A recent flub on Motorola's website leaked a new variant of the second generation Moto G smartphone with 4G LTE capability and a larger battery, but Motorola was quick to take the info down and there was no word on a price.
The leak happened on Motorola's Brazilian site where a specs page included LTE versions of the 2014 Moto G's normal details. Under the "Capacity" subhead, an LTE version was listed as having "16 GB Removable Storage: Supports up to 32 GB microSD card." Under the "Dimensions" subhead, a weight of 155g was shown for the LTE version while the regular version comes in at 149g. The "Screen" section added "720p HD 720x1280 IPS, 294 ppi Corning Gorilla Glass 3" and the Sim card is listed as a "micro SIM - Dual SIM."
But it's the battery size difference that's most interesting as the regular Moto G has a 2070 mAh battery, but the website listed a 2390 mAh upgrade for the LTE version.
The Moto G was first introduced in 2013 as a lower-cost alternative to the high-end flagship Moto X. It's aimed at developing markets outside of the U.S., although it is available in the U.S. as well.
The 4.5-inch phone features a 1.2 GHz quad-core Cortex A-7 processor with the Snapdragon 400 on chip, as well as 1 GB of RAM and 8 GB of storage space standard. A 5-megapixel camera adorns the rear of the phone while a 1.3-megapixel camera is up front. Sure, the specs are low, even for a 2013 phone, but it was made to be more accessible.
When the first generation Moto G proved to be a success, Motorola released the second generation Moto G in September of 2014 with improved specs and a larger screen. Currently, you can find the 8 GB base model of the second generation Moto G for only $179.
In fact, Motorola's Moto line of smartphones was such a hit these last two years that the Chinese tech company Lenovo bought Motorola to expand the Moto line into the Chinese market. The 2014 Moto X, Moto G, and a new Moto X Pro will be available in China as early as next month in limited supply. The Moto X will kick off the sales while the others will follow closely behind in coming months.
This expanded global push also may explain the upgrade to an LTE version for the 2014 Moto G as Motorola's focus remains on the LTE market, especially in China. But with China's smartphone product lineup showing off some worthy contenders for the new year (such as the Xiaomi), Lenovo and Motorola have more of a challenge than it may have originally planned.
The Moto G is also among one of the first phones to get the Android 5.0 Lollipop operating system update due in part to Motorola's partnership with Google on its own Nexus devices. Both generations of the Moto G have received positive critical acclaim, with Forbes calling the second generation of the Moto G "2014's best smartphone."
