Given how different Google and Apple are in their business philosophies, it makes sense that the two companies would release smartphones that are poles apart as well. CNET’s Roger Cheng has posted a smart piece of analysis explaining how the new Moto X smartphone is a real challenge to Apple’s traditional tightly controlled approach to hardware and software. In particular, Cheng notes that Google is letting users customize their Moto X with different colors (including a wood pattern!), customized signatures and custom messages that appear when you flip on your phone. In this way, Google is betting that users will want a device that they can personalize in ways that they can’t with the iPhone or Samsung’s army of Galaxy devices.
“With Moto X, Google and Motorola are giving consumers more control,” he writes. “Whether consumers want that control remain to be seen… While critics rail against the draconian measures Apple employs to ensure a slick iPhone experience, the franchise continues to be a blockbuster hit for the company. Conversely, will people want to sacrifice cutting-edge specs for a device adorned with their favorite colors?”
