Motorola X phone could launch in July with touch-sensitive back panel

The Motorola X Phone is very much real and will start shipping in July this year, according to sources within Motorola. The X Phone has been circulating in the rumour mills for quite some time now and is expected to be unveiled, or at the very least, teased during Google I/O in May. That would also be a good launchpad for the estimated July launch date.

Rumours in the past have suggested the phone will have an edge-to-edge full HD display, a rugged or unbreakable casing and a long-lasting battery, something that Google feels has been often ignored by other manufacturers. It is also said to be featuring the Sony Exmor RS sensor that is used in the Sony Xperia Z.

The first phone to be produced by Google and Motorola, after the former acquired the latter’s business last year, will give you the liberty to pick the device and then choose which carrier you want go with. Similar to how Dell changed the PC game in the 1990s, Google wants to build phones to order and then sell them at a very affordable price tag, which won’t be bound to a contract.

This is one of the prototypes of the X Phone (Image credit: Tinh te)

According to Android and Me’s sources within Motorola, the first retail X Phone device will go on sale this summer. The website says that the Motorola device that was leaked to Vietnamese blog Tinh te last week was one of the X Phone models. The source said that the leaked device is an earlier prototype and the design has undergone some slight changes since then.

One of the sources further stated that it will be an affordable smartphone in the vein of the Nexus series. Google and Motorola will sell smartphones for the same prices that people are willing to pay for today’s flagships on contract; however, the X Phone line-up won’t be tied to a two-year contract.

The back of the first “X Phone” is said to look almost the same as the leaked prototype. However, this is no ordinary back panel; Google has implemented a touch-sensitive button in the Motorola logo back there. Motorola has included a similar feature in its Backflip phone. This rumour is in line with the patent application from Google that covers backside device touch controls. There’s no word on what exactly the back button’s functions are, but rumours suggest that it could be used to scroll through webpages and also be used to launch voice commands.

Google’s strategy may seem far fetched at the moment, but the closest example to what it is attempting is when Dell revolutionised the PC industry with the direct sales model and the built-to-order nature of its systems. Google is trying something similar and wants to produce an ultra-affordable mobile device that connects to devices like Google Glass. One of the sources said that a Google Watch is also in the works along with more products that will push the envelope.