Motorola on Wednesday announced the Moto G, an unlocked, no-contract smartphone with an unlockable bootloader running Android 4.3, Jelly Bean, to be widely available next year. An 8-GB version will be offered for $179 and a 16-GB version for $199. The rollout began this week in Brazil and parts of Europe, and the device will come to the United States in 2014.

Google has unveiled the highly anticipated Nexus 5, its flagship smartphone running the new KitKat release of the Android OS. The Nexus 5, manufactured by LG, has a 5-inch 1080p display. At 4.59 oz., it is lighter and thinner than its Nexus predecessor. It’s also faster — it runs on the speedy Snapdragon 800 processor. It comes with an 8 MP rear camera and a 1.3 MP front-facing camera.

Motorola’s making a big splash with the launch of Project Ara, an ambitious, open source hardware initiative that allows consumers to customize their entire phone, down to the specific components and display. Ara’s approach centers around an endoskeleton, or “endo,” that is the core frame holding the other components together. Consumers will be able to swap modules however they like.

With nearly a month to spare, startup Omate burst through its Kickstarter goal of $100,000 this week and is on its way to shipping its TruSmart smartwatch in time for the holiday season. More than $250,000 have been pledged so far toward the device, which is perhaps the closest thing yet to an Android smartphone that can be worn on a wrist.

Samsung is poised to introduce the next generation of its flagship Galaxy smartphone next week in New York City. It will be the first U.S. launch of a Galaxy handset in three years, and Samsung is heralding it with a “Samsung Unpacked” advertising blitz. It’s official that Samsung will debut the Galaxy S IV, but apart from the name, all the details circulating are still rumor.

HTC launched its newest smartphone Tuesday, sporting a revamped interface and new entertainment features. The HTC One has a 4.7-inch display in an industrial-looking aluminum body. It also has a refreshed Sense interface, HTC’s take on the Android operating system. The One’s entertainment options include a 1080p Super LCD 3 display.