Motorola recaps Moto G software, “guarantees” KitKat update by January

Motorola’s Moto G announcement just ended as the company truly introduced something very aggressive and perhaps exactly what the smartphone market has needed for a very long time. There’s little question that a lot of customers are turned off by the high price of today’s smartphones and that’s exactly the mindset Motorola is aiming to change. The company hopes to convince customers that aggressive pricing featured with specs that match “high-end” smartphones don’t require a $500+ price tag.

According to Punit Soni, Motorola’s software product manager the device punches way above its weight relative to category thanks to “obsessive attention to the basics.” When compared against the Galaxy S 4 that is 3x the cost, the device performs 1.2x faster when answering a call, 1.1seconds faster when making a call, 0.5s faster when launching the browser, 0.5s second faster when returning to the home screen and 5.3s faster booting up. All totaled it’s not enough to make you throw your Galaxy S 4 out the window, but it shows that impressive software combined with good hardware doesn’t require “flagship” pricing.

As for the software, there isn’t a ton of new features when you consider the Moto X as the company is including services like Motorola Migrate which will take content and settings from your previous device and transfer to the new phone. Motorola Assist is also included which helps your phone behave in different modes depending on your current action. The device will behave differently when you’re sleeping or when you’re in a meeting, and it will get better over time to anticipate your needs. Motorola calls Assist “an evolution of what Moto has been trying for years.”

Like it’s big brother, the camera app on the Moto G doesn’t feature any capture button, just touch the screen and take a photo ala the Moto X. You can hold your finger on the display for burst mode or flick your fingers for more features and settings. The device will arrive with Google Drive and 65GB of online storage, FM radio functionality and more. The great news? The Motorola G will get KitKat by January 2014 and is “guaranteed” to do so according to Motorola’s CEO Dennis Woodside.

The Moto G goes on sale today in Brazil and parts of Europe, everywhere else including the US in January 2014. All totaled, Motorola will place the Moto G in more 30 countries with more than 60 partners over the next few months.