Google unveils custom assembled, customisable Moto X smartphone

Google has announced it will allow customers to choose key design features of their new Moto X smartphone online, with the device custom-assembled for them in the US and delivered within four days.

Moto X customers will log into a website called Moto Maker where they will be able to choose a colour for the front, back, a second colour for accented features (for example the edge of the camera), the amount of memory(16 gigabytes or 32 giagabytes) and the default wallpaper.

The company currently promises a total of 2000 design combinations, with new designs – including wood grain – promised for later in the year.

Upon a user choosing their design, the phone will be custom-assembled at a factory within the US, with Google promising to ship the completed devices out within four days.

“No one has ever assembled a smartphone in the US before. We think it’s about time. Each Moto X sold in the US is individually assembled in Ft. Worth, Texas. Doing this in the US means you can design a custom phone online and have it delivered right to your doorstep in just a few days,” the company says in a statement.

Moto Maker customisation will initially be limited to select carriers, meaning that in the US, while the Moto X will be available for AT&T, Sprint, US Cellular, Verizon Wireless, only AT&T customers will be able to customise their phone.

Users on a carrier that does not support Moto Maker customisation will have a choice between a standard “woven white” or “woven black” model.

The new smartphone runs on the eight-core Motorola X8 chipset, which it first unveiled earlier this month as part of its DROID MINI, DROID ULTRA and DROID MAXX smartphones, and runs Android 4.2.2 Jellybean.

The 4G/LTE smartphone also features a 4.7-inch AMOLED display, weighs 130 grams, features a back that curves between a thickness of 5.6mm and 10.4 mm, a 10 megapixel rear camera, and 13 hours of talk time.