Your Guide To Lenovo’s Newest Toys

Lenovo has just held its yearly Tech World conference in the city of San Francisco in California. In front of a live audience both physical and online (event was broadcasted live), Yang Yuanqing, the chief executive officer and chairman of the Chinese tech giant took the stage and personally announced new products. Here is the rundown:

Latest Motorola Flagship Devices

For those not in the know, the Motorola mobile brand is now owned by Lenovo. During the Tech World conference, Motorola took the opportunity to unveil a couple of new flagship devices, namely the Moto Z and the Moto Z Force. Consider these new smartphones as the ones that will replace the Moto X line.

What makes the Moto Z and the Moto Z Force special is that they both adopt a modular design (a la the LG G5), which means that users can make take advantage of modular accessories (more on this later) to further expand the capabilities of the flagship devices. And oh, some may take issue with the fact that the Moto Z devices do not come with a standard headphone jack. The devices are expected to launch before the end of this year’s summer season as a Verizon Wireless exclusive in the United States mobile market. In international mobile markets, the Moto Z will be offered as an unlocked device.

Moto Mods

Along with the announcement of two modular Moto Z devices, Motorola also showcased the concept of Moto Mods, which are represented by modular accessories that mobile users can use in order to further jazz up their Moto Z smartphones. Basically, one can just snap these accessories on and off the Moto Z devices (without turning them off) and boost their handset’s capabilities.

Moto Mods coming soon include the JBL SoundBoost speaker, the Incipio Power Packs, and the Insta-Share Projector. Kate Spade and Tumi are also joining forces with Lenovo in order to come up with custom designs for the Power Packs for the Moto Z devices. Moto Mods will start to be made available in September of this year, just in time for the release of the Moto Z and the Moto Z Force.

The New Phab2 Family of Phablets

Lenovo has introduced a trio of new phablets bearing the Phab2 branding. The Phab2 Pro is a gigantic 6.4 smartphone that has the distinction of being the first handset in the world to be integrated with Google’s Tango technology. Some may be wondering just what this Tango tech is. Well, this 3D mapping tech has the ability to allow one’s mobile device to map out the immediate surroundings and basically know not only exactly where you are (in relation to tables, trees, walls, etc) but also possibly tell you to check out that hotdog stall just five meters to your right. 

Apart from the Phab2 Pro ($499), Lenovo also unveiled two low end companions, the Phab2 and the Phab2 Plus, which are priced at $199 and $299, respectively.