Lenovo acquired Motorola Mobility from Google for $2.94 billion in early 2014. The acquisition has been a rocky transition and apparently “did not meet expectations”, according to the Chinese company in May 2016. With a string of unsuccessful mobile product entries in the US and Chinese markets, Lenovo said that it has learned from the experience and has reset their course for the better. The new Moto Z line is proof of that adjustment.
At IFA 2016, we catch another glimpse of that new direction in the form of the ambitious Moto Z Play, along with its equally bold partner, the Hasselblad TrueZoom Moto Mod. Earlier, we covered leak reports of the Moto Z Play, and fortunately those spec leaks have been right on the dot.
Moto Z Play
- 2.0GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 octa-core processor
- Adreno 506 graphics processor
- 3GB RAM
- 5.5-inch Full HD AMOLED display, 1920 x 1080 resolution, Corning Gorilla Glass
- 32GB to 64GB of storage, expandable to 2TB via microSD
- 16-megapixel rear camera, PDAF, laser-assisted AF, dual-LED flash, f/2.0 lens
- 5-megapixel front camera, f/2.2 wide angle lens, front-facing flash
- Single SIM
- 4G LTE
- WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, GLONASS
- Fingerprint sensor, USB Type-C, 3.5mm headphone jack
- Moto Mods support
- 3510mAh battery, ~50 hours of mixed usage, TurboPower charging
- Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow (with Moto Display, Voice, Actions)
The Verizon-issued Moto Z Play Droid will start at $408 (~Php 19K), while the unlocked, international Moto Z Play is expected to be at the $449.99 (~Php 21K) price mark. Pre-orders will be opened soon, and both smartphones are expected to hit the shelves in October 2016.
Alongside the Moto Z Play‘s announcement, legendary camera manufacturer Hassleblad has teamed up with Motorola in creating the ultimate smartphone camera mod – the Hassleblad TrueZoom Moto Mod.
The Hasselblad TrueZoom Moto Mod is an interesting snap-on attachment that delivers precise, 10X optical zoom for Moto Mods supported phones. Replacing the Moto Z’s camera, the Hasselblad TrueZoom is powered by a 12MP 1/2.3-inch sensor, alongside a f/3.5-6.5 lens, with a 35mm equivalent focal length of 25-250mm.
Weighing in at 145 grams, the TrueZoom Mod is basically a compact camera attached to a smartphone. Needless to say, with beefy specs, the resulting photos are notably better than your average smartphone-caught shots. Digitial photography blog DPReview shares with us some of the photos taken with the Hassleblad TrueZoom Moto Mod. Head over to their review for more specialized insights on the mod.
At a whopping $249 (~Php 11.6K), the Swedish-designed Hassleblad TrueZoom is the first mainstream smartphone accessory from the Hassleblad company. It will be available from Verizon starting in September, and in other markets in the following months.
Source: AndroidCentral, Android Authority, Anandtech, DPReview
