Motorola says next version of Moto X due in 'late summer,' smartwatch coming later this year

Mobile World Congress 2014 rolls on today with an event hosted by Motorola. This one isn't like most other MWC gatherings, though, with the format being more of a question and answer session rather than a straight-up announcement. However, that doesn't mean that no news was made there.

Motorola was asked during its MWC event about the next version of the Moto X. The company didn't reveal much about its plans, but it did say that a new version of its flagship smartphone is coming in the "late summer."

Motorola also revealed during the Q&A that it's got a new smartwatch device in the works. The wearable is slated to arrive this year, and while details on it are still fairly light, Moto says that it's aiming to address common issues that consumers have with smartwatch hardware, including style and battery life.

Finally, Motorola announced that it'll soon expand its Moto Maker customization tool to more countries. Consumers in Western Europe and Mexico will be able to start designing their own Moto X hardware starting in the second quarter.

Those are all some pretty major announcements, no? The Moto X was one of the more highly-regarded smartphones of 2013, so it's good to hear that Motorola is prepping a new version of the device, and it'll be interesting to see how a Moto X made by the Lenovo-owned Motorola will compare to the one created by the Google-owned Motorola.

Meanwhile, it looks like we can safely add Motorola's name to the list of companies prepping new smartwatch hardware. Moto's no stranger to the wearable game, having launched devices like the MOTOACTV in recent years, but it's still intriguing to hear that it's got a new device in the works. As with the new Moto X, I'm sure that Motorola's new smartwatch will garner a lot of attention from folks that want to see what kind of wearable that Moto churns out while under Lenovo's ownership.

What do you think of Motorola's MWC announcements? Are there any specific features that you'd like to see included in Moto's next Moto X and smartwatch?

Via @Motorola (1), (2), (3)