Led by the Moto G6, Lenovo-owned Motorola has had a lot of phones to show off this week, and more details are starting to emerge about what we can expect from these handsets further down the line – specifically, the software updates that Motorola is planning.

As Ars Technica spotted, the higher-end Moto G6 phones – the Moto G6, Moto G6 Play and Moto G6 Plus – are in line for an update to Android P, whenever the new mobile OS makes an appearance. The Moto E5 and Moto E5 Plus, however, are seemingly going to have to make to with Android 8.0 Oreo.

To be more specific, Motorola is promising security and software updates for the phones every 60-90 days, so adjust your expectations accordingly. Of course, Motorola’s plans could change along the way, but that seems to be the strategy at the moment.

Can I have a P please?

We already know the Moto G6 handsets marry some respectable performance specs with very attractive prices, but knowing that software updates might not be all that timely is another factor to bear in mind before you part with your cash.

Google has spun all its key apps out of Android in recent years, so they’re updated separately, but we do know that Android P is going to feature some modern-looking visual tweaks, the all-important support for notched display designs, and better dual-lens camera integrations. Oh, and it’ll remember your Bluetooth volumes too.

Android P should roll out to Google’s Pixel phones at some point this summer, but it’s not clear just how long Moto G6 owners will have to wait until it lands on their devices. If Motorola clarifies the situation, we’ll let you know.

Via 9to5Google

http://www.techradar.com/news/the-moto-g6-phones-will-reportedly-get-their-android-p-update-eventually

This is the third time I’ve tried to write this piece – I’m desperate to say something after the wonderful effect of my article on mental health and running last year, but every time I try, it feels forced and artificial.

I feel like something of a fraud even writing this – I feel so much better this year that part of me worries that I’m just putting this up because I want the world to hear my story. Last year’s piece about the pain of running with anxiety scratching away poured out of me, a journey desperate to be recounted, but it also changed things for me massively.

The worst part was putting it out into the world last year – the flash of panic that coursed through me when I hit publish, realising that I’d ‘outed’ myself as weak and unstable, someone who could no longer relied upon because I let the mask finally slip away.

But what happened – and I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised – is that the messages of support and recognition poured in. I posted the link on Twitter, Facebook and runners’ forums I frequent, and everyone was kind, humbling and wonderful with what they said. I realised that I wasn’t weak, or unstable, in any way.

It led me to running some mindfulness running groups, to have the confidence to open conversations with people about anxiety when I used to worry about whether it was appropriate… and the sheer volume of people that are fellow warriors is incredible.

I hadn’t done anything special. I’d not opened the world’s eyes to something that they didn’t know. I just happened to write down the thoughts that were rolling around the raw minds of so many around me – and it engaged people in a way I couldn’t have expected.

Not because I’m brilliant with words, but because so many people thought they were alone in this. People that didn’t consider themselves to have ‘traditional’ mental health issues, but just struggling through life and not knowing why.

(One of the most beautiful moments happened at a pub a week or so later – a chap I was friends with asked me to come into the corner for a chat. We got there and he locked me in a big hug for a few seconds, and told me that he felt so relieved someone else felt the same. I didn’t really know what to do – I’d just told the world how I was feeling, not expecting anyone to really listen – but just talking to him afterwards was a truly wonderful experience.)

A familiar enemy

I won’t pretend that the marathon was easy last year – in fact, since I’d been ‘exposed’ as an anxiety sufferer, I felt the pressure of not letting my mind clamp down even more acutely, and that certainly didn’t help.

I didn’t walk though, even when the panic began flashing at mile 22. I forced myself to promise to be proud of every 100 metres I conquered, not to care about the pace, not to worry about what was coming next. 

I shouldered the demon and ran as it scratched me up and down with its serrated judgement.

I did it. My time was far too slow in my mind, the training ‘all wasted’, but I didn’t crack once. I forced my ailing body onwards, and while I still don’t really feel content with that or proud, I know that I should and I hold onto that.

But then things changed. For reasons I won’t go into here, my situation in life changed dramatically, and I was suddenly faced with a number of new challenges I never wanted to face.

The thing was… these challenges were real – real things happening to me that weren’t locked away in my mind. I was forced to experience, feel and decide about things and watch as they possibly fell apart.

But while every day should have been a struggle, I was thriving. I continued seeing my therapist (and continue to do so – it’s without doubt the greatest investment I’ve ever made) and just made a conscious effort to tell the truth.

When I struggled to grasp the nettle of any situation that fell in front of me, I forced it in the open, rather than locking it away into the corner of my mind and hoping it was something I never had to deal with.

In many ways my life was falling apart, but I was feeling more mentally free than I ever had before. Where before I used to see anxiety as something to try and wrestle with (but finding that it was the same as trying to grab steam out of the air) I became passive, forcing myself to be more of a shadow than it could ever be.

To paraphrase Taylor Swift: if it was a ghost, then I was going to be a phantom.

And it took an awfully long time for it to have any change. We’re talking a single percentage point every so often – but the direction was going the right way.

Here’s the thing that I found the most strange – and bringing it back to the point of this piece: I got faster. My 5K time tumbled to below 18 minutes on a day I was a bit hungover. My 10K race pace smashed past 38 minutes. I battered my five mile, 10 mile best times. 

Even my half marathon PB nearly fell, but the thing was I wasn’t training any harder. In fact, I wasn’t training hard at all. I was feeling a little guilty that I was slacking off, and scientifically I should have got worse.

But I didn’t – and the only reason can be that I was finally resting and healing both my body and mind. No longer slogging through runs out of duty… I was running when I felt like it, curtailing sessions and trying to do things socially rather than specifically for power.

This continued throughout the year, the run of great results making 2017 one of my worst years emotionally but one of the best in terms of race results. It made no sense.

A race with no finish

I’ll admit, I’m still struggling with what I’m writing. I’m panicking slightly that I’m coming across like some sort of guru who’s ‘got all the answers’, or ‘knows the secrets of overcoming anxiety’.

I am definitely neither of those things. I’m someone who’s lucky enough to not only have a forum to put my words out into the world, but an incredible team of people to support me in writing about something so non-techy on a website called TechRadar.

Taking over the editorship this year has been one of my proudest moments. This site is a passion as much as it is a job, and having been there from the start and watching it grow has been wonderful.

So taking over stewardship (along with the the inimitable Marc Chacksfield) is a position I’ve dreamed of – and it’s not something I could have done, mentally, a year ago. 

There are still days where I struggle to get out of bed in the morning. But I do. There are days when my appetite drops and I get a burning panic that I’m going to ‘fall’ back into anxiety again.

But I’m slowly starting to gain confidence that I won’t… because I’m living with it every day. I’ve stopped seeing it as a shrieking demon, just a well-meaning but overly-oppressive parent, and trusting that I know how to deal with it, that this episode won’t be the one that ‘sends me back’.

With running, I know that I’m not going to to keep getting faster forever – and actually I’ve already started to slow down. It was going to happen at some point.

Going into the marathon, the combination of an injury-disrupted training plan and the excessive London heat predicted mean that I’ve got no hope of emulating last year. There’s no point even trying – this may sound negative but it’s perhaps the most positive thing I can do in the situation.

I’m going to go out slow. Frustratingly slow, watching the time (and chance for glory) slip away step by step, until I get to the point where I began to crumble last year. 

I’m going to crack out the most energetic tunes, get my adrenaline flowing and slowly begin to pick up the pace to prove to myself that I don’t need to run as hard as I can, all the time, to feel happiness. That I waited until it was right for me.

I want goosebumps to start flowing as I begin to sprint towards the end, riding on a wave of positivity that I created, not because it accidentally happened. I want it to represent that this year I’ve fought without fighting, become the best warrior I can be without landing one blow.

I know that I’ll never reach the finish line in this race against anxiety because… that’s my life, and anxiety will always have its own race number and be running somewhere in the field.

But if you’re struggling with the same thing, know this: there are more people out there than you can possibly imagine feeling exactly the same way, and if you can take any step at all – any – to own a little bit of what stops you sleeping, able to see friends, to do the things you think ‘normal’ people should be able to do, you’ll start pulling ahead.

If you recognise any of the feelings listed above, please take the step to talk to someone about it – whether that’s a friend, family member or one of the numbers listed here. You don’t need to suffer alone. Honestly.

http://www.techradar.com/news/im-finally-winning-the-race-against-anxiety-but-ill-never-reach-the-finish-line

Motorola has announced three new handsets in its wildly popular G series to replace the Moto G5S and Moto G5S Plus.

The new handsets are the Moto G6, the Moto G6 Plus and the Moto G6 Play.

You’ll find out all about them in great detail below, but we also have hands on reviews for each of the three phones.

We’re live in Sao Paulo, Brazil during the launch of the three new phones and while you can’t watch the Moto G6 launch live, we’ll be updating this article with the latest information as soon as we have it so you’ll be the first to know the latest details.

Below we have a video to talk you through everything you need to know about the Moto G6 family.

Moto G6 price and release date

You’ll be able to buy the Moto G6, Moto G6 Plus and Moto G6 Play in the coming weeks, but Motorola has yet to announce an official release date.

We know the US will only get the Moto G6 and Moto G6 Play, missing out on the Moto G6 Plus, while the UK is set to get all three phones in the first week of May.

The Moto G6 price is $249 (£219, about AU$320) SIM-free, while the Moto G6 Play will cost $199 (£169, about AU$250). 

In the UK the Moto G6 Plus is set to cost £269 (about AU$360).

There’s also an Amazon exclusive version of the Moto G6 with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, which will set you back £239 in the UK. It’s unclear if it will come to either the US or Australia.

Moto G6 design

The design language of the Moto G6 series is relatively similar to the phones that have gone before it, so if you own a Moto G5 or Moto G5S you’ll recognize a lot of the look and feel of the handset.

Moto’s G6 Plus is the most premium of the three with the Moto G6 sitting in the middle and the G6 Play being an even more affordable handset that doesn’t feel quite as high-end as the other two phones in the series.

There’s 3D glass on both the Moto G6 and Moto G6 Plus, while the G6 Play has a polymer material on the back. 

Each phone has a 3.5mm headphone jack and a USB-C port at the bottom edge of the phone (except the G6 Play which sticks with microUSB). 

The edges on the rear of each are also curved to make it fit in your palm easily and still feel comfortable.

There’s no waterproofing technology here though, so don’t attempt to take your phone into the shower with you if you buy a Moto G6 handset.

Every Moto G6 device has a fingerprint sensor, but the normal handset and the Moto G6 Plus have them below the screen while the Moto G6 Play has it on the rear of the phone.

Exactly what colors will be available in each market are currently unclear, so we’ll be sure to update this article when we know more about the color choices for the entire Moto G6 series.

Moto G6 display

To keep up with current top-end trends, the Moto G6 family all sport an 18:9 ratio display much like the iPhone X or the Samsung Galaxy S9. The screen quality won’t be as good, but it looks similar with a longer design on each of the three handsets.

The Moto G6 comes with a 5.7-inch IPS LCD with Full HD resolution at 1080 x 2160. That’s 424 pixels per inch, and is a similar quality to what we saw on the Moto G5S albeit a different size.

Then there’s the Moto G6 Plus that sports a 5.93-inch IPS LCD display with the same resolution of 1080 x 2160 but a lower pixel per inch count of 407. It’s a touch larger though, so you may prefer it if you’re looking for a larger phone.

Lastly the Moto G6 Play is the same size as the Moto G6 with a 5.7-inch screen, but the resolution is lower at 720 x 1440, which equals 282 pixels per inch. Basically, don’t go for this one if you’re looking for gorgeous picture quality.

Moto G6 specs and performance 

Here’s another area where the three handsets are set to differ widely too. It’s important to remember the Moto G6 range is about getting as much spec in a phone for an affordable price, so this doesn’t feature any top notch processing power.

The most powerful is the Moto G6 Plus that comes with a mid-range Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 chipset inside and we’ve seen this chipset perform well in handsets like the Sony Xperia XA2. 

Some markets will have access to a 6GB of RAM version with 64GB of storage, but we don’t currently know where that’ll land.

It’s more likely you’ll be able to buy the 4GB RAM version with 64GB of storage or the 3GB RAM with 32GB of storage. We don’t expect you’ll need 6GB of RAM inside your Moto G6 Plus to get satisfactory power.

Next up is the Moto G6 with a Snapdragon 450 chipset inside, which is the same tech inside the newly announced Honor 7C. This won’t be as snappy as the Plus variant, but we hope it’ll still hold its ground.

That comes with the choice of 4GB RAM with 64GB of storage, or you can drop down to 3GB RAM with 32GB of storage for a slightly lower price.

Finally there’s the Moto G6 Play, which will be the weakest of the three handsets but we still expect to see some suitable performance from its Snapdragon 430 chipset. We liked how that performed on last year’s Nokia 6, so we’ve go high hopes for how it’ll work in the G6 Play.

You’re more limited in your choice of RAM and storage here though with the two options being 32GB internal with 3GB of RAM or a measly 16GB of storage with 2GB RAM.

All three phones have microSD support up to 256GB, so if you buy one that’s too small for your tastes you can always insert a card for a bit of extra storage.

Moto G6 camera

Both the Moto G6 and Moto G6 Plus come brandishing dual rear cameras, while the G6 Play isn’t as powerful on the rear.

First up is the Moto G6 with a 12MP main sensor and a 5MP secondary camera on the rear. That has an aperture of f/1.8 and it’s also capable of filming HD video.

The Moto G6 Plus is remarkably similar with 12MP and 5MP cameras working together to get shots, but the aperture is slightly stronger at f/1.7 and there’s the ability to film video in 4K as well.

Lastly is the Moto G6 Play that just has a singular camera on the rear with a 13MP sensor and an aperture of f/2.0. All three phones come packing the same 8MP front-facing camera, plus there’s a portrait mode on the rear camera too.

There are also added software features for each of these phones that include Snapchat-like filters to stick over your face or even the ability to point your phone at famous landmarks and be told directly by your phone what you’re looking at.

Moto G6 battery and OS

We don’t currently know how well the three phones will perform in terms of battery life, but we have reason to believe the Moto G6 Play will be remarkably good.

The Moto G6 has a 3000mAh cell while the G6 Plus is a 3200mAh cell. Then there’s the Moto G6 Plus that has a huge 4000mAh battery, which is particularly good considering it has the least amount to power.

We think this may mean the Moto G6 Play will be trying to replicate the battery life we’ve seen on handsets like the Moto E4 Plus where it can last up to two whole days from a single charge. We’ll have to wait until we get these handsets in for full review to know for sure.

All three of the new handsets are running Android 8 Oreo software straight out of the box. That’s in a stock capacity, so it looks exactly how Google intended it too and you’ll get much the same look and feel as on the Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL.

Motorola is also one of the better Android manufacturers when it comes to updating its phones with the latest software so that should mean you’ll get timely updates to the OS on your Moto G6 series phone if you’re set to buy one. It sounds likely that Android P will eventually arrive.

Moto G6 other features

Standout features are not to be found on the Moto G6 series – this is more about bringing elements like design, display and other top-end features down to a more affordable handset. 

That means there’s no Moto Mod integration, like you’d get on the Moto Z2 range.

http://www.techradar.com/news/moto-g6-moto-g6-plus-moto-g6-play