Motorola officially unveils the Moto G

The need for an affordable yet capable smartphone has been on the minds of many since the introduction of the "premium priced" flagship smartphones. This is where Motorola believes it can slot in the brand new Moto G which was announced this morning in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

The newly announced Moto G lines up with the specs the were leaked for the past few weeks:

• 4.5-inch 720p HD LCD display
• 1.2 GHz Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 400 quad-core processor 
• 1GB of RAM
• 5-megapixel rear camera
• 2,070mAh battery
• Android 4.3 Jellybean, with a guaranteed upgrade to Android 4.4 KitKat at the beginning of 2014.

The Moto G also sports curved back (much like the Moto X) and has 19 customization options, including interchangeable Motorola Shells, Flip Shells in seven colours as well as Grip Shells in five colours.

What most interesting however is that the phone is priced at an extremely aggressive price point of $179 for the 8GB model and $199 for the 16GB model both sans-contract. This Moto G has to be the most powerful budget device we've seen in this price range.

Sadly, the Moto G loses some of Moto X's most appealing features such as Active Notifications and Touchless controls due to the lack of specific hardware needed for those features. It also loses out on a staple feature on most flagships and midrange devices and that's LTE connectivity. But for the value Motorola is offering, the Moto G is a very appealing device.

Our friends at Motorola have let us know that the Moto G will be made available via TELUS and Koodo for $200 off contract. MobileSyrup is reporting that this will be the 8GB version, which is a bit disappointing which means we got the gratuitous "Canadian Markup" of $20. We fully expect subsidized versions to be free on contract.

Check out the official unveiling video and press release after the break.

Introducing Moto G:

An Exceptional Phone At An Exceptional Price

People all around the world want to be a part of the mobile Internet so they can access the world’s information, share, and connect with the things that matter to them. But the smartphone industry has relegated hundreds of millions of smartphone buyers to second-class status, preventing them from experiencing the mobile Internet at its best.

That’s because price-conscious consumers who don’t want to pay $600 or more for high-end smartphones have been left with two bad options. The first is to buy cheap, new smartphones made with second-rate technology that don’t do justice to modern apps and experiences like navigation, video chat and games. The second is to buy “low cost” versions of premium products that were released two or three years ago and are already obsolete.

We think there should be a better option. Everybody deserves to be on the mobile Internet, and price shouldn't stand in the way of anyone having a truly good smartphone to get them there.

Today we’re introducing Moto G, a smartphone that delivers a premium experience for a third of the price of current high-end phones. Moto G includes:

·         A brilliant 4.5-inch HD display – the sharpest in its class – that goes edge-to-edge so you can enjoy movies, photos, video chats and more.

·         The newest Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 400 quad-core processor for seamless multitasking and enjoying the web, videos and games, with all-day battery life.

·         Android 4.3 Jellybean, the most up to date Android of any phone in its class, with a guaranteed upgrade to Android 4.4 KitKat at the beginning of 2014. No skins to clutter or slow the experience, and great performance with Google’s unbeatable mobile services such as Gmail, YouTube, Google Maps, Chrome and Hangouts.

·         Stylish design with a comfortable curved back and 19 customization options, including interchangeable Motorola Shells, Flip Shells in seven colours as well as Grip Shells in five colours.

In Canada, Moto G will be available at TELUS and Koodo this month for $200 outright.