Motorola Moto X Release Date Approaches: AT&T Launch This Week Despite Engraving Issues

The Moto X has a release date for AT&T customers set for Friday, Aug. 23, the when custom-designed versions of the phone are due to begin shipping to customers. The Moto X from Motorola and Google does not yet have a formal release date set for Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile.

Customers are still able to design their own Moto X on the Moto Maker website, choosing a rear shell color, a white or black front, and accent colors for the power and volume buttons. Motorola originally said that Moto X customers would be able to include a custom “engraving” on the rear shell of the phone, but it cancelled that offer for now, citing “quality control” issues.

The Moto X design site is currently exclusive to AT&T, but it's coming to Verizon before the year’s end. The Moto X, the first phone considered to be true a collaborative effort between Motorola and its parent company since it was acquired by Google, was hailed by Motorola's CEO as being more “widely available” than the Verizon Wireless exclusive Droid family (Droid Ultra, Maxx and Mini). However, the Moto X does not have a definite release date for carriers other than AT&T.

T-Mobile customers will not see the Moto X in stores, however. That carrier's customers will have to order (in black or white only) such phones directly from Motorola. Sprint will offer the Moto X to customers at some point “this summer,” but it's not offering a definitive release date, and the same goes for Verizon Wireless.

Motorola has not released plans for international versions of the Moto X. Google and Motorola have said that the first phone assembled (but not made) in the U.S. will only be available there and in Canada. However, Motorola has put up international websites with a design strikingly similar to that of the U.S. Moto X page, suggesting the company has a similar Moto-style smartphone for Asia and Europe.

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