No-one was shocked to see that Motorola Mobility (and a whole host of other people) launched a tablet at CES. The first takes on the Motorola Xoom tablet seem to be that it is the first device that can really take on the iPad.
This is, of course, disingenuous. The iPad is the first and has the mindshare, App Store and market lead, but the spec fiends who chase these devices, already love the Xoom (though no prices has been announced). The OS is the first to run on Android Honeycomb, version 3.0 of the OS specifically extended for tablets. The screen is much the same size as the iPad, but is 1280×800 (as opposed to 1024 x 768) and shows movies in widescreen and the thing will be launched on the Verizon network, with a 3G and WiFi connection, and a new version with a 4G connection, meaning LTE on Verizon.
The Honeycomb UI is supposed to improve Android on showing widgets, on multi-tasking, on browsing, and on notifications and customization features but also on addressing a larger screen.
The processor is one of the new breed of dual core ARM chips, this one the powerful Nvidia Tegra, where both CPUs run at 1 GHz. It sounds a lot, but just around the corner, for instance on the Qualcomm roadmap, there are dual 1.5 GHz ARM processors on the way, so expect more power from everyone, including Motorola, this year.
The weight, at 730 grams is exactly the same as the Apple iPad 3G model, and it’s managed that while adding two cameras, front and back, the main one a 5 MP device, which offers 720p capture. The Xoom can play 1080p video, but not quite create it. Naturally like every other device out there it supports Adobe Flash video out of the box, without a two year public argument about it. And it comes with 32 GB of on board Flash memory and more can be added.
There is a built-in gyroscope, barometer, e-compass, accelerometer and adaptive lighting for different applications (so that means this is something of a hybrid screen, almost e-ink-like, as a low power reflective book reader?) and it comes with Google Maps and access to Google eBooks, which now has 3 million books loaded, and of course Android Market Apps. Battery is, of course, 10 hours and that’s playing video.
This is an iPad by another name, with a faster CPU, although we can’t yet know how well the graphics are integrated, although the fact that the CPU is from a graphics company might give us a clue.
The Xoom arrives in Q1 2011, and an upgraded version to work with LTE coming one quarter later in Q2. Everyone Apple fan out there must now take a long hard look at the iPad, and decide if they are jealous. But yet to arrive is a tightly integrated performance with the Verizon FiOS TV service, and if that arrives in this tablet or in another, it will ensure that at least 3 million US homes take it very seriously.