Motorola debuted its new Moto G5 and Moto G5 Plus phones at MWC this weekend, but that wasn’t all it had to announce.
The company also debuted a few new Moto Mods for the Moto Z, which will be arriving in the coming year and include a new add-on that brings Amazon’s Alexa assistant to the phone.
Yes, Motorola has teamed up with Amazon to put the assistant into a mod, and will also start adding Alexa to phones later this year.
Related: MWC 2017
The company says in release: “With our Amazon Alexa Moto Mod, you can easily perform everyday tasks while on the go, like controlling your smart home, checking the news, requesting a ride from services like Uber, and more — using just your voice.”
The news arrives as Motorola becomes one of the first companies to start using Google’s own Google Assistant, previously limited to the Pixel and Pixel XL, in its phones.
Both the Moto G5 and Moto G5 Plus will come with Google’s assistant built in, but Motorola said “most of” its future phones will make use of Amazon’s alternative.
The Moto Z
Miles Norman, General Manager UK & Ireland & European Operators at Motorola, wouldn’t confirm to TrustedReviews whether we’re likely to see Alexa feature on next year’s Moto G phones.
Other mods were also announced at the Motorola event during MWC. First up, there’s a new power pack which is coming in March, and will give you 50% more charge, while a new magnetic charger will be arriving to help you charge your mods more easily.
A new glass wireless charging mod is also on the way, which will mean any Moto Z can make use of wireless chareging tech.
Motorola is also bringing a new turbo charger mod to market, along with another gamepad add-on that will bring physical buttons, four speakers, and pre-loaded games to transform a Moto Z into a mini console.
The firm will also be branching out into VR, showing off concepts in a video that would see the Moto Z fit inside a Gear VR-like headset and even power a full tablet.
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Let us know what you think of Moto’s mod plans in the comments.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
