Motorola’s big launch of the CES 2011 and the first Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablet on the market, Motorola has Xoom too high. In its haste to reach Verizon shelves, the Xoom seems a bit half-baked, but not Flash Player support for a few weeks to get anywhere and 4G will not have to update in Q2. Still, as the iPad has shown, there are undoubted advantages as the first from the gate, and there is undoubtedly much to offer.

Motorola’s design is sober and discreet, and where the leaves are brushed metal iPad of Xoom apparently prefer the 10.1-inch display lets do the talking. It’s an 160dpi, 1280 x 800 WXGA display with a capacitive touch screen support for multitouch gestures, and although not IPS technology is not the same as Apple’s slate still manages decent viewing angles. We had no problems with touch response, but at 9.8 x 6.61 x 0.51 inches and it is a bit heavy 25.75oz device and use a hand can get tiring.
Inside, NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 is calling the shots, a 1GHz dual-core SoC, coupled with 1GB of DDR2 RAM and 32GB of integrated storage. Although the Xoom has a microSD card slot, currently the tablet does not support it, as well as a LTE SIM slot – filled with a blind card – but that will not be used until the tablet 4G Verizon Updates in Q2 2011. Instead, you get EVDO Rev.A, WiFi a / b / g / n and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, with USB 2.0 and mini-HDMI ports. Motorola is preparing a WiFi-only Xoom, but that is not expected until later in the year.

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We have already covered in our separate Android 3.0 Honeycomb evaluation of the new Tablet OS, and – according to a Google experience device – Motorola has left the software only on the good Xoom. It is a wise decision, given the extent of Honeycomb Polish. In fact, the hardest part for most people is finding the power button, which Motorola has on the back of the slate.
The untampered OS should also mean that, as Google is rolling out newer versions of Android, the Xoom is hopefully the first in line to receive them, something that can not be said the same for Motorola’s smartphone range. Given the fragmentation Android gets attention, which is a big factor in favor of Xoom’s.

The Xoom is not short on connectivity, EVDO Rev.A, WiFi a / b / g / n, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR and USB 2.0, along with a 4G LTE update in the pipeline, but it is worth noting that it won ‘ t make voice calls. Verizon’s agreement is for data only, which means that if you really want to talk to someone using the Xoom you have a VoIP client to choose. Still, with Skype, Fring, Qik and others in the Android Market, Google Talk and installed in Honeycomb, most users should find something to fit that gap.
Battery life, meanwhile, is impressive. With very heavy use, the Xoom lasted more than 14h – more than 8 hours, which was on display – for the disconnection. Keep in mind that testing of undergoing this study, ie a combination of surfing, media playback (both using the Xoom and display via the HDMI output), both WiFi and 3G connections, streaming media and photography. With more casual use, especially when browsing mainly, we would expect to see 9 hours or more. This is slightly less than an iPad, certainly, but enough to be regarded as a strong performance in our opinion. A full recharge takes about 3.5 hours.

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Verizon provided two formal accessories with our review unit, the Speaker Dock HD and a Bluetooth Keyboard. The dock is, surprisingly, more fundamental than that offered for the Motorola ATRIX 4G, which only power and mini HDMI connectivity. It loads and Xoom you a wired connection to your HDTV permanently connected, but we would prefer that Motorola had used a full-sized HDMI port.
We recommend choosing a mini-jack was so that the cable bundled with the tablet can be used with the dock as well, but since most users are not going to want to keep swapping a rope between their case and the dock, choose for the more common (and expensive) full-size HDMI would have been a wise decision. The integrated 5W stereo speakers are more powerful than Xoom own, which makes for a stronger audio during video playback along with more clearly audible video chats.

Despite the lack of Flash support and the lack of 4G, there is a lot to like about the Motorola Xoom. It is a solid, discreet handsome slate, with a strong battery life and performance whip-crack. At the premium price tag and the ridiculous mandatory first-month data allowance, frankly, Verizon missed a trick by not giving buyers a free first month in the hope they addicted to the convenience of 3G.
Galaxy Tab to Samsung and LG’s 10.1-G Slate reach shelves, Xoom has the honeycomb space all by himself. However, neither Motorola nor Google afford to rest on their laurels. The iPad 2 is expected to only one week after the debut Xoom goes on sale, and taking into account the first-gen version is still the standard by which new tablets are measured, the second-generation model only comes to the table stakes increase.

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Yet we are impressed with the Xoom, and Honeycomb. Neither feels like a compromise, and the gravity of the Market behind them, the gap between Android and IOS has been drastically reduced. The Xoom may only be the first Honeycomb slate, but it’s a strong start to what will be a highly competitive race.
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