Motorola announces which of its devices will get Android 6.0 updates

Since Android 6.0 Marshmallow will officially make its debut next week when it will land on Google's Nexus line of devices, Motorola thought it fitting to publish a blog post outlining its plans regarding Marshmallow updates. It's unfortunate that in this day and age very few smartphone makers are so upfront about their update strategies.

As you'd expect, Motorola has published a list of its devices that are going to get updates to Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Yet you might not have expected the list to be this short, or for certain handsets to be missing from it.

Let's start with the good news then. The following devices will see the newest version of Android:

• 2015 Moto X Pure Edition (3rd gen)

• 2015 Moto X Style (3rd gen)

• 2015 Moto X Play

• 2015 Moto G (3rd gen)

• 2014 Moto X Pure Edition in the US (2nd gen)

• 2014 Moto X in Latin America, Europe and Asia2 (2nd gen)

• 2014 Moto G and Moto G with 4G LTE (2nd gen)

• DROID Turbo

• 2014 Moto MAXX

• 2014 Moto Turbo

Add to all of these the Motorola-made Nexus 6, which however will get its update straight from Google (as is customary in the Nexus program). You may have noticed that neither generation of the affordable Moto E has been included, nor the first-gen Moto G and Moto X. And while these two may be considered too old to update at this point, the second-gen Moto E is only a few months old.

An actual release timeline for the updates for the devices that are getting them hasn't been outed yet, but Motorola says information on timing should become available "in the coming weeks".

Moving on, the company has also announced that it's going to stop developing some of its apps and services that have functionality that's now either built into Android itself, is very similar to Android features, or for which there are many third party alternatives.

Hence, Moto Assist will be gone in Android 6.0 Marshmallow, along with Motorola Migrate, and the Google Chrome extension found in Motorola Connect. The focus here is apparently on keeping things simple and bloatware to a minimum, and we assume most people would agree with this philosophy.

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Motorola Moto G (3rd gen) officially launched, two versions after all

The Motorola Moto G (3rd gen) is finally official, putting an end to the endless rumor marathon. We already knew what to expect, but a very important detail eluded us, but it is now set in stone.

So fret not, the Motorola Moto G (3rd gen) does have 2GB of RAM, only not all versions of the smartphone. There are two options you can choose from and the 2GB of RAM come coupled with 16GB of storage, while a more modestly equipped 1GB/8GB variant is also available. A microSD slot allows expansion by up to 32GB in either model.

A 5-inch 720p display adorns the front of the smartphone, and it’s protected by Gorilla Glass 3. The Snapdragon 410 provides computing power with a 1.4GHz quad-core processor and Adreno 306 GPU inside. You get LTE support, as well as the obligatory Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS. The smartphone boots the latest Android 5.1.1 too, so no surprises here either.

The primary camera is a 13MP unit, aided by a dual-LED dual-tone flash. On the front, there’s a 5MP selfie shooter.

The Motorola Moto G (3rd gen) measures 142.1 x 72.4 x 11.6mm, though the thickness does go down to 6.1mm towards the edges. It weighs 155g, and Motorola have upped battery capacity to 2,470mAh, compared to the 2,070mAh of the predecessor.

Perhaps what’s most important in terms of hardware, is the IPx7 certification, which makes the handset capable of surviving after being submerged in up to 1m of water for up to 30 minutes.

The Motorola Moto G (3rd gen) is available starting today, though obviously not every retailer has been quick enough to react. So far we have a UK price of £160 for the 1GB/8GB version, and in India the lower-specced model retails for INR 11,999 (~$187), while the 16GB version is INR 12,999 (~$203).