The identity of the device is currently unknown. Its existence was revealed by Android Police in a report yesterday. It was later expanded on by 9to5Google with more details of the dedicated productivity mode.
The feature will be optional and enabled by a toggle. It can be quickly enabled and disabled, letting you switch between using the tablet for work and as a more conventional entertainment device. The feature will be initially accessed from within the Settings app.
Once turned on, productivity mode expands on Motorola’s Android interface by adding several features aimed at power users. Most significantly, it creates a taskbar out of Android’s regular status bar at the bottom of the display. Open apps show up on the bar and can be pinned there for quick access, like Windows PCs.
Apps can be closed by long-pressing an icon on the taskbar and dragging it upwards. Apps are believed to remain open in the background until explicitly closed, allowing true multitasking between different services. The behaviour of this function is currently unconfirmed and Android Police cautioned that the role of background apps is “speculation.”
9to5Google noted that the upcoming features appear to have been lent to Motorola by parent company Lenovo. The company’s recent premium Android devices, such as the Yoga Book, already include similar capabilities. They do lack the toggle to turn the functionality off though, suggesting Motorola’s new device will target a wider audience who won’t all need the new features.
With regards to the tablet itself, it’s said to be a fairly large device with a screen size in the 9-10 inches range. Aside from reportedly having a “premium look and feel,” no details are currently known about its internals. The high-end exterior and inclusion of dedicated productivity options implies it’ll probably be a fairly powerful device though, giving Android fans another option when looking for a new performance tablet.
With no name, specs or price range revealed, this new Motorola remains a mystery for now. There’s still relatively few productivity-focused Android tablets on the market so the company could help to fill a niche if the device makes it to the public market. The overall look and feel of the productivity mode is similar to Google’s own Chrome OS laptop interface.
It’s unclear when Motorola will be ready to launch the device. It’s the company’s first tablet in many months and could be popular if the rumours play out as reported. TechRadar noted that the tablet could turn out to be Lenovo’s Tab 4 10 though, unveiled at Mobile World Congress in February and set to launch this month. It has a similar footprint and software arrangement to the purported features of the Motorola device. Although Android Police’s report is based on a “trusted source,” the two products actually being the same is a plausible theory.
