The Moto X and Google relationship is confusing at best. Google owns Motorola and doesn't give the company any special privileges, but will make sell a Moto X Google Play Edition at some point. There were some "touchy ads" that didn't go over well.
The Moto X will not ship with the latest version of Android, because Google did not give Motorola access to Android 4.3 until it was revealed with the new Nexus 7, last month. However, Google will be paying for the $500 million bill to promote the Moto X.
On ad showed a tattooed arm in bed next to the Moto X on a night stand with the Moto motto "Touch each other, not phones. "Moto X responds to your voice, no touching necessary. (That's what she said.)" In response, Motorola removed the "That's what she said." Which took the mojo out of the Moto.
After the announcement of the release of the Moto X, the Verge reported that the Google will also sell a Google Play edition of the Moto X online.
The Google Edition Moto X will be unlocked and run pure Android without the addition of carrier or Motorola "bloatware." The main advantage of it is that it gets Android updates as soon as they are available. This follows the Samsung Galaxy S 4 and HTC One that are available in pure Google Editions at full price.
The deal breaker on the unlocked Moto X will be the price. If priced at $299 like the Nexus 4, it will likely be very popular. The carriers probably would not be happy if were priced at $199, the same price as the Moto X with a carrier contract.
While those in the United States aren't too excited, customers in other countries are complaining that the Moto X will only be sold in the U.S. Dugh---you can't make phones to orders and ship them all over the world and make a profit.
Meanwhile, Motorola is offering its workers $200 or more to test the Moto Maker online system an $250 more for an interview.
We also learned that the T-Mobile version of the Moto X will only be available at first from Google Play and may be released by the carrier at a later date.