A Smart Start with Moto E (#ChooseToStart)

This post won a Moto E Phone for the

Choose to Start Blogging Contest

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sponsored by Motorola

She’s by my side when I go to bed.

When I wake up startled by my little toddler’s cry, she’s by my side to comfort my disturbed sleep.

As it dawns, her’s is the first face I wake up to.

I irresistibly come back to her for a lone deep conversation, soon after my impatient rush of morning chores.

I keep looking out for her, through the day, every now and then.

The slightest tone from her, stimulates the surge of happiness hormone in me.

She knows my bank balance, my most private conversations and even my pathetic Subway Surfer scores and yet remains unassuming, ever-ready to remain by my side.

You might want to call her an electronic device or a mobile phone.

But I would rather fondly address her as my confidante and dearest friend!

I am not trying to be over dramatic! Most of us who use a smart phone would certainly relate to the lines above. Whether smart phones have reduced human interactions or maximized the same shall ever remain a debate, though, at the end of the day, we shall ever look forward to connect through these little allies.

Imagine you accidentally drop your mobile phone down and pick up to fix everything in place only to see a blank screen. What turbulence it would set in you?! A moment of madness beyond comprehension! Just as we don’t realize when we begin to get personally close with a new acquaintance, we, as well, remain unaware of how we build an emotional bond with our inanimate devices.

Down my Memory Lane….

It was a giant step in my life to finally forsake my primitive phone of stamp-size screen and press-button keypad. When I look back now, I wonder what kind of life I’ve led for years without a touch screen phone. Did I really had to press a button thrice to bring ‘C’ on the screen! 🙄

The story of the first smart phone I owned, is not just an ordinary saga. Believe me it was an event for the nation! If you can remember May 13, 2014; the day when the Flipkart site literally crashed with the launch of Moto E (First Gen)?! Yeah, I was one of the culprits behind their heavy crashing.

As a beginner, I preferred to spend less. I couldn’t guess how effectively I would utilize the smart phone facilities; hence I sailed safe with a limited budget. Nevertheless, it came with a stunning offer of Android Kitkat OS and 1.2 GHz dual-core Qualcomm processor at just. Rs.6999! No wonder it’s the winner of the Best Low Cost Smart Phone Award at the 2015 Global Mobile Awards by GSMA

And that’s how she landed on my side, for the first time!

Like my all other firsts, the first smart phone experience was a delightful one. There was something new to learn everyday. In fact, it was several days before I could discover direct dial and animated wall papers. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are still some features that I am unaware of.

Well, here are a few standing-out memories of my first dates with her 🙂

Moto E Smartphone

The Buckwheater Me!

In the beginning, I was like a new kid on the block, without doubt! It took a while to get accustomed to touch screen, press and hold functions, hold and drag functions and many more new features to my fingers. It feels funny today as I recollect those frustrating moments while I used to pathetically try to move an icon from one place to another on the screen. I would finally end up moving to trash and add it anew 😆

Flipping through contacts used to be another comical task. In a while, however, it seemed no rocket science. Smart phone handling nuances such as the right level of pressure applied on the screen and the optimum speed of sliding over the screen just comes with regular usage. So happened to me too!

Me, the Tech Romeo!

For several days, getting an email notification, amused me. Earlier, I would check emails only when I opened my laptop. That meant, I had to go through the piled up messages and spend dedicated time for replying and deleting. Now I could access emails in seconds after delivery, reply then and there and would have no backlogs of emails in my inbox! This kept me excited for a long time, in fact.

The next high-tech application was gchat. “Have you started?” “Me too” “Entering the lift” “Near wash room” “Go for lunch?” Even now, I cannot contain the emotion of instant communication with my colleagues then. I felt like a small kid jumping in joy at the sight of an ice cream cone.

The Granstand Hot Dog!

I am not of the types of shameless flaunting of possessions. But with my new smart phone, I didn’t recognize how and when I changed my types. While I am in the local bus, in the lift, at the cafeteria, I would put a show off by taking my mobile out as though I had to check something important. After all, I would have checked the time on the screen! That too, amidst a crowd that uses smart phones for a few years already. However, I must admit that using a smart phone gives a new dignified identity for oneself.

The HyperApponemia

I was severely down with the app fever for the first month. I would consult every Android expert in the net and meet fellow Android users in the office to learn about new apps. It was as though, unless I make maximum use of the apps, the 6999 bugs I’ve spent wouldn’t get justified. I remember installing three notepads, two task killers, two flash lights, three dictionaries, and it’s a huge list of barcode scanner, cardio trainer…..until I got enough of it! One day, my app mania dried up the 4 GB internal storage that I had to root out and move them to a SD card. Why no one warned me against this serious disease?!

Now that I’ve undergone treatment, I’ve got enlightened to discriminate between necessary apps, helpful apps and the phone-crashing ones.

Camera Love

With a baby around, needless to say, there would be abundant clicking and video recordings all time. This was the best feature I was totally excited about using a smart phone. Initially I used to be obsessed of capturing the Sun, Sky, leaves, flowers, spider webs and sticks as though using a DSLR. Well, again until the time I got enough of it!  Earlier, I had to miss several memorable moments for the pain of taking out my camera. I was undoubtedly happy with the 5MP rear camera; it does a decent job under artificial lighting too.

The Cursed Auto-Correct Dictionary Function

It was more a nuisance than a help while typing. I’ve been looked at weird many a times amongst my Whatsapp group fellows. On one hand, I was getting my fingers adjusted to the tiny alphabets on the screen and on the other, this intelligent dictionary was trying to make new vocabulary out of my mistyped words. These were the worst:

“I am on *ick (sick) leave”

“Don’t be mad (sad)”

Raid GPS

During the first few days, I used to keep the GPS on while traveling home back from office. I kept a constant track of the little blue navigation triangle. Any trespassing it does, a little here or there, I felt agitated to complain to the developers. But soon I realized that it was my battery power that was getting raided 🙁

SMS slowly becomes a Junk Box

I realized it in the very first week! As much as SMS was important before the smart phone, so much it became trivial with smart phone usage. Now, it’s almost for unnecessary promo messages and for times when internet is not available.

Whether Moto ‘E’ stands for Economy or Entry-level, it’s been a memorable experience right from the day of my order!

But What if I would want to Start it all over Again?

Now that I know what it means to have a smart phone (if not an expert at it), I can confidently identify what additional features in my phone would be helpful, with respect to my usage.

  • Definitely a front camera
  • May be a little more internal memory
  • A little wider screen
  • Preferably, an advanced OS and processor
  • Perhaps, added battery life

The list must have matched many other user experiences. That’s why Motorola has come up with Moto E (Second Gen), with features exactly matching my preferences. Yes, an upgraded version of Moto E was released in India on 10th March 2015.

A downloadable PDF file from the official Moto E website details the specifications of the new Moto E (Second Gen). Apart from the screen size increase from 4.3″ to 4.5″ and double (8 GB) internal storage, here I list my five most admirable additions that I would prefer to start my second smart phone experience with.

More Faster

I am just beginning to explore more meaningful and helpful apps on my phone. That means I would expect to move swiftly between apps and also have a few apps open at the same time. And I wouldn’t want a lag in the processing. With a higher version of the processor, QualComm Snapdragon processor with 1.2GHz quad-core CPU and advanced graphics, I believe the new Moto E can function up to an efficiency level of my expectation.

Moto E 2nd GenerationExciting User Interface

Tell me, who wouldn’t want it? With the latest OS, Android 5.0.2 Lollipop, the new Moto E brings in amazing UI experiences such as Moto Display, Moto Migrate, Moto Assist, Moto Actions and others. Here’s a brief description from the official site:

Moto E Yippee, Lots of Selfies!
The first in my list!
I’ve never taken a good selfie with my son around. Sometimes, my head is gone for a toss; sometimes, his ears hide behind the camera. If not for anything else, I would definitely vote for a front camera in my new mobile. And guess what, new Moto E promises my demand, a front camera in addition to the 5MP rear camera. Also, navigation between the two cameras is just a hand’s sway. Listen to the magic:
With the Quick Capture feature, when you twist your wrist twice while holding the phone in your hand, the 5MP rear camera opens up on the screen. Another two twists, the front camera opens up. I appreciate this innovation because at most times, when I want to capture something quick, I feel impatient to unlock the screen, navigate to the camera icon and wait for it to open after clicking. By far this is the best addition, I would say.
 Moto E Features
More Battery Life
Now that my son enjoys sliding through the screens of my phone, additional battery life will be a boon. The new Moto E features 2390 mAh battery that is expected to supply an all-day power.

New Moto E Specifications

Cute Customizations

Yet another thing to choose from! To add more colours to my phone, I shall choose bands of six colours that give that trendy style statement to my phone. Not just for looks but also for safety. Yes, they act as grip bands providing better protection to the device.

New Moto E Second gen

Sometimes, it’s difficult to leave behind our dear ones and take a bold step forward. That’s how it will be for me to not have her on my side. However, we are required to update and upgrade according to life’s innumerable demands, over the years, in order to cope up with the process of our evolution. So are our technological needs.

Though I will have to part ways with my Moto E (First Gen), I will happily look forward to make new bonding with her re-birth version, Moto E (Second Gen).

Photo Courtesy: All the images can be found at the official Moto E site.

0 Replies to “A Smart Start with Moto E (#ChooseToStart)”

  1. Dear Nandhini,

    Congrats for winning.. I knew you only for few months, and I felt happy as If I won…. In fact, I informed my sister that Moto-E results got announced, and my friend name Nandhini is in winning list…

    Its truly truly truly truly truly truly truly a deserving winning post!!!!

    1. Thanks Archana. I liked your story of a granny learning technology from the grandson. There was a subtle warmth in the post, though I missed to leave a comment there 🙁 And it’s been in my pending list to read your stories, for two months now. Keep writing, will give them some surprise visits 😆

    1. Thanks Yamini. I remember reading your post. Short and simple. Your photography blog is too good. Hope you are sending your pictures for photo contests.

      Thanks for your time here. Pages from Serendipity welcomes you 🙂 Please do continue your visits.

  2. I bought a Spice 440 Mobile for 3600 rupees and couldn’t be happier! Actually, I use my phone as a modem for Internet 3G connectivity, listen to ebooks/articles, and picking up the occasional calls. This phone is more than sufficient for me, especially considering I need to replace it every year. I could consider Moto E and ZenFone in the future, thanks to ‘enlightening’ posts like yours! And congrats for winning the contest 🙂

    Destination Infinity
    PS: You know what, my Spice 440 has Analog TV built-in. Imagine! 😛

    1. That’s great! I guess there are other smart phones too like karbon mobiles which are available for even 2k. Choosing phones depends on our usage. Like what you said, we will need to replace them periodically.

      Thank you.

  3. 9), the announcement of a regional upgrade schedule for other LG mobile devices will follow the initial roll-out.
    Internet connectivity, and even camera apps are likely to turn into bigger players featuring in photography vacant ahead.
    This will enable you to transfer data back and forth between external and
    internal storage with ease.

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