Once again a company is trying its hand at a budget conscious smartphone. Will Motorola's Moto G succeed where Apple's iPhone 5c disappointed?

The new Moto G price starts at just $179, and that's without a contract. Usually that type of deal is only found for when consumers also sign up for a two-year contract with a service provider. Most smartphones go for about $600 or more without a two-year contract.

Associated Press reports that the Google-owned company's demographic is an estimated 500 million people throughout the world who cannot afford phones that cost more than $200. These consumers typically are forced to use smartphones that are at least a year old and are not compatible with some of the newest apps and services.

The Moto G, however, slashes its price by mildly slashing some of the features of other smartphones. It has a 4.5 inch screen with a resolution of 329 pixels per inch and high-definition video capability at 720p. The phone will run on a 3G network. Most smartphones, on the other hand, have high-definition video at 1020p. The latest 4-inch screen iPhones have 326 pixels, while the Samsung Galaxy S4 has 441 pixels on its 5-inch screen. The newest smartphones also run on 4G LTE networks.

According to Charlie Tritschler, a Motorola executive, the Moto G has a traditional LCD screen instead of the AMOLED screen common on Samsung smartphones because LCD screens have good results without increasing costs.

$179 gets shoppers 8 gigabytes of memory, while 16 gigabytes is available for $199. A five megapixel camera (whose low pixel count is another budget cut), FM radio and two SIM card slots, in case users wish to switch carriers, will also come with the Moto G.

The Moto G was released in Brazil and parts of Europe on Wednesday. It will be available in the United States, India, Middle East and some parts of Asia in January. Latina America and the rest of Asia and Europe will see the phone within the next few weeks, while Africa will have to wait until early 2014.

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