“Motorola” is officially dead.Well, Sort Of.

The Motorola brand name will soon be phased out by Lenovo, as the company tries to unify its phone products under one name. Lenovo will be the company name on Motorola phones in the very near future, according to Motorola COO Rick Osterloh, who spoke with CNET here at CES. It’ll be a slow phaseout, but don’t be shocked if the next Moto flagship doesn’t say “Motorola” anywhere on it. 

Lenovo plans to continue using the Moto line of products as its high-end offerings, so you could still have devices called Moto X or Moto G, but they’ll be Moto X by Lenovo now.

CNET reports that phones will start showing the blue Lenovo logo, but that the Motorola “M” batwing will still be used as well. So the entire image of Motorola won’t be gone, just the name.

Wait, are those tears? Are you crying? It’s OK, we are too.

UPDATE:  Here is the official statement from Motorola on this naming situation.

Motorola Mobility continues to exist as a Lenovo company and is the engineering and design engine for all of our mobile products. However, for our product branding we will utilize a dual brand strategy across smartphone and wearables going forward using Moto and Vibe globally. “Motorola” hasn’t been used on our products since the launch of the original Moto X in 2013.

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Lenovo bids goodbye to Vibe brand

Lenovo has acquired Motorola from Google about a year back. In the past one year, we have seen the company trying to maximize synergies between the two groups and growing their market share in process.

Recent reports are suggesting that Lenovo will be fading out its Vibe brand now. This statement was made by none other than Chen Xudong, president of Lenovo's Mobile Business Group in conversation with Tech QQ .

In the global markets, Lenovo is offering smartphone under three brands - Lemon, Vibe and Motorola. The Vibe series usually comprises of the mid-to-high-end range of smartphones, while the affordable smartphones usually are nestled under the Lemon range.

Going forward, Lenovo will be pushing its mid-range offering under the Motorola brand. By doing this, the company will also make sure that it is not cannibalising its own brand. However, one cannot forget the fact that most Lenovo phones come with a skin while Motorola offers stock Android experience out-of-the-box. It will be interesting to see how that pans out.

Commenting on this move, the research firm Canalys said, "Lenovo kills Vibe smart phone brand to give way to Motorola in the mid-to-high end. Will help simplify portfolio and reduce cannibalisation."

In the last one year, we have seen very interesting smartphones from both Lenovo and Motorola brands and we are hoping that with the dilution of the Vibe brand, it will be able to cater to different consumer groups more appropriately. 

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Leaked? Lenovo CEO posts images of next Moto 360

Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing had accidentally posted pictures of upcoming Moto 360 on Weibo, reported 9To5Google, adding that Yang, however, pulled off the images quickly.

These 'accidentally' leaked images also carried a quote that read, "Moto 360, matching the arrival of the era of freedom, in the future we want to increase the store features a watch shop."

The images of Moto 360 show that the device is completely different to the existing variant of the wearable. Some experts said that it is likely that the images were of cusomisation options available for the existing smartwatch.

The original Motorola Moto 360 is available in India on Flipkart. The device has got a circular backlit display with a diameter of 1.56 inches and comes with a 320 x 290 resolution that uses a pixel density of 205ppi.

It also gets a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 3. It is powered by the TI OMAP 3 processor coupled with 512MB RAM.

The internal memory of this device is of 4GB. The smartwatch is also fitted with a pedometer and optical heart rate monitor (PPG). The IP67-certified Moto 360 is water-resistant and also supports wireless charging.

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Lenovo A6000 will sell without any registrations from March 23 to March 25

We were being given news every other week about the resounding demand for the Lenovo A6000 smartphone which was going out of stock in seconds through its regular flash sales. But this coming week, things will work a little differently, even as the company has announced that it will be making the device available through Flipkart freely.

From March 23 to March 25, the Lenovo A6000 will be purchasable without any registrations. All you’ll need to do is head over to Flipkart and buy the smartphone like you do with other products on the site. It’s however unclear as to how many units will be put on sale during these three days.

So far, Lenovo has been able to sell a whopping 180000 units of the handset in India. This has been possible due to its low price and its overly attractive hardware. What have helped furthermore is the Xiaomi-like flash sale model as well as the device’s Flipkart exclusively.

For those unaware, the A6000 happens to offer a 64-bit Snapdragon 410 processor and a 5-inch HD display. There’s moreover, an 8MP rear camera onboard, aside from a 2MP selfie snapper. The phone runs the Android 4.4 KitKat OS, but will be issued a Lollipop update in Q2 this year.

Here’s a quick glance at the specs of the Lenovo A6000:

– Display: 5-inch, 720p HD
– Software: Android 4.4 KitKat (Upgradable to Lollipop)
– Processor 1.2GHz quad core Snapdragon 410
– Memory: 1GB RAM, 8GB storage (expandable up to 32GB)
– Camera: 2MP front, 8MP rear
– Battery: 2300mAh
– Size: 70 x 141 x 8.2mm
– Weight: 128gms

The no-registrations sale of the Lenovo A6000 will happen simultaneously with Flipkart’s Big App Shopping Days that are also slated to run from March 23 to March 25.

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Lenovo launches Tab 2 A7-10 tablet on Snapdeal at Rs 4,999

Lenovo has launched its Tab 2 A7-10 tablet, exclusively on Snapdeal. The device is available at an affordable price of Rs 4,999 and targets students and other customers who are looking for their first tablet or a secondary computing device.

Running Android 4.4 KitKat OS, the device is powered by a 1.3 GHz quad core MediaTek processor and 1GB RAM. Lenovo has promised to provide Android 5.0 Lollipop update. The tablet sports a 7-inch IPS display with a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels. It offers 8GB of internal memory which is expandable up to 32GB.

Powered by a 3,450mAh battery, it mounts a 0.3MP fixed -focus front camera only. Lenovo Tab 2 A7-10 is available in Ebony Black colour on Snapdeal.

Specs:

CPU: MTK Quad Core 1.3 GHz

OS: Android 4.4 KitKat (OTA 5.0 Lollipop TBD)

Display Size: 7.0” 1024×600 IPS

Dimensions: 189 x 105 x 9.3mm

Weight: 269g

Material: Polycarbonate

Memory card slot: microSD up to 32GB

RAM: 1 GB

ROM: 8GB eMMC

Camera Rear: None

Camera Front: 0.3MP fixed-focus

Battery: 3450mAh, Li-ion, Fixed

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Lenovo A6000 4G LTE smartphone unveiled at CES, coming soon to India

Lenovo A6000

After stepping into the mid-range market with its Vibe X2, Lenovo is all-set to capture some shares in the entry-level market segment with unveiling the Lenovo A6000 smartphone at the CES 2015 in Las Vegas. The Chinese company is in plans to launch the new smartphone in India later this month.

As expected, the A6000 smartphone is the international variant of the company’s earlier launched K3 smartphone. The smartphone has 4G LTE support for high-speed network access and is powered by a 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 System-on-Chip (SoC) which has a 1.2GHz quad-core CPU and 1GB of RAM.

The A6000 features a 5-inch IPS display with 1280 x 720 pixels (HD) resolution. There is 8GB internal storage along with microSD card slot for expansion up to 64GB. The smartphone has an 8-megapixel camera sensor on the rear along with an LED flash and a 2-megapixel camera sensor is available on the front.

There is Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, A-GPS and a microUSB port on the connectivity front and dual-SIM support is also available with dual-standby network technology. The smartphone packs with a 2,300mAh battery which is claimed to deliver up to 13 hours of talk time.

The A6000 runs on Android 4.4 KitKat operating system with Vibe UI 2.0 on top. The smartphone additionally has some proprietary apps and tweaks and comes equipped with frontal dual-speakers which are based on Dolby Digital Plus technology.

Lenovo has partnered with e-commerce company Flipkart in India for exclusively selling the A6000 smartphone online. The company has not yet revealed the exact price or availability but said that it will be available in later this month with a competitive price tag of under Rs. 10,000 to compete with Xiaomi Redmi Note 4G and Micromax’s Yu Yureka smartphone.

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Lenovo to Launch 2 Intel-Based 4G Handsets in Early 2015

Lenovo will reportedly introduce two new Intel processor-based smartphones in January and February 2015.

Intel is being tipped to offer its 64-bit Atom processor along with its LTE-Advanced modem chips for the two Lenovo-branded smartphones. While one of the handsets is said to be targeted for China, the other handset is said to be focused on emerging countries. While the firm has not confirmed their launch, the two smartphones are likely to be showcased at the upcoming CES 2015 event in Las Vegas.

The sources close to matter also told CNET that Intel will be launching its first 4G smartphone in China, which will be a milestone for the chipmaker. Notably, Intel launched its first 4G smartphone in the US - the Asus PadFone X Mini.

Intel is also being rumoured to power the next generation of Google Glass. While the report did not provide any details about the Intel chip apart from saying it would be power-efficient, it noted that the popular chipmaker has plans to promote the next generation of Google Glass (rumoured Google Glass 2) to companies such as hospital networks and manufacturers, according to one of the people.

Intel has also previously unveiled the Quark x86 micro-processor, the Edison board, and the SoFIA LTE mobile SoC, all of which have applications in Internet-connected devices and wearables.

The firm introduced a new platform to make it easier for companies to create Internet-connected smart products using its chips, security and software earlier this month.

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Lenovo Sisley S90: A look at the latest Apple copycat in town

When it comes to drawing design “inspirations” for a smartphone, Apple holds the fancy of plenty of smartphone manufacturers – Xiaomi, Micromax, Lava and, how can we forget, Samsung. But if there was an award for the best Apple copycat, the Lenovo Sisley S90 would be a sure shot winner.

Not only has it blatantly copied the design of the iPhone 6, but has also gone one step further to copy the promotion shots that were used to market Apple’s latest flagship.

Don’t believe us? Here’s proof of Lenovo’s latest piece of work: (Image Source: Gizmobic)

Lenovo has admitted to The Independent that “there are external similarities, but considering the product design lifecycle of any smartphone – at least a year in planning and prototyping  it’s not possible to copy a design so quickly.”

The phone sells only in China has the similar rounded edges, edge-to-edge screen and even the wallpapers are the same. The phone offers a 5-inch HD display, 16GB of internal storage, dual-SIM and NFC connectivity and a 1.2GHz quad-core processor.

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It's official: Motorola Mobility now belongs to Lenovo

Lenovo said Thursday that it has closed its acquisition of Motorola Mobility, gaining a larger foothold in the US and other developed markets.

Under the agreement, Lenovo will pay former parent Google $2.91 billion, including $660 million in cash and $750 million in newly issued Lenovo stock. The remaining $1.5 billion will be paid to Google in the form of a three-year promissory note. While Lenovo gets Motorola's mobile device business, Google keeps the patent portfolio.

The transfer of Motorola to Lenovo from Google marks the end of a short chapter for the storied handset vendor. Credited with the invention of the cellphone, Motorola had suffered over the last several years as Apple's iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy lineup rose in prominence. Under Google, Motorola had refined its product portfolio to just a few devices, and developed a focus on the low end and on emerging markets with its affordable Moto G and Moto E smartphones.

The combined operations will have 8 percent of the global smartphone market, making it the third-largest smartphone vendor in the world, according to Strategy Analytics. The research firm said the two businesses will benefit from increased scale, deeper distribution channels and bigger marketing and R&D budgets, but must contend with a slowdown in growth at Lenovo and Motorola's continued losses.

"Merging these two firms next year will not be as easy as many expect," the firm said in a post.

Motorola will continue to operate out of Chicago and will still be led by President and Chief Operating Officer Rick Osterloh.

"With an impressive portfolio of smartphones, wearables and PCs, our two companies will be uniquely positioned to push the boundaries of choice and value, and bring exciting new experiences to people everywhere," Osterloh said in a blog post.

He added later that he doesn't believe Motorola's strategy of using an unaltered version of Android with a few software additions would change under Lenovo, which more heavily customizes its Android smartphones.

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