Motorola Gets Mouthy Claiming Samsung Ripped Off Moto Z Active Display Feature

Moto Z Top Edge
Earlier this summer, Lenovo announced its new Motorola Moto Z and Moto Z Force Android Marshmallow flagship smartphones. Both include Active Display, which fires up individual pixels on the display while your smartphone is locked to give you quick access to the current time and notifications. Since it only uses a limited amount of pixels on your AMOLED display, it’s very power efficient.

Earlier this year, Samsung introduced a similar feature on its Galaxy S7 family of products called the Always-On-Display (AOD). The AOD was also specifically highlighted by Samsung during the introduction of the well-received Galaxy Note 7, which became available on the retail market earlier this week.

Perhaps not being able to handle all of the positive press being showered upon the Galaxy Note 7, Lenovo fired back via Twitter:

While it’s true that Motorola first introduced the Active Display back in 2013 on the Moto X, it’s disingenuous to say that it was the originator of the feature. Nokia should get credit for introducing the functionality on its Symbian-based smartphones going back as far as 2009. Likewise, Nokia’s Lumia smartphones running the Windows Phone operating system also incorporated this feature before Motorola/Lenovo introduced it on the Moto X.

One Twitter user was even kind enough to point out this fact:

So in other words, maybe Lenovo should just sit back and just go with the flow. The Active Display is not a Motorola/Lenovo invention and we can’t say that this is clearly a case of Samsung trying to be a copycat with its Galaxy and Galaxy Note family of products. Instead of harping about Active Display, perhaps Motorola should tweet more about those awesome Moto Mods that Dave wrote about in his Moto Z/Moto Z Force review.

Brandon Hill

Brandon Hill

Brandon received his first PC, an IBM Aptiva 310, in 1994 and hasn’t looked back since. He cut his teeth on computer building/repair working at a mom and pop computer shop as a plucky teen in the mid 90s and went on to join AnandTech as the Senior News Editor in 1999. Brandon would later help to form DailyTech where he served as Editor-in-Chief from 2008 until 2014. Brandon is a tech geek at heart, and family members always know where to turn when they need free tech support. When he isn’t writing about the tech hardware or studying up on the latest in mobile gadgets, you’ll find him browsing forums that cater to his long-running passion: automobiles.

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