US-based Motorola is hopeful of bringin
the Motorola Moto E (Gen 2) LTE varian
to India by May this year, and pricing it
under Rs. 10,000 as it looks to compete
with brands like Xiaomi and Yu.
Motorola , which was acquired by Chines
technology giant Lenovo from Google
last year, sells its devices in India
through e-commerce firm Flipkart.
"We expect to launch the 4G version of
Moto E (Gen 2) in India in the next two
months," Motorola India General
Manager Amit Boni told PTI.
Two weeks ago, Motorola had
announced the global launch of the 3G
and 4G versions of the new Moto E in
more than 50 countries in North America
Latin America, Europe and Asia.
The unlocked 4G-enabled handset is
available for $149.99 (about Rs 9,400)
in the US, while the 3G version is priced
at $119.99 (around Rs. 7,500). With the
3G variant now launched in India for Rs.
6,999, the 4G LTE variant is expected to
be priced at Rs. 8,999 at launch.
(Also see: Motorola Moto E (Gen 2) LTE vs Lenovo A6000 vs Xiaomi Redmi Note 4G vs Yu Yureka)
On the pricing of the devices, Boni said:
"We have not decided on the pricing, but
my sense is that it will be sub-Rs.
10,000."
The 4G version of the device would
compete with the likes of Lenovo's A600
(Rs. 6,999), Yu's Yureka (Rs. 8,999) and
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4G (Rs. 9,999).
According to CyberMedia Research,
iPhone maker Apple was the largest 4G
LTE smartphone vendor in India with a
market share of 45 percent in October-
December 2014 period.
With increasing usage of data services
and telecom players gearing up to offer
4G services (which provides higher
speed), handset makers are also lining
up devices at affordable price points to
tap the opportunity.
Both the Moto E (Gen 2) and Moto E
(Gen 2) LTE run Android 5.0 Lollipop
out-of-the-box. The single-SIM
handsets are identical in terms of
specifications, except that the 3G varian
Moto E (Gen 2) packs a quad-core
1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 SoC
(with Adreno 302) whereas the Moto E
(Gen 2) LTE features a 64-bit quad-core
1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 SoC
(with Adreno 306). Both feature 1GB of
RAM.
The Motorola Moto E (Gen 2) and its LT
variant feature a 4.5-inch qHD (540x96
pixel) display with a pixel density of
245ppi, and Corning Gorilla Glass 3
protection along with anti-smudge
coating. Both variants pack a 5-
megapixel rear camera, and this time
Motorola has included the much-
lamented front camera onboard, in the
form of a VGA (0.3-megapixel) sensor.
The 8GB of built-in storage on both Mot
E (Gen 2) handsets can be expanded via
microSD card (up to 32GB).
Connectivity options on the Moto E (Gen
2) include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0LE, GPS/
A-GPS, GLONASS, FM radio, and Micro-
USB. The handset measures
129.9x66.8x12.3mm, and weighs 145
grams. It is backed by a 2390mAh
battery.
Motorola also sells the Moto E, Moto G,
Moto G (Gen 2) , Moto X , Moto X (Gen 2)
and Moto Turbo in India. It also
introduced its smartwatch, Moto 360, in
the country last year.
In January, Motorola said it crossed the
three million device sales mark with the
Moto E and Moto G making up almost 8
to 85 percent of the sales.
http://m.gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/news/motorola-moto-e-gen-2-lte-india-launch-planned-for-may-669013
