Hasta La Gadget!

It’s been one day since the Moto X was introduced as the rebirth of Motorola: a Google Company. Now it’s time to take a moment and reflect. What did we just see? At it’s most basic, Moto X is an Android smartphone that epitomizes the new wave, the Context Ecosystem, as it’s been dubbed, and […]

Motorola has been doing its best to build some buzz around the Moto X, which launched this week. As a smartphone, the X is decidedly middle-of-the-road. It boasts specs and a design similar to the Droid models Motorola announced last week. Available later this month at $199 on-contract from most major US carriers, the X’s biggest claim to fame — other than swappable backplates, including one made of wood — is the fact that it’s assembled in the US, in a 500,000-square-foot factory in Fort Worth, Texas. Yes, that’s “assembled.” Despite widespread reports that the X is being made in the US, most of its components, from its display to those backplates, are produced in factories around the world, and workers in Texas will assemble the phones.

Does it really matter where your smartphone is made? If your main concern is domestic job creation, it might. A 2012 survey by Boston Consulting Group found that over 80 percent of Americans are willing to pay more for products that are made in the US instead of China, mainly because they want to keep jobs in the country. Interestingly, the same survey found that 60 percent of Chinese consumers would pay a premium for US-made products, apparently based on the belief that the US produces higher-quality products. When it comes to smartphones, that’s an idea that’s difficult to put to the test; there are none currently manufactured in the United States, and that’s not about to change with the launch of the X.

Filed under: Misc, Google

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In an effort to raise the bar on local reviews, Google has just announced the launch of the City Experts program, open to Google+ users with at least 50 reviews under their belts. To maintain membership, City Experts must write a minimum of five reviews per month that meet Google’s standards for quality. Said standards aren’t particularly strenuous; City Experts are expected to produce three or four sentences that give an accurate and substantial impression of the businesses they’re reviewing. To encourage people to sign up, the company is offering a slew of goodies, like custom Google swag, invitations to local events and exclusive offers in the program’s monthly newsletter. If nothing tickles your fancy more than slamming or praising businesses in your area, you can sign up at the source link below.

Filed under: Internet, Google

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Via: TechCrunch

Source: Google

Here comes the Moto X, the fanciest phone out of Motorola in a long time and here already came the Nexus 7, a device that may beat out the iPad Mini. We talk about both of them. Then we move on to how 3D printing is killing us all and how that’s pretty terrible.

We discuss all this and more on this week’s TechCrunch Gadgets Podcast. The show features John Biggs, Matt Burns, Natasha Lomas, Chris Velazco, and Darrell Etherington as Uncle Jesse.

So sit back, relax, and listen to us make fun of each other while discussing this week’s developments in gadgetry.

Enjoy!

We invite you to enjoy our weekly podcasts every Friday at 3pm Eastern and noon Pacific.

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Intro Music by Rick Barr.

Frequently lose your phone? Yeah, join the club. Don’t worry, Google’s got a fix. Android Device Manager will be available later this month for phones with 2.2 or later, letting you ring your phone at maximum volume when you can’t find it, even if the handset has been silenced. Should that fail, you can also locate the thing on a Google Map in real-time — and there’s also a plan C. When you’re all out of other options, you can securely erase all of your data from afar, so your Angry Birds scores don’t wind up in the wrong hands.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Google

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Source: Official Android Blog