Google Moto G Release Date In Time For Holidays, Unlocked For Super Cheap

Google's subdivision Motorola has decided to set the release (or in Google's case, shipping) date for its Moto G smartphone for Dec. 2. Looking for holiday deals? The new Moto G is Google's cheapest unlocked phone so far, with pretty decent specs and capabilities for such a low price.

Originally slated for a January release, Google-owned Motorola decided to make the Moto G available before the holidays. And for a base price of $179, you get a mid-tier smartphone with pretty decent specs, and comes with the perks of being supported by Google.

Oh yeah, and that $179 smartphone is unlocked: It requires no contract.

Hardware

The Moto G features a 4.5-inch display with 720p HD (1280 x 720p) resolution, garnering an impressive 329 pixels per inch. A quad core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor, clocked at 1.2GHz with an Adreno 305 GPU powers the device, along with 1GB of RAM.

This chip is a couple of Snapdragon generations back, but remember you're paying less than the standard, contract-subsidized price for an unlocked Android smartphone built, essentially, by Google.

The lowest-priced Moto G comes with 8GB of internal storage, but if you can scrounge up another $20, you'll double that. In either case, Google is including two years of free Google Drive cloud storage, which is basically an expansion of 50GB to the Moto G's total capability. Unfortunately there's no microSD card slot for further physical storage expansion, but remember, cheap.

Other specs on the device are more or less in running with low to mid-tier smartphones, including an adequate 5-megapixel camera with LED flash that's capable of taking 720p HD video, and a 1.3-megapixel front-facing shooter for those selfies. The Moto G also has WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, a micro USB port and most of the sensors and other hardware to support essential apps and capabilities. The built-in 2070 mAh battery will, impressively, get you up to 24 hours of mixed use, according to the Moto G's website. Right now it only comes in black (and the body is clunky and plastic), but more color covers are on the way soon.

However, there is no LTE capability on the GSM phone, and those who use CDMA networks will have to wait until January for a compatible Moto G.

Software

The Moto G is in keeping with Google's Android philosophy, which the company recently doubled-down on with the design of Android 4.4 KitKat: open, inclusive, and cheap. Open, because manufacturers can layer their own software over Android if they choose, inclusive, because KitKat is designed to work on low-powered and older smartphones without bogging them down, and cheap, because it is.

Unfortunately (and probably due to the month-early rush), the latest Android 4.4 KitKat is not pre-installed on the Moto G, which comes with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean instead.

However, the Moto G is a Google-backed piece of hardware, meaning that it will get updated software much faster than other Android manufacturers, so expect an Android 4.4 KitKat update coming very soon for the device.