Moto X Details Revealed: Colors, Wallpapers, Engravings Will Be Customizable at U.S. Factory

Buyers can customize the color, wallpaper and engraving on the phone.

ByABC News
July 3, 2013, 12:35 PM

July 3, 2013 — -- Motorola's upcoming phone called the Moto X will allow users to fully customize the look of the device with different colors and an engraving, sources have told ABC News. The Google-owned company's new 500,000-foot factory in Texas will enable it to deliver the personalized device to buyers within days of placing the order.

Through a website, buyers will be able to select from a palette of different colors. One color can be used for the back case and another can be selected for the trim of the phone. Users will also be able to engrave a name or message on the back cover as well as upload a personal photo through the site to be used as the wallpaper on the phone's screen, according to people familiar with the rollout.

The phone will run Google's Android operating system, and a version running Android 4.2.2 is currently being tested by carriers, including Verizon. People will be able to buy the mid-range phone via the web but also buy standard versions through carrier stores. The phone will be available at various major U.S. carriers, Motorola CEO Dennis Woodside announced last month.

According to technology website The Verge the phone won't take Verizon's Droid moniker. While users cannot customize the internals of the phone, including the processor or memory, it will be available with multiple storage options.

The biggest tricks of the phone come with what Motorola has been doing with the hardware sensors, sources say. Instead of having to fumble to find the camera icon or button, users will be able to flick the phone to launch the camera. There are also added voice capabilities, which leverage Google's advanced voice recognition technology. The phone is said to be smart enough to know when you are driving and will automatically launch the speakerphone function.

Motorola announced in June that the Moto X would be made and assembled at a 500,000-square foot facility in Fort Worth, Texas. Sources told ABC News that this will allow Motorola to ship the fully customized phone within days to users.

RELATED: Details on Motorola's New U.S. Factory

Motorola would not comment directly on these details when reached by ABC News, however, the company did say that the location of the production facility would allow for speedy delivery to American customers. Most smartphones are made overseas, which makes it more difficult to quickly ship customized phones to customers in the U.S.

"Yes, we are making the phone in the U.S. We did that because of speed and access to end users in the U.S. It opens up some really cool possibilities," Motorola spokesperson Danielle K. McNally told ABC News. McNally added that it plans to hire over 2,200 employees at the Fort Worth facility by August.

In today's New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal, Motorola ran a full-page advertisement teasing the U.S.-made phone before the upcoming 4th of July holiday.

"Tomorrow you'll eat burgers, watch firework and celebrate the freedom to be whoever you want to be," the ad begins. "It's with the same spirt that we're bringing you something new. The first smartphone that you can design yourself… Imagine what will be possible when you have the world's best design, engineering and manufacturing talent located here in the USA."

The phone will be the first that the company has worked on from start to finish since being acquired by Google in August 2011. Google's Android operating system is also developed in Mountain View, Calif.

Apple has recently started airing a television ad which highlights that its products are designed in California. Apple will begin making its Mac Pro computer in the U.S. later this year. Its iPhone 5S, which is made in China, may be released early this fall as well.

The Moto X is currently in testing with carriers. In today's advertisement Motorola said that the phone would be "coming soon."

Motorola has fallen behind the other Android phone makers, like Samsung, over the last few years. According to reports, Samsung has shipped 20 million Galaxy S4 phones since launching the Android phone in May. Apple shipped 35 million iPhones during the first quarter of 2013.