Google releases Play Edition Moto G in the US starting at $179

Google has added yet another device to its Play Edition line-up with the launch of the Moto G on the Play Store. It’s still priced the same i.e $179 for the 8GB version and $199 for the 16GB version, but this stock Android-running Moto G is limited to the US at the moment.   In terms of specs, nothing has changed from the phone that will launch in India soon , but as with all Google Play Edition phones, it’s mostly about the software. As part of the select group of phones to be sold from the Play Store, it will get the latest Android 4.4 KitKat build, but without the Google Experience Launcher of the Nexus 5.   The Moto G has earned quite high praise for its build quality and feature set, which is only helped by its low price. The Moto G sports a 4.5-inch HD ’edge-to-edge’ display with a resolution of 1280×720 pixels, amounting to a pixel density of 329ppi, and a Corning Gorilla Glass 3 screen. Under the hood, the device comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 (Cortex-A7) processor clocked at 1.2GHz along with an Adreno 305 GPU and 1GB of RAM.   For photography, there’s a 5-megapixel rear camera with LED flash as well as a 1.3-megapixel front shooter. The rear camera comes with HD (720P) video recording support. The handset sports a water-resistant nano-coating on the inside and outside. Rounding up the package is a 2070mAh battery, which the company claims will give 30 percent more talk time than Apple’s current flagship, the iPhone 5s. FM radio support is packed in and the curved back panel is removable.