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Motorola is working on a new Beta Experiences program that will allow owners of its Android devices to test new operating system builds and features before they’re available on a global level, the company’s Vise President of Product Dan Dery revealed earlier today in São Paulo, Brazil. While speaking at an event that saw the announcement of the new Moto G6 and Moto E5-series smartphones, Mr. Dery confirmed plans for the program but provided no concrete details on the matter.
Motorola has been criticized for not releasing timely software updates for most of its devices in recent times and the existence of a new beta program may signal a renewed commitment to such after-sales support practices moving forward. The company’s Thursday event was still primarily hosted with the goal of unveiling and showcasing its latest Android smartphones; Motorola’s new midrange lineup consists of the Moto G6, Moto G6 Play, and the Moto G6 Plus, whereas its first entry-level offerings of the year come in the form of the Moto E5, Moto E5 Play, and the Moto E5 Plus. All six devices run Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box, with the Lenovo-owned company’s implementation of Google’s operating system also featuring support for a wide variety of functionalities such as Moto Key, Moto Display, and Moto Actions, though select models only support some of them.
The smartphone manufacturer was already expected to announce its first 2018 products at Barcelona, Spain-based Mobile World Congress in late February but ended up postponing those launches until today, going against its previously established strategy that traditionally saw it invest in a major presence at every iteration of the annual trade show. While the firm never clarified on the matter, the delay of its 2018 announcements may have been related to a major leadership change recently conducted at Motorola, with its long-time President Aymar de Lencquesaing stepping down for officially non-business reasons and his replacement being found in another veteran executive – Sergio Buniac.