The Motorola Skip, a Moto X accessory that we first unwrapped yesterday, is now official thanks to a post discussing the wearable accessory’s capabilities. It’s reason for existence is exactly as we described yesterday – the Skip is for people who have a PIN or pattern lock on their phone, but do not want to have to enter it every single time they pick it up. The Skip, according to Motorola, is a “thumb-sized clip that pairs with your Moto X and unlocks it with a simple tap.” It can be worn by attaching it to a shirt, belt, pocket, or any other convenient spot on your body.
Included with the Skip, you’ll also find three Skip dots that act as authentication tokens. For example, you could place one on your desk, so that whenever your phone is lying on top of the dot, you could use Touchless Control without having to enter a PIN or pattern. Motorola also offers up examples of sticking one by your bed, in your car, or any other situation in which you’d like to keep your phone unlocked without having to touch it. Remove your phone from a dot, and it goes back to being locked. You can also pair and unpair them easily. Three Skip dots come with each Skip.
For a limited time, the Skip will be free for customers who order a Moto X through MotoMaker, which launches August 23. At launch, it will be available in grey/black, but Motorola will offer a variety of colors in the near future (pictured above).
Via: Motorola
While in concept I like the idea – I’ll be curious if my employer will now accept Moto X onto their network. It’s a BYOD office, and they have rejected allowing some devices on their network in the past. I’m hoping they don’t view these as a security risk for bypassing the lock-screens.
LET THEM HAVE ACCESSORIES!!!!!!
This is actually a great idea. My work recently changed their corporate email policies, so we now need a 6 digit pin or password to have exchange setup, which pisses me off. This would be a great help, because I hate having to enter in a pin every time I use my phone. Especially when you are trying to snap a quick photo.
Does the double wrist shake to launch the camera work if you have a PIN or code on the Moto X?
I like it. We store so much personal data on our phones now. Keeping it secure is becoming more important. I just hate the pin or unlock patterns because of the inconvenience. This fixes that.
I think i want this phone even after my previous anger over specs…my only beef with specs is the screen now…if i cant tell the dif between a quad core and a duel core while using the phone…wtf do i care
i bought a bmw 328xi instead of a 335i i was looking at(dif on 2k both cpo) because i drive a whole lot and the twin turbo would be silly more wear n tear and more problems to deal with down the line(plus time to grow up i had my fun with modded fast car when i was younger im over it)…although i wanted the power in the end it didnt really make much sense…im happy with my decision kinda how im leaning towards the moto x now when i was pissed out the gate over it
This is actually pretty aswesome…my one beef with the moto x was u couldnt use the always on when it was locked and i always like having my phone locked…this makes it a tad bit easeir to swollow…i still rather a voice password for when its locked…maybe future update?…also clippin to ur shirt and tapping on the way out your pocket is a pretty nifty smart simple idea…esp free 100% about this
I know this sounds dumb, but someone could just record a voice password on their own device and play it back. I don’t think that it would be worth coding, but that is me.
Can you do this with an NFC sticker + Tasker?
I don’t think Tasker can unlock the phone? It’s not one of its tasks as far as I know.
It can with the help of a plugin.
I don’t like the look of the Skip. I guess I’ll put it in my underwear and tap my phone on my junk to unlock.
Michael Jackson would have loved it. “Why are you grabbing your crotch Michael?” “Im just unlocking my phone dude”
Wow, people need to lighten up. It was funny and wasn’t offensive. That was one of his signature moves.
Ahhhh you think NFC is your ally? I was born in it, molded by it. I didnt force my owner to pull out his wallet until I was obsolete, by then I found it tidius!!
Dumbest comment of the day goes to you.
It’s Bionic. What else would you expect?
Lame…
My upgrade comes up in Feb… Maybe there will be a Moto X-2 w/ bumped specs by then.
It’s neat…but it’s going through the wash with my pants…
Please tell us that this will work with the new droids……
It should. They are identical
My thoughts exactly… I will be very disappointed if this is not the case and hope we do not see some exclusive BS on this one.
The next Nexus will be out by November. Fail
i dont understand. Also, F&@k AT&T
You know what else unlocks my phone? The unlock button. 😛
But it doesn’t unlock it if you have a pin or pattern lock. All the unlock button would do in that case is bring you up to the authentication screen 😛
(i did the tongue-out smiley because I was kidding)
Is this something that is only going to work for Moto X or should they work with the new droids and/or LG G2 also? I have a PIN but it would be awesome to not have to put it in while sitting at my desk all day.
So.. free at launch for AT&T. Another slap in the face for Verizon customers.
Sometimes i slap Verizon customers in the face just because they don’t do anything about it. Its fun! Try it!
Most are on contracts.
Or have Big Red because AT&T, T-Mobile or Sprint service sucks anywhere outside of a major metro area.
I have StraightTalk with an ATT compatabile SIM. In Oregon at least, I have service anywhere Verizon is. Granted I don’t have LTE on my Nexus 4 but it is kinda hard to argue with $45/month.
What do you recommend we do, build our own network? Because AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile aren’t options for those who want reliable service. We are at the mercy of Verizon because they have no competition. I hope T-Mobile can grow their network before Verizon forces me off of unlimited data, as they seem to be the only company who thinks of their customers.
Then stop complaining! Either suck it up, or change it. Anything else is just useless whining, and I can imagine it starts to get old after a while to everyone else.
Exactly. I left for for sprint. My service isn’t as good but that’s the cost of standing up to big red. Now if everyone grew a pair and showed Verizon by action and not by going on droid life and complaining maybe something would change. But you all just sit there and take while Verizon shits on your chest you ask for another and then go whisper to your friends about how you hate Verizon be proactive and do something about it. As long as you keep throwing those hundred dollar bills at them nothing will change
You are wrong, Verizon shits in my MOUTH. candybars!?!
$85 associate degree hour! Seriously i do not recognize why additional folks haven’t tried this, I work 2 shifts, a pair of hours within the day and a pair of within the evening…And whats impressive is Im engaging from home therefore i buy longer with my youngsters. Heres wherever I went, http://www.Pro67.com
Say what now?
Motomaker is only available with AT&T for now, right? Or has it expanded to Verizon?
(sadly) only AT&T right now
I’m actually warming to the idea of a motox as my next handset. I wanna see the next nexus before I decide though
That’s what I’ve been doing… for the past year and the half. Always waiting for the next thing. I was sure I was going to get the Razr HD (When it was first rumored to come out in May) and when it finally was released in October I decided that it was to outdated to buy. Then the MotoX rumors started flooding in with another early summer rumored release, and I’ve been waiting for that skipping over the other phones. At this point I’ve 95% decided that no matter what happens I’m going to get the MAXX.
Just give up because there will always be something better the next month or two. I’m still running a Bionic FFS.
I like the idea of the dots.
When I first saw the Skip yesterday, all I could think was “What the hell are they thinking?” But this actually does make sense for people with PIN and pattern locks. I’m not sure they are worth $20, but hey, if people will buy them.
Are they just NFC tags? If so, you should be able to roll your own for a lot less $.
That’s what I had assumed they were.
@kellex:disqus, can you do a video of the Moto X with a PIN? I have to have one to receive work email on my phone, and I would love to see what kind of limitations there are to Active Display and Touchless Control when a PIN is set.
From what I’ve read active display still works but you have to go through the pin process before it takes you into an app. Touchless controls though will only let you place a call without having to touch the phone to enter your pin.
That is what I have been finding too. Well, I hope this over priced NFC tag relieves that. I guess I’ll need to buy a few of them…which makes me wonder, can you have more that one Skip??
It sounds like you get three of those dot things which should be enough for your most common use areas where you’d like to be able to use touchless controls i.e. one near your bed, one in the car, one at your work desk. I think the wearable skip is to be on you at all times so it’s like pull out of pocket, rub against skip, bring phone to eyes.
Will it work with a Droid Ultra Maxx
i actually thought (till i read the description) that you would wave it past your pocket like a pass card and it would unlock it for you or as you pulled it out of your pocket in that matter.. I love lock codes and patterns to keep looky lous from messing with my info, however pain in the ass when you have to do it 20 times a day while having to check emails.