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Moto X will reportedly offer customizable colors, engravings

Motorola will offer customers a chance to tweak the look of their phone, and have it in their hands within days of the order.

Roger Cheng Former Executive Editor / Head of News
Roger Cheng (he/him/his) was the executive editor in charge of CNET News, managing everything from daily breaking news to in-depth investigative packages. Prior to this, he was on the telecommunications beat and wrote for Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal for nearly a decade and got his start writing and laying out pages at a local paper in Southern California. He's a devoted Trojan alum and thinks sleep is the perfect -- if unattainable -- hobby for a parent.
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Roger Cheng
2 min read
Motorola promises the "first smartphone that you can design yourself." Motorola

A few more details on the mysterious Moto X from Motorola Mobility have trickled out.

When it launches, customers will be able to choose the colors for the back of the device and the trim, according to ABC News. They will also be able to engrave a name or message to the back cover, as well as upload a photo to be used as the wallpaper on the screen, the report said, citing unnamed sources.

Moto X also will run the latest version of Google's Android operating system, Android 4.2.2, or Jelly Bean, unsurprising given Motorola is a unit of Google. The report said that Verizon Wireless, among other carriers, is testing out the phone. The Verge reported that the Moto X will not be Verizon's next Droid flagship phone.

CNET contacted Motorola for comment, and we'll update the story when it comes out. Verizon declined to comment.

Motorola earlier Wednesday put up a sign-up page for the Moto X, although it offered little information aside from the tease that customers will be able to design their own phone. The page follows an advertisement in several major newspapers touting the fact that its phones will be assembled in the U.S.

Motorola said it expects to have more than 2,000 new employees at a Fort Worth, Texas, facility building the phones. The domestic location will enable the phones to arrive in customers' hands within days of their order, according to ABC News.

Moto X represents a rebirth of a company that has struggled to sell its Android smartphones. Beyond a solid partnership with Verizon and a steady stream of Droid products, the company has done little else to make inroads against Apple or Samsung.