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Motorola to kick off comeback with US-made Moto X

Chief says firm gets no special advantage from Google ownership

Motorola is planning a new American-manufactured smartphone to launch its comeback, chief exec Dennis Woodside has said.

Speaking at the All Things D Digital Conference, Woodside said the company was working on a new mobe called Moto X that would have "contextually aware" power-saving features.

The phone is part of a handful of new devices the firm is planning to release in autumn. Woodside claimed Moto doesn't have any special advantage following the Google acquisition.

Google snapped up Motorola for $12.5bn last year, but has kept it as a separate firm rather than turning it into the Choc Factory's own hardware arm.

"We are owned by Google so there are lots of areas (of Google) that support us," Woodside said. "[But] we have no access to Android code. We are managed by their partner managers. There is no advantage that has been conferred to us."

Motorola has steadily lost ground to rival Android partners, especially market-leader Samsung, and Moto's recent phones have failed to set the market alight. But Woodside said he wasn't worried about the decrease in the firm's market share.

"Motorola likes being the challenger," he said, adding that the new Moto X would be part of a relaunch of the firm's product line, and takes the company "back to the roots of innovation". ®

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