Moto X Pure Edition launch date looks to be September 3

Look in the U.S. for the Moto X Pure Edition handset to launch on September 3 according to both a tweet and Google+ post from Motorola. Both social networks received the same information; however, both posts were later removed.

Here's a screen shot of the original tweet, as captured by Droid Life:

I'm leery to suggest that Motorola released the announcement in error.

At its press event last month, the company said that the Moto X Pure Edition would arrive in September. And Motorola is taking a bit of a bold move with the phone: It's not working with carrier partners -- at least for the time being -- but is instead selling the handset directly to consumers on the web and through Best Buy and Amazon.

Without carrier support for marketing and advertising, Motorola has to build its own buzz for the new flagship phone, especially as we get closer to the launch date. It's possible the September 3rd date could change, but what better way to build buzz than by sharing that date and then mysteriously pulling the posts?

Frankly, I'm not sure Motorola even needs to work too hard raising awareness because the phone itself speaks volumes.

With an off-contract price of $399 and up, buyers will be getting a great value based on my first hands-on with the phone.

The handset has a large, 5.7-inch QHD screen, Snapdragon 808 processor and 3 GB of memory, a microSD card slot, 3,000 mAh battery, stereo speakers and a 21 megapixel camera that the company says is "best in class." Indeed, the few photos I snapped at the launch event were noticeably better than from any prior Motorola handset.

2015 Moto G camera image samples

Unless real world usage isn't representative of the Moto X Pure Edition I used for a short while last month, Motorola's newest flagship may be the one to beat in the near term: It won't cost you an arm and a leg for a pure Android experience on solid hardware.