A new Motorola device surfaced last night, giving a glimpse at what the now Google owned company may have in store for the future. The device goes by model number XT912A (RAZR was XT912) and is definitely not the oft-rumored X Phone (or is it?). What we are looking at is a mid-range device, but one that certainly looks more stock and less Moto than we have seen in some time. 

The Motorola DROID RAZR HD and RAZR MAXX HD are no longer new by smartphone standards, having been released back in October of last year. So typically when a phone has been on the market for five or six months, we start to see the price drop across the web. 

Outside of the Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One, I’d say it’s safe to say that most of the geeks around these parts care only about one other device – that’s the Motorola X Phone. Though Google’s CEO isn’t expecting any of Moto’s products to “wow” us over the next few months, the X Phone will continue to be on our radar, as all of Motorola’s have been in the past. There is a chance that it ends up wow-ing us, especially if Google shows that they have had any influence  on its design, build materials, and software tweaks. With that said, there has been little tangible evidence to this point, so when we see purported leaks surface, we can’t help but be extremely skeptical. Take today’s for example. 

The DROID 4 may be the next in line to receive Jelly Bean (Android 4.1) from Motorola, if invites to a soak test for members of the Moto Feedback Network are any indication. A number of readers of ours received invites last night to test out a “early preview of a new software release,” though the words “Jelly Bean” were not necessarily mentioned in the emails. 

The staff cuts continue at the now Google-owned Motorola this week, with some 1,200 employees spread across the U.S., Canada and India losing their jobs. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the 10% reduction in headcount is simply a continuation of the 20% cut that Moto announced back in August. A company spokesperson said that obviously it’s “very hard for the employees concerned, and we are committed to helping them through this difficult transition.” 

Motorola has officially announced that the Jelly Bean update for the DROID RAZR and RAZR MAXX is rolling out to devices in phases. With the soak test underway, along with manual downloads making the rounds, we weren’t really expecting this announcement to come for a few days, or at least until the test had completed. In fact, Verizon has yet to mention that the update is on the way nor have they provided support docs with details on it. But hey, Moto has decided that the time is right. It’s official. 

I’m really starting to like this “new” Motorola. First, they killed off almost all Moto bloatware in the new Jelly Bean (Android 4.1.2) update for the DROID RAZR and replaced most of it with stock Android apps. Second, they are making sure to take care of anyone who received the accidental X-mas Eve Jelly Bean update (98.72.8) on their RAZR or RAZR MAXX, by providing a 40MB file that jumps users up to the official 98.72.16. That’s right, no need to flash back to 4.0.4 or some older build.

Thanks to a tester of the software, we now have the file for flashing. For those of you wondering when you would be upgraded off of the older build of JB, that time is now. 

According to the flood of emails that have hit our inbox,  the soak test of Jelly Bean (Android 4.1.2) for the original DROID RAZR and RAZR MAXX has officially begun. We don’t exactly know when it’ll arrive for all users who are not a part of the Motorola Feedback Network, but assuming this test goes smoothly, it shouldn’t be long. And for your sake, I hope you aren’t waiting more than a week, as the update rids the device of almost all Moto-inspired bloatware, turning it into a device that even an Android elitist snob would be proud of. If this update isn’t a sign of the “new” Motorola, then I don’t know what is.