Ask your MotoX ‘What’s Up?’ and it reads out your notifications

MANILA, Philippines — Without a doubt, Motorola’s “Touchless Control” is one of the most innovative features on an Android smartphone to date.  

Supported phones like the popular MotoX are always listening and when you say, “Okay Google Now,” will respond to a host of commands.

On Wednesday, March 5 (Thursday Manila Time), “Touchless Control” got even better with an update that gives supported phones the ability to read out notifications with the “What’s Up” or “Read Notifications” command. 

While having your notifications read aloud might take longer than reading them yourself, the feature is perfect while driving.

The new update also includes better “end of speech detection.” Usually, Google Now will either cut you off mid-sentence or give you a long pause while it figures out what to do. The update is said to improve both accuracy and response time. 

In a previous update, users got the ability to dictate their unlock code to unlock their phones. With both updates working in tandem, you can, while working at your desk, speak commands, unlock your phone, and have it read out your latest messages, without ever touching the device.  

The new Touchless Control update is available on Google Play for the Moto X and Droid Mini, Ultra and Maxx smartphones running Android 4.4 KitKat.  — Rappler.com