, it seems like the perfect time to raise the curtains on the update. Adding credence to this idea is that a Nexus 4 was already spotted running Android 4.3 at the Thailand Mobile Expo last week, and now there's a new video from Google hinting that Jelly Bean 4.3 will arrive on the Nexus 4 as well.
In the video, the Nexus 4's clock is set to 4:30. As past Google videos have shown, the time set on the device is equivalent to the version of Android it will debut with (Nexus S sported a 2:30 time and launched with Android 2.3, for example). If the trend continues, it means the Jelly Bean 4.3 reveal is imminent.
That's great and all, but what does it have to do with Key Lime Pie and Moto X? Well, if it's true that the white Nexus 4 will appear with Jelly Bean 4.3 and the Moto X won't appear until later this summer, it's likely Google will want to launch its first Motorola phone, the first smartphone built in the U.S., with its new flagship operating system. The Moto X is intended to be a high-end phone that will compete with the Galaxy S series and the iPhone, and what better way to launch it then with a delicious Key Lime Pie update?
The timing would also work out well for Google's other partners. Moto X would be the first device to launch with Android Key Lime Pie out of the box during the last half of summer, and the Galaxy Note 3 could follow shortly after with its expected debut in September. Meanwhile, other phones would be able to get updates as soon as Google and phone carriers start rolling them out.
Does this timeline make sense? Disagree? Leave us a note in the comment section with your thoughts.
