More rumors point to Huawei being the next Nexus maker

The rumors about the next Nexus device never really stop. Last week we wrote about a rumor suggesting that the next Nexus will be made by an unlikely manufacturer: Huawei. They’ve just surprised us with a gorgeous smartwatch, and now it looks like they could be the next Nexus maker. As Mugatu would say “Huawei, so hot right now.”

The latest rumor comes from Gizmochina, which is based in Huawei’s backyard. They are reporting that this rumor has been “confirmed” by Kevin Yang, the director of China research at iSuppli. Of course, nothing is “confirmed” until it’s confirmed. The choice to go with Huawei would make a lot of sense if Google is looking for a greater presence in China. Xiami and Huawei made huge gains in 2014.

A Huawei-made Nexus would likely do great in China, but how would it do here in the US? Most people here don’t even know how to pronounce Huawei (it’s wah-way), let alone trust them enough to buy a phone. We don’t really know how well Nexus devices sell here anyway. There might not be any significant difference in the US, but the possibility for huge gains in China.

Would you be interested in a Huawei Nexus device?

You can now make the exact Moto 360 you want on Moto Maker

Moto Maker for the Moto X was and is a pretty big deal for those who value the freedom to express their personality, so it’s only natural that the same be true for a watch that’s going to sit on your wrist all day. As we’d heard before, the Moto 360 can now be customized via Moto Maker.

Buyers can choose from three case finishes, nine band styles and, of course, whatever watch face they desire. Essentially all the options at your disposal are already available in one standard configuration or another, or by purchasing bands separately, but being able to specify which exact casing and bands you want without ordering extra pieces and paying more money is much more satisfactory than the old way.

The Moto 360 still starts at 0, though you’ll need to add if you want the Champagne Gold body, and if you decide to go with a metal band over standard leather. Be sure to look through all your options here and order one if you aren’t already part of the big happy Moto family.

[via Motorola]

Red leather option for Moto X (2nd Gen) now available in Moto Maker

We took a look at all of Motorola’s custom leather options for the Moto X (2nd Gen) when we got a tour of their headquarters last year. They had most of their bases covered: black, natural (light tan), cognac (darker brown), and navy blue. More recently they added football leather option, but it was (and still is) exclusive to the Verizon model.

Today, they’ve officially added a new red leather option for all Moto X models and as usual, it comes with the normal + premium. Motorola calls it a “rich red hue,” even if the option on Moto Maker shows something a lot more toned and darker than that. We’re guessing you’ll want to see some photos in real life before pulling the trigger, although our lead image above should give you a better indication of what you’ll be getting.

[Moto Maker]

Google Map Maker submissions temporarily suspended after peeing robot incident

This is why we can’t have nice things, folks. Google has announced that they will be temporarily suspending Google Map Maker submissions following a recent incident. That incident, if you missed it, saw one rogue map editor uploading malicious maps.

One of the maps was a photo of an Android robot peeing on the Apple logo, and it was visible to anyone who knew the coordinates to type in over at Google Maps. It was a bit funny, but it was just as immature and came with the consequence we’re faced with today.

The natural step for Google was to begin manually reviewing each map submission, but the company’s backlog of reviews has gotten so large that they’ve been unable to handle new submissions in a timely manner. As such, they’ll instead opt to suspend submissions altogether while they improve the automated parts of their review process.

Unfortunately they don’t have a timeline for when the feature will return, though that did assure us that this is a temporary situation. “Temporary” could be as little as a day and as long as a decade, of course, so without an estimate it’s hard to know if we’ll see it return anytime soon. On the bright side, the guy who made these submissions’ say his end goal was to get Google to strengthen their map review process. We’d say his mission was aced with flying colors.

[via Google]

A Motorola DROID phone could be getting Moto Maker love in the future [RUMOR]

To now, Motorola has only used Moto Maker to allow folks to customize devices from the Moto X, as well as the Moto 360. That exclusive list could be getting some new company, though.

A source familiar with the matter has revealed to Phandroid that Motorola is considering adding a DROID phone to the Moto Maker ranks. Unfortunately we weren’t treated to concrete details about which phone it might be.

The first guess might be the Motorola DROID Turbo, and that would make sense with it being Verizon’s most recent flagship DROID. Considering we’ve seen Verizon release a whopping 3 new color variants for the DROID Turbo in recent weeks it sounds like they’ve at least been considering it. Perhaps they even used that as an excuse to test the logistics that would go behind providing multiple color options for a DROID phone.

Of course, the DROID Turbo will soon be a year old and the next new kid on the block will be set to arrive later this summer, so it’s also possible they’ll look to provide Moto Maker customization with that particular device. What device might that be? We’re still not sure, but we know one is coming and Motorola probably won’t want to disappoint.