Moto X’s Secret Weapon is Choice

After months of speculation and days of leaks about what features the device would have, Motorola has finally, formally announced the Moto X. Though the software features that leaked might have given you the impression that Motorola would be using its Android customization as a secret weapon, it seems the Moto X is more about Motorola allowing users to create the device they want.

According to Motorola, the Moto X will

allow users to customize their device with different color choices in each zone. Users will be able to login into the Moto Maker design site and customize the color of their device’s buttons, front, rear and camera lens housing, ensuring that their device looks exactly the way they want it to. Motorola will then assemble that device in the United States, and deliver it the user in just four days.

The color customizable Moto X.

Should the user not like their color choices, they’ll have 14 days to ship the device back to Motorola and choose different color options.

A press release made available by Motorola this afternoon boasts that the Moto X will have 2,000 color combinations at launch.

Not content with that, the company is saying that users will be able to order more backs overtime, including one made out of wood. The Moto X can also be ordered with a custom message on the device’s rear.

These customization options extend to things inside the device as well. Although users won’t be able to decide what processor or screen is included in their device, they will be able to choose the amount of on-board storage that their device has. Motorola will even ship the device to users with the wallpaper of their choice.

Of course, the Moto X will also come in black and white for those users who are color adverse.

The Moto X color options combine to offer over 2,000 color options.

Motorola says that the black and white versions of the Motorola X will be available at AT&T, Sprint, US Cellular and Verizon Wireless starting at $199 with a two-year service agreement in late August or early September. T-Mobile and international carriers will follow sometime later.

At launch, only AT&T users will be able to customize their device using the Moto Maker website. Verizon users will gain access to the Moto Maker later this year.

All told, the tactic isn’t all that different what Microsoft attempted with its Zune Originals service for the Zune HD. With that service, users could choose their device’s storage size, color and an engraving. Microsoft has since, discontinued creating Zunes. Color choice has also allowed Apple to differentiate it’s devices from the gray and black slabs of others, as with the iPad Nano and iPod Touch.

Posted in: Moto X