Google readying device to attack Apple’s iPhone

Google is readying to launch an attack on Apple's iPhone with a device that is said to be more aware of its surroundings and smart enough to anticipate how it would be used next, according to the head of the internet company's Motorola subsidiary, the Financial Times reported today.

The gadget, called the Moto X, would be made in the US and would form part of a campaign to cut down smartphone costs and end the high profit margins companies including Apple had enjoyed, according to Dennis Woodside, Google executive who took over the affairs at Motorola after its acquisition in late 2011.

According to the report, Woodside's comments, made at the D11 conference in southern California, came as the first official confirmation by Google that it would launch a ''hero'' phone, or flagship handset capable of competing with devices such as the iPhone and Samsung's S4.

According to Woodside the Moto X was more contextually aware of what was going on around it and allowed users to interact with it more than other device today. He added, the device anticipated the user's need.

The device would come with sensors inside, such as a gyroscope and accelerometer, that would be constantly powered up so the phone would know whether it was in a car travelling at 60mph or being taken out of a user's pocket, he said. With the sensors it would try to anticipate what a user would like to use it for, enabling, for instance, to open a camera app in advance to take a picture.

Motorola Mobility, owned by Google, has already begun hiring for the Texas, Fort Worth plant, where the device would be made. The site was most recently unoccupied but was earlier used by Nokia, meaning it was designed to produce mobile devices, according to Will Moss, a spokesman for Motorola Mobility.

Moss said it was a great facility in an ideal location adding that it would be an easy trip for Motorola engineering teams based in Chicago and Silicon Valley. He added, it was also close to the company's service and repair operations in Mexico.

The facility would be run and owned by Singapore-based contract electronics manufacturer, Flextronics International Ltd, that had had a long relationship with Motorola.

In December, Apple said it would be moving manufacturing of a line of Mac computers to the US this year, in a reversal of of outsourcing from the US. The company had come under intense criticism for working conditions at the Chinese factories where its products were assembled.