The Moto G4 and Moto G4 Plus, Motorola's newest budget-friendly phones, are now up for pre-order here in the US with a starting price of just $199. Neither landing page for each says specifically, but if you add either to your cart, they show an expected delivery date of July 12.

UPDATE: Motorola has now announced the news and says that July 12 is indeed day 1 of availability at Amazon, Best Buy, B&H Photo, Car Toys, Fry's, Microcenter, Sam's Club, Walmart.com, and their own store. Each device will also hit Republic Wireless on July 28.

As a recap, the Moto G4 is the cheapest of the two, but by no means lacks decent specs for a $200 phone. The Moto G4 Plus is probably the phone you'll want to splurge a bit for, though, if you were eying either. You can check out the full specs here, but each has a 1.5GHz Snapdragon 617 processor (octa-core), 5.5-inch Full HD display (1080p), 3000mAh battery, microSD card support, and can be customized through Moto Maker. The differences are in additional specs for the G4 Plus. The G4 Plus can be upgraded from 2GB to 4GB RAM and from 16GB storage to 64GB storage, it has a 16MP camera with laser and phase detect autofocus (regular G4 has just a 13MP camera with neither AF), and also a fingerprint reader.

A year ago, Amazon opened up Alexa to developers, allowing them to integrate the tech into their own platforms. Because of this, the amount of skills offered on the Echo has shot up tremendously, with more being added every day. To help navigate through all of these skills, Amazon has redesigned the Skills layout inside of the Alexa app, listing individual skills under categories, making discovery easier for Echo owners.

As we mentioned the day of LG’s CES 2015 press event, we planned to take a day and let the hype calm down before going hands-on with the newly announced G Flex 2 to hopefully form a decent opinion on the curved beauty. Well, that day has come and we spent some time with it. In short, this phone is really cool. 

As a recap, we are looking at a curved 5.5-inch FHD P-OLED display, Snapdragon 810 64-bit processor, 2GB or 3GB RAM (depending on the model), 13MP camera with OIS+ and Laser Auto Focus, a self-healing back, and Android 5.0.1.

In terms of in-hand feel, that curve is glorious. Even though the phone has a big 5.5-inch display, it certainly doesn’t feel big or out-of-reach, thanks to the curve. The back panel is a bit of a fingerprint, sticky mess, but it also has a really nice texture. It just feels very usable, which is saying something for a phone that – at least on paper – comes off as being large.

The software is a different animal. The units we used (all of them) were quite buggy. It was painfully obvious that LG hasn’t finished off their skin with Android 5.0.1, which is fine. The phone isn’t due out until some time later this quarter, so they have time to get the performance fine tuned and the bugs squashed.

The skin is still very LG-like, though. You do get Lollipop, but you definitely know that the G Flex 2 is made by LG. As rough as the software may be, this is Android, so you can customize most of it.

Overall, in the time we spent with the G Flex 2, I can tell you that both Tim and I are very impressed and can’t wait for final software to arrive with review units. This is currently the best new phone of 2015. Of course, it doesn’t have any competition yet, but even if it did, I think it would hold up nicely.

According to a report out of The New York Times, Google will soon push an update to Google Translate, a service which currently sees 500 million active users every month. In the update, which is expected soon, the Google Translate app will be able to listen to any supported spoken language, then automatically translate the language in real time to whichever language you desire. Again, that is if the language is supported. 

Not only did NYT dive into Translate, but the report also states that Google will soon unveil a service which allows users to hold their phone up to a foreign street sign and have it translated for reading. There are already services such as this available, but most of them we would place in the unusable category due to poor implementation.

No exact date was given on when this update would be available, but with the information now available, we expect there won’t be too much more waiting.

Of course, when the update starts rolling out, you can expect us to let you know.

For a limited time, Amazon is offering the Nexus 9, in both 16GB and 32GB storage options, for $50 off of their suggested retail price. To do the math for you, that brings the prices down to just $349 for the 16GB and $429 for the 32GB. 

Both White and Black models are available, making this a very sweet deal. Usually, you might find me recommending the SHIELD Tablet, but at just $349 for the 16GB model, in that hot White color, I would have to go for the Nexus 9.

Follow the links below to take advantage of the deal.

Amazon Links: 16GB Black | 32GB Black | 16GB White | 32GB White

Chromecast was already a steal at $35 – you would be hard pressed to find a cheaper, more simple device to beam audio and video from your smartphone, tablet, and computer to your TV – but Best Buy’s promotion makes it a no-brainer. Until the end of January, purchasing the dongle from the electronics retailer will net you $20 worth of Google Play credit. 

If that deal sounds familiar, that is because it is – Google offered an identical amount of credit for customers who purchased Chromecast before December 21 from most online sellers. The renewed promotion seems limited to Best Buy for now.

That is, remember, on top of the running two-month Hulu Plus deal and 90 days of Google Play Music All Access, which are available to all eligible Chromecast owners. Altogether, the valuable bundle is an incredible one.

Via: Best Buy

This week, Google is making an updated MDK available for Project Ara, the modular phone platform, with a developers conference conveniently scheduled for January 14 in Mountain View. The new MDK brings hardware and software upgrades, but a few changes seem much more headline-worthy than others. 

First, the Project Ara team has unveiled a new software protocol called Greybus, which handles the communications between the endoskeleton and the modules. Second, the team has developed a new contactless connection system between modules and the endoskeleton to save space and cost.

Lastly, this MDK includes an overview of a new “Ara Module Marketplace,” an e-commerce portal that enables users to purchase modules straight from the source. Google will handle all transactions, while also making sure modules are safe for consuming on the phones.

As stated, the second developers conference is set for January 14 in Mountain View. There will be a livestream, so count us in.