#Moto E vs #Nokia X vs #Lumia 520: Which one to buy

Moto E has become a runaway success in the Indian market, giving buyers a viable option against the multitude of low-cost but barely functioning smartphones from the likes of Micromax, Lava, Samsung, Sony etc.

While there is no doubt that Moto E is the best ultra-cheap Android smartphone, many still believe that Microsoft's Nokia Lumia 520 — despite being over a year old — is still THE phone to beat in the entry-level segment. Adding to the options is the recognition for Nokia X, the company's cheapest Android phone, albeit with a lot of Microsoft flavour and sans Google Play Store.

We take an in-depth look at the three to decide which among the three — Moto E, Lumia 520 and Nokia X — is the best entry-level smartphone in India.

READ ALSO: Moto E review
READ ALSO: Nokia X review
READ ALSO: Nokia Lumia 520 review

Design


Moto E sports the curved design that was introduced with Moto X and feels very ergonomic. With the rounded edges, it is easy to grip in one hand and feels pretty solid. The back cover features matte finish that feels good to hold. 

Moto E is, however, the heaviest of the lot at 142gram, especially considering its overall size and despite lack of any hardware keys in front. Motorola has used a nano-coating to protect the smartphone from damage if it gets a little water. 

In contrast to Moto E's rounded edges, Lumia 520 has sharp edges on corners. Thankfully, the back panel has a slight curve to it at the sides so that it can be wielded pretty comfortably in a way that you don't feel the sharp edges. 

On the other hand, Nokia X is all edges and no curves. It has a pretty boxy look to it and appears quite similar to the cheaper Asha phones. Nevertheless, it also feels pretty solid and can be held in one hand comfortably. Both Nokia phones also feature matte finish on the back, but it doesn't feel as good when compared to Moto E. 

Verdict: Riding high on the back of an ergonomic design and (limited) water resistance, Moto E wins this round with ease.

Display
Moto E comes with a 4.3-inch screen, offering display resolution of 960x540, something that India's entry-level segment has not seen yet. The colours appear punchy and sunlight legibility is pretty good. However, Moto E's viewing angles are a bit dodgy and you would not be able to enjoy videos from an off-centre position as it loses colours then. The screen of Moto E is topped with Gorilla Glass 3 so that it is better protected against scratches. 

Both Nokia X and Lumia 520 feature a 4-inch display with 800x480p resolution and have better viewing angles than Moto E. In comparison to Moto E, the display quality is not as great, even though there is only a small difference in the pixel density of the three (256ppi for Moto E vs 233ppi for the Nokia phones). 

Lumia 520 and Nokia X's colour reproduction capabilities are similar to that of Moto E, but the Motorola phone gets the edge in sunlight visibility. 

Verdict: Moto E is the winner here, trumping the rivals with a bigger screen, Gorilla Glass 3 protection and better overall quality.

Hardware



Moto E runs on a dual-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon 200 with 1GB RAM. It is the only smartphone in Motorola's international portfolio that supports microSD cards (up to 32GB) and comes with 4GB in-built storage. The dual-sim device has a 5MP rear camera, 1,980mAh battery, 2G, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 and microUSB 2.0. 

Lumia 520 is powered by a dual-core 1GHz Snapdragon S4 processor, backed by 512MB RAM. This single sim phone comes with a much higher 8GB internal storage, supports 32GB microSD cards, 5MP rear camera and a lesser 1,430mAh battery. Its connectivity features are same as that of Moto E. 

Nokia X too packs a dual-core 1GHz Snapdragon S4 Play chipset, with 512MB RAM. This smartphone supports dual sim cards, has 4GB internal storage, supports storage expansion via microSD cards (up to 32GB) but features only a 3MP rear camera and 1,500mAh battery. It comes with Bluetooth 3.0, but the rest of the connectivity options are same as that of Moto E and Lumia 520. 

Vedict: Spec sheets don't tell the real story. Sure, Moto E has the best hardware of the three at first look, but Lumia 520 does not need as much RAM and as big a battery to deliver similar performance. In the Performance section below, you will read in detail how Lumia 520 is able to match Moto E despite less powerful hardware.

Software
Moto E comes with the pure, unadulterated version of KitKat, the latest version of Android. There is a reason why Android is so popular: You get the best of apps without paying a bomb. That's where Moto E scores. On the other hand, Windows Phone is still getting there and has a fair bit of catching up to do. Motorola has also promised an upgrade to the next version of Android for its latest phone. 

Nokia Lumia 520 runs on Windows Phone 8 operating system, and will get the WP8.1 update once it starts rolling out globally only later this year. But the Windows Phone app store is pretty limited even though it is over three years old. You will get most of the popular apps on this platform, but major updates come last to Microsoft's OS. 

Nokia X is the most interesting case here. While the other two phones run on stock versions of their respective platforms, Nokia X is powered by Android, but with heavy customization such that it does not feel like an Android phone at all. The default software is overlaid with a tile-based skin that is reminiscent of Windows Phone, and a swipe to the left or right will bring you to the Fastlane multitasking system that was introduced with the Asha range. 

But the custom skin comes with problems of its own. It trades Android's default Google suite of services for Microsoft's, making common apps like Gmail, Search, Maps etc inaccessible to most users. You can, however, sideload them by installing a third-party app marketplace. 

The problem with this approach is that many, if not most, users who buy Nokia X as their first smartphone may not be aware of how to add an extra app store. Therefore, they will be stuck with Windows Store for apps. 

Verdict: Moto E wins this round hands-down as it gives access to the best apps and the best version od stock Android for an overall well-rounded operating system, and a great multitasking experience at the lowest price. 

Performance



The user interface is pretty fluid and there is no lag when you open multiple apps in quick succession. Web pages and apps open swiftly, giving a pretty good user experience despite the low price tag. 

While there is nothing remarkable about the hardware of Moto E, but the integration of the hardware and software makes it a winner. There were a couple of times when the phone slowed down under heavy usage, but there was never an instance of the handset freezing completely. 

Moto E can teach even top-end phones a thing or two about battery life. Its processor is not resource-consuming, so the battery life was expected to be good. But what's surprising is that it consistently delivers battery life of over a day once the battery is fully charged. 

Lumia 520 matches the performance of Moto E, giving a smooth performance. The well-optimized Windows Phone 8 OS does not consume too many resources either, so you do not have any instances of freezing. But compared to Moto E, apps and web pages load a tad slower. 

The difference is not much, but you would want the most responsive phone, not just one that works well. You can leave home with Lumia 520's battery fully charged and there would still be some left when you get back home after a standard work-day. 

Nokia X comes a distant third in the performance race, giving a relatively slow performance from the word go. Web pages on the browser load fast enough, but opening the browser itself takes a lot of time (compared to the other two phones). 

Apps are slow to start and multitasking is not as easy. Each time you want to switch between apps, you need to exit the app you are using and then head to Fastlane in order to open a previously used app. The battery life of Nokia X is dismal; it lasts just over half a day even with moderate use. 

Verdict: Moto E notches up another win, with a stellar performance and excellent battery life that puts even some Rs 10,000 smartphones to shame.

Multimedia and gaming
When it comes to multimedia and gaming, Moto E is a pretty good performer. Not only can it play popular games like Temple Run 2 and Subway Surfer with ease, it can also handle graphics-intensive games like Dead Trigger 2 and Real Racing 3. We use the word "handle" here because you will notice some lag while playing these games, even though the game remains playable. 

Moto E can play 720p videos, but our reference 1080p videos were a no-go. For those who play music a lot, the front-facing speaker of Moto E is a treat. The mono speaker is pretty loud, but you can notice some cracking at high volume. 

Lumia 520 delivers a similar performance here. Most high-end games on Windows Phone platform are inaccessible to this smartphone because of the limited RAM, but you can still go for Jetpack Joyride and Rail Rush, which play without even a hint of lag. 

Audio output of Lumia 520 is pretty decent but the speaker not as loud as that of Moto E. It was able to play some of our 1080p videos but there was noticeable choppiness, so you are basically limited to 720p here as well. 

Nokia X comes with 512MB RAM, making it ill-equipped to play games like Asphalt 8 and Real Racing 3. Even Temple Run 2 saw a lot of frame drops, but playing Angry Birds was a breeze. Speaker output here is good as well, but again not as great as that of Moto E. Playing 720p videos on the phone is smooth, but 1080p is a problem here too. 

Verdict: The race between Moto E and Lumia 520 is pretty tight here, as the winner will depend on what you like. If you are not much of a gamer, then Lumia 520 should suffice, but Moto E definitely does a better job at gaming and audio output. Our pick? Moto E. 

Camera



Moto E and Lumia 520 feature 5MP rear cameras, while Nokia X has a 3MP camera on the back. None of them comes with LED flash or front camera and the rear cameras are of the fixed focus variety. 

In a bid to keep costs to a minimum, Motorola has put the camera right at the end of its priority list, which is evident from the images this phone clicks. Photos are noisy and don't show much detail at full zoom. Colours are pretty accurate, but we noticed that some photos tend to blur despite a very steady capture. 

Lumia 520 comes with a host of Nokia Lenses (as the company calls its shooting modes) in the default camera app. This gives users much more choice while taking photos. Images taken with Lumia 520 offer great detail, much better than what Moto E can manage. Colours, however, don't appear as warm, but the contrast level gets a big thumbs-up. 

Nokia X is also poor in the camera department. Noise is a problem here too, but colours are warmer compared to Lumia 520. Contrast level is okay at best. 

Verdict: Lumia 520 wins the race in the imaging arena by a big margin. Moto E and Nokia X simply cannot compete with this smartphone here. 

Price
Moto E costs Rs 6,999 and is available via online retailer Flipkart only. Lumia 520 is available at best price of Rs 7,499 on e-commerce sites in India, but its average price is around Rs 8,000. Nokia X is the cheapest of the lot at Rs 6,499 (via online retailers), but average price stands around Rs 7,000. Both Nokia phones cost a little more if bought from brick-and-mortar stores. 

Conclusion
Moto E ticks the most boxes in this comparison, delivers consistently good performance on all parameters, except camera. It is no surprise therefore that it is best smartphone available under Rs 10,000. Lumia 520, albeit much older, is a close second, delivering pretty good performance that can (almost) rival Moto E's. 

However, it is the subtle differences in performance that puts Lumia 520 behind. Nokia X, on the other hand, stands last and does not offer much value for money.

Ref - TOI

#Moto X coming to India in “next few weeks”

NEW DELHI: After a successful launch of the low-cost Moto G smartphone, Motorola is bringing its Moto X handset to India in the next few weeks. 

Responding to a query about the India launch of Motorola's flagship smartphone on Twitter, the company tweeted, "In next few weeks Moto X will launch in India and Australia." 

However, Moto Maker - the online tool that allows users to customize Moto X - may not be available at launch. The company tweeted that Moto Maker, which is currently available only in the US, will be rolled out in Western Europe and Mexico in the second quarter of the year, leaving doubts whether this customization tool will be launched in India any time soon. 

Moto Maker allows users to choose the colour of the front panel (black or white only), back cover (18 colour options), and the hue of the keys on the side and the camera rim. Motorola says there are over 2,000 possible combinations of colours and build materials. 

Moto X is the only flagship smartphone by a major company that aims to lure customers with the promise of optimized user experience instead of beefed up hardware. The device has a 4.7-inch HD screen, dual-core processor, 10MP camera and 2GB RAM. 

However, the smartphone comes with a unique always-on voice assistant that listens to the commands even if the user is not operating the handset. It also comes with a Quick Capture feature, which allows users to jerk their wrist twice to open the camera app. The camera of Moto X also features ClearPixel technology that allows 75% more light to enter, thus producing better low light pictures. 

Much like Nokia's Glance Screen, Moto X comes with Active Display; this feature shows the time, unread messages and emails, missed calls and other notifications even when the screen is turned off. The device is preloaded with the Migrate app, which allows users to transfer data like contacts, photos, videos and even call log and SMSs from any Android 4.2-powered phone. 

It is expected that Motorola will stick to selling Moto X online only via Flipkart at the time of launch. The strategy has worked well in the case of Moto G, which is currently out of stock in India. 

However, the India launch of Moto X may be too late, as the next version of the smartphone is in the offing. The update to Moto X will be launched globally next summer, tweeted Motorola. 

Rick Osterloh, the company's senior vice-president of product management, also revealed that Moto G has become the highest selling Motorola smartphone of all time. 

Motorola also opened up about its plans for a smartwatch via tweets. The company said "We are working on a watch that will be available this year. We aim to address consumer issues like style & battery life." 

Google sold Motorola to Lenovo for $2.91 billion in January, less than three years after acquiring the company. Though Motorola's handset business is going to Lenovo, Google will retain its research division and modular smartphone initiative (Project Ara).

Ref - TOI

#Motorola Moto G review: The budget performer

The much awaited Moto G, Motorola's economy Android smartphone, has finally been launched in India. The phone has won accolades the world over for its low price and great performance combo, and for bringing the focus back to usability instead of high-end specifications, a trend Motorola started with the Moto X, its flagship smartphone. We try to find out if Moto G really lives up to the hype surrounding it, in our review.

What's in the box
Unlike the international version of the Moto G, the Indian version imported by Flipkart includes a charger and a headset. It doesn't include a USB cable so you'll need to buy one to transfer data to the phone. Other than these, you'll find the user manual and a warranty-related document. The Moto G comes with a standard black coloured back panel, but additional back panels in other colours can be ordered separately.



Build and design
One of the most striking things about the Moto G is its minimalist no-frills design. The phone's look is essentially based on Moto X which is not available in India at this moment.

Moto G feels good to hold despite it being heavy at 143 gram and a bit thick at 11.6mm due to its curved back and rounded corners that take care of ergonomics. The phone is made from plastic materials but feels durable. Although it comes with a removable back panel, the construction is excellent. The back panel fits snugly, with no creaks and wobbles.

At first glance, the only thing you notice is the Moto G's shiny black front panel devoid of any distractions. There's no branding and no hardware buttons. The 1.3MP front camera and a notification LED placed next to the earpiece are the only other components visible.

Turn on the phone, and the 4.5-inch 720p IPS edge-to-edge display comes to life bursting with pixels. The phone's front bezel is designed in a manner so as to put all the focus on the display, making it the centre of attention. On the sides, the bezel is pretty narrow, but it takes up considerable amount of space below the display, which is a good thing as the navigation controls are easily accessible.
There's a minor gap between the edge of the front panel, which is slightly raised, and the display that tends to attract dust particles. The edge may also be susceptible to wear and tear once you start using the phone. The display comes with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection guarding the screen against scratches. Moto G is the only phone in this price range to feature Gorilla Glass 3.

The right edge of the Moto G features the narrow Power/ Screen lock keys which are made of metal and offer decent tactile feedback. However, we wish the volume rocker key would have been a little longer as we ended up hitting the power key during the initial period of use.

The 3.5mm headset jack sits at the top while the micro-USB port is placed at the bottom edge of the phone. There are no ports or buttons on the left edge.

The back of the phone, which is essentially the removable back cover, is curved and sports a rubberized soft matte finish, that makes holding the phone a pleasant experience. It features the phone's 5MP rear camera lens, an LED flash and Motorola logo (in an indent). We also found the back prone to smudges, but it is thankfully easy to clean.

Moto G also comes with a nano-coating that makes is water resistant up to a certain level. It will be able to handle minor splashes, but most likely won't survive a dip in the pool.

Overall, the Moto G is a compact and durable no-frills smartphone that is built to last.

Software
The dual-sim version of Moto G available in India comes with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. Motorola has promised that the phone will get the Android 4.4 KitKat software update in the coming days. At the time of filing of this review, our Moto G unit had not received an update and was still running Jelly Bean.

Moto G runs an almost stock version of Android complete with on-screen navigation controls. The interface is close to Google's Nexus 4 except that Motorola also includes some of its own apps. Thankfully, these apps are not bloatware and add to functionality. One of the Motorola app called Assist changes how the phone alerts you during meetings or sleep. If you've used an iPhone, you must have used or come across the Do Not Disturb; Assist is similar and allows you to silence or auto reply to missed calls while you're in a meeting or sleeping. You can choose exceptions for Favourite callers or when someone calls twice.

Another Motorola app bundled with the phone is Moto Care. The app is not only a searchable user guide featuring Tutorials, FAQs, How-tos and actionable tips, it also offers a shortcut key to get in touch with Motorola's customer care. Motorola Migrate allows you to transfer content and settings from your old Android phone or iPhone.

The dual-sim Moto G also comes with settings for managing the behavior of two sim cards, allowing you to choose the default connection for data, calls and messaging.

That's about it. You get a pretty neat slate to customize as per your own preference and use the apps that you wish to.

The Android 4.4 KitKat update is expected to bring some minor cosmetic improvements including white notification icons and a transparent notification bar, a new Phone dialer app, some camera improvements in addition to other changes under the hood.

Camera
Moto G is an economy smartphone and despite the phone delivering more than what other smartphones in the price segment offer, the limitations are apparent when it comes to the camera.

The phone comes with a 5MP rear camera and a 1.3MP front facing camera. The rear camera can capture 720p video and also comes with an LED flash for taking pictures in low-light conditions.



Motorola ships its own camera app with the phone which is pretty bare bones when it comes to offering granular settings but designed keeping in mind the casual camera user. You'll only see two controls - one for switching to the video camera and the other to switch between the front and rear lenses till you swipe from the edge to the right side of the screen to reveal an arc shaped dial that features controls for HDR mode, LED flash, focus & exposure, slow motion, Panorama mode, geo-tagging, widescreen mode and shutter sound. Similar to the Windows Phone camera app, you click pictures by tapping anywhere on the screen. The soft viewfinder can be moved up and down to zoom in and out or shift focus.

We were pretty impressed by the images captured by the Moto G outdoors, during daylight. The images had good amount of detail, reproduced colour accurately and good contrast, especially in HDR mode. Pictures captured in low-light conditions and indoors were not that great but noise levels were comparatively lower than other phones in the same price range.


The rear camera can capture 720p video and we found the quality to be satisfactory.

The front camera comes in handy for taking selfies and for video chats, and does a decent job.

Performance
Moto G is known for offering the level of performance which is only delivered by phones costing Rs 10,000 more than it. At the heart of the phone is the 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor coupled with Adreno 305 graphics and 1GB RAM. We did not notice any lag whatsoever while navigating through the phone's menu, launching apps and switching between them.

We were able to play games like Temple Run 2, Banana Kong, and Asphalt 8 without encountering frame drops or freezes. Despite the limited RAM, the phone is a great gaming device.

In synthetic benchmarks, it beats competitors like the Micromax Canvas Turbo Mini by a margin. The phone scored 17,404 in Antutu, 8574 in Quadrant and 57.9 in Nenamark 2 benchmark tests. Some of these scores are better than the Nexus 4.



Out of the 16GB storage, 12.92GB is available to the user. Unfortunately, you can't expand the storage as the phone doesn't come with a memory card slot. Google is offering 50GB free cloud storage in Google Drive with the phone but we don't see cloud storage going mainstream till data connectivity gets better and data tariffs go cheaper.

Moto G offers Bluetooth, WiFi and GPS connectivity options. Interestingly, it comes with a trusted Bluetooth feature allowing you to disable lock screen when the phone is paired with a device specified as 'trusted.' This means you don't need to unlock the screen to change tracks when listening to music via Bluetooth headphones.

Moto G offers excellent call quality and signal reception and we did not encounter issues while making calls even in areas where cell signal is relatively weaker. The phone was able to lock to GPS without any hiccups.

Moto G offers FM radio but unfortunately, you can't listen to it through the phone's speaker even when you've plugged in the headphones to use as an antenna. It also doesn't offer a recording feature. We were able to play most popular video and audio file formats.

The external speaker on the phone offers loud sound output though it lacks bass. Of course the sound gets muffled when the phone lies on its back, which is an issue.

The phone is backed by a 2070 mAh battery and will last you a complete day even if you put the screen brightness at the highest level and use 3G data all the time. You'll be able to make about 2-3 hours of phone calls, play some casual games and browse the web in this time period. The phone can play video continuously for 7 to 8 hours.

Overall, the Moto G offers impressive performance and using it as our daily driver turned out to be a pleasant experience.

Verdict
There has been a vacuum in the Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 price segment when it comes to quality Android smartphones. Indian brands do somewhat fill the gap but the after-sales experience has left many customers high and dry. Also, the build quality and finish of these devices leaves a lot to be desired.

The Moto G addresses this very segment delivering great performance at an affordable price. We would not shy away for calling it a value for money proposition as the phone is well built and comes with the promise of latest software. We hope Motorola (even after completion of its acquisition by Lenovo) continues to offer software updates and ensures good level of on-ground after sales support.

There's no other Android phone we can recommend in the price segment. If you're fine with Windows Phone and want a better camera, the Nokia Lumia 720 is a good option.

Ref - TOI

#Motorola Moto G launched in India at Rs 12,499

Motorola's much awaited Android smartphone Moto G has been launched in India at a price point of Rs 12,499 for the 8GB variant and Rs 13,999 for the 16GB storage variant.

The phone will be exclusively available on e-commerce website, Flipkart, on launch day. The phone has already been listed on the website, however, there's no information on shipping and availability, yet. It's worth pointing out that the version of the Moto G listed on Flipkart comes with dual-sim capability. Motorola and Flipkart are hosting an event in New Delhi where the phone will be formally unveiled.

Launched in the last months of 2013 in several markets, Moto G sports a 4.5-inch screen with a 720P resolution. It is powered by a middle-of-line quad-core processor running at 1.2GHz. The device comes with 8GB and 16GB storage options and has 1GB RAM. The primary camera can shoot images in 5MP while the secondary camera is 1.3MP. The phone runs Android 4.3 Jelly Bean but will soon receive the Android 4.4 KitKat software update. It doesn't feature major UI customizations. Motorola has promised early access to Android updates on Moto G.

Moto G key specifications
4.5-inch display with a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels, 329 ppi pixel density
1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor
1GB RAM
8GB/ 16GB internal storage
5MP rear camera with LED flash, 1.3MP front-facing camera
3G, WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0,GPS
2070mAh battery
Dual SIM (GSM + GSM)
Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean) upgradable to Android 4.4 (KitKat)

Ref - TOI

#Google selling #Motorola phone business to #Lenovo for $2.9 billion

#Google is selling Motorola's smartphone business to Lenovo for $2.9 billion, a price that makes Google's biggest acquisition look like its most expensive mistake.

The deal announced on Wednesday will rid Google Inc. of a financial headache that has plagued the internet company since buyingMotorola Mobility for $12.4 billion in 2012.Motorola has lost nearly $2 billion since Google took over, while trimming its workforce from 20,000 to 3,800.

Google had previously recovered some of the money that it spent on Motorola by selling the company's set-top operations last year to Arris Group Inc. for $2.35 billion. Google is also keeping most of the patents that came with the Motorola purchase.

It's unclear if Google will have to absorb a charge to account for the difference between what it paid for Motorola Mobility and what it is getting back. The Mountain View, California, company may address the issue Thursday when it announces its fourth-quarter earnings after the market closes.

Most investors viewed Motorola as an unnecessary drain on Google's profit, a perspective that was reflected by Wall Street's reaction to the sale. Google's stock gained $28.08, or 2.5%, to $1,135 in extended trading.

While Google is backpedaling, Lenovo Group Ltd. is gearing up for a major expansion. Already the world's largest maker of personal computers, Lenovo now appears determined to become a bigger player in smartphones as more people rely on them instead of laptop and desktop computers to go online.

Lenovo already is among the smartphone leaders in its home country of China, but it has been looking for ways to expand its presence in other markets, especially the US and Latin America. The company had been rumored to be among the prospective buyers for BlackBerry Ltd. when that troubled smartphone maker was mulling a sale last year.

This marks Lenovo's second high-profile deal this month. The company announced plans last week to buy a major piece of IBM Corp.'s computer server business for $2.3 billion.

Buying Motorola will enable Lenovo to join Apple Inc. as the only major technology companies with global product lines in PCs, smartphones and tablets, putting Lenovo in a better position to become a one-stop shop for companies to buy all their devices from the same vendor, said Forrester Research analyst Frank Gillett.

"This makes Lenovo a company to watch,'' Gillett said in an email. "The personal device manufacturer business is consolidating, and manufacturers must compete in all three device markets, plus emerging wearable categories, or get left out of the next market shift.''

After it takes over, Lenovo plans to retain a Motorola management team led by Dennis Woodside. Google had reassigned Woodside, one of its top executive, to run Motorola Mobility in hopes he could engineer a turnaround. Under Woodside, Motorola released two new smartphones last year, the Moto X and Moto G. The phones attracted lots of headlines, but didn't sell as well as anticipated, analysts say.

Lenovo executives also said they aren't planning to lay off any more Motorola employees and that the subsidiary would remain based in its current headquarters in Libertyville, Illinois.

"We buy this business, we buy this team as our treasure,'' Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing said during a Wednesday conference call.

Google is retaining most of Motorola's portfolio of mobile patents, providing the company with legal protection for its widely used Android software for smartphones and tablet computers. Gaining control of Motorola's patents was the main reason Google CEO Larry Page decided to pay so much for Motorola Mobility at a time the smartphone maker was already losing money and market share.

Most analysts thought Page had paid too much money for Motorola and questioned why Google wanted to own a smartphone maker at the risk of alienating other mobile device makers that rely on Android.

Selling Motorola's smartphone operations will "enable Google to devote our energy to driving innovation across the Android ecosystem,'' Page said in a statement.

Lenovo is picking up about 2,000 Motorola patents in addition to the phone manufacturing operations.

Ref - TOI

Motorola Mobility not shutting operations in India

Google owned Motorola Mobilityhas said that although it has no plans to expand its offerings in the country at present, it will continue its India operations. 


"Motorola Mobility is not closing down its India operations. Although we are not currently introducing new products there, we retain significant operations in India," MotorolaMobility spokesperson William Moss told PTI in reply to a query via e-mail. 

Motorola Mobility has closed down its India website and is reducing headcount in the world's second largest mobile phone market in terms of subscribers amid rising operational costs. 

The company will cut around 1,200 jobs in 13 countries, including India and China, in addition to 4,000 lay offs it announced last year. 

"These cuts are a continuation of the reductions we announced last summer. It's obviously very hard for the employees concerned, and we are committed to helping them through this difficult transition," Moss said. 

In August, the company has announced it would lay off 4,000 people across globe. 

Moss, however, did not disclose India specific numbers. "We are not releasing numbers for specific markets. However, the number cited is global, not just India," he said. 

As of December, Motorola Mobility had 11,113 people. After acquiring it in May 2012, Google started restructuring at Motorola Mobility by reduce workforce, reorganising management structure, closing and consolidating certain facilities and simplify mobile product portfolio.