A couple of weeks ago, it was reported that Google and Motorola will be rolling out the Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich update to the Motorola Xoom Wi-Fi. Several users of the first generation Motorola tablet managed to get their hands on the said update but it seemed that the update didn’t reach most users of the Motorola Xoom Wi-Fi. Should you failed to get your tablet updated to Android 4.0.4 during the initial rollout of the update, you should be waking up today to a notification that heralds the arrival of the Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich update on your Motorola Xoom Wi-Fi. Motorola Xoom Ice Cream Sandwich 4.04

For those who haven’t received the notification just yet, you always have the option of forcing your tablet to manually check for updates by going through Settings > About tablet > Check for updates. Once the Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich update has been applied to the Motorola Xoom Wi-Fi, the tablet will have quicker screen rotation and better phone number recognition. In addition to that, a user of the tablet will get a new setting that will let him choose whether the power button instantly locks the tablet of not. The update will also bring enhancements to Microsoft Exchange with additional EAS policies. Other device improvements such as enhanced stability and improved camera and image quality are also included in the features the Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich update brings to the Motorola Xoom Wi-Fi.  Motorola Xoom Ice Cream Sandwich 4.04

If you happen to have the 3G or LTE version of the tablet, you’re not out of luck as there is  word as to when these variants of the Motorola Xoom will get the said update.  Rumor has it that the update is right around the corner. That being the case, let us get reacquainted with the Motorola Xoom Wi-Fi by going through its specs sheet below. Motorola Xoom Ice Cream Sandwich 4.04

The Motorola Xoom Wi-Fi has been around for quite some time now, more than a year already to be quite exact, since the tablet broke cover when it was announced back in February last year and then making its debut in the shelves a month later. Since the Motorola Xoom Wi-Fi is part of the first generation of Android tablets, it is still pretty bulky at its dimensions of 249.1 x 167.8 x 12.9 mm and is rather hefty at its catch weight of 730 grams. The solid build quality of the tablet however becomes apparent whenever you hold the tablet in your hands. Motorola Xoom Ice Cream Sandwich 4.04

Under the hood, the Motorola Xoom Wi-Fi packs an NVIDIA Tegra 2 chipset with a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor working in conjunction with a full gigabyte of RAM to provide the computing power that the tablet needs. Graphical concerns are handled by the dedicated ULP GeForce GPU of the Motorola Xoom Wi-Fi while its internal storage comes up to 32GB. The onboard storage of the tablet can also be expanded up to 32GB using its dedicated microSD card slot while its TFT display with a 800 x 1280 resolution measures 10.1 inches diagonally. It also comes outfitted with a 5-megapixel autofocus camera with dual-LED flash at its back panel while a 2-megapixel webcam can be found in the tablet’s front panel.

Motorola Xoom Ice Cream Sandwich 4.04

The Motorola XOOM 2 and its smaller brother, the XOOM 2 Media Edition, are available to buy from the Carphone Warehouse in the UK.  The tablets were unveiled at the end of last year. Xoom 2 and Xoom 2 Media Edition

Both of the tablets have a dual-core 1.2 Ghz processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of on-board memory and a 5 mega-pixel camera. They also both run on Android Honeycomb, which is the tablet version of Google’s operating system. Xoom 2 and Xoom 2 Media Edition

Where they differ is in the screen-size with the XOOM 2 having a larger 10.1 inch touch-screen, compared to the smaller 8.2 inch touch-screen on the XOOM 2 Media Edition. Both touch-screens feature Gorilla Glass and Splashguard technology ensuring they are highly durable. Xoom 2 and Xoom 2 Media Edition

As you’d expect there is a slight difference in price between the two models with the XOOM 2 WiFi-only edition costing £350  compared to the Media Edition which comes in at £299.99. This price difference is also reflected in the 3G versions with the XOOM 2 costing £449.99 , while the Media Edition comes in at £399.99. Xoom 2 and Xoom 2 Media Edition

Visit Xoom Community for discussion on the Motorola Xoom 2

Xoom 2 and Xoom 2 Media Edition

Building on the success of Motorola XOOM™, Motorola Mobility is rocking the tablet world yet again with a tablet that brings enhanced experiences to the Romanian market. Motorola Xoom 2 Romanian boasts powerful productivity, rich entertainment and customizable experiences: the answer to consumers looking for a tablet that can keep up with their lifestyle. The tablet features 3G and Wi-Fi capabilities and is expected to be available in Romania at the end of March. Xoom 2 Romanian

“Tablets are quickly becoming a must-have tool for staying connected, getting work done and having fun at home and on the road,” said Mihai Madas, sales manager, Romania and Serbia, Mobile Devices, Motorola Mobility “We are very excited about this new addition to our tablet portfolio that builds on the success of the original Motorola XOOM to deliver more powerful tablet experiences.” Xoom 2 Romanian

The new Motorola Xoom 2 Romanian features Android™ 3.2, a dual-core 1.2 GHz processor, brilliant displays with Corning® Gorilla® Glass and a splashguard coating for a go anywhere, do everything attitude. In addition, this tablet includes the new MotoCast™1 app that lets you stream all your music, photos, videos and documents between your computer and tablet without any media tools, apps, or cords. Xoom 2 Romanian

Motorola XOOM 2: Lighter and Brighter

Motorola Xoom 2 Romanian sports a 10.1-inch widescreen HD display and Android 3.2 Honeycomb like its predecessor, but the similarities end there. The display is brighter and more vibrant than before with colour enhancement, and the edges have been strategically designed to make the tablet more comfortable to hold – this tablet is easy on the eyes, and easy on the hands. Motorola XOOM 2 is loaded with Business Ready features like VPN support and data encryption. Xoom 2 Romanian

Motorola XOOM 2 features MOTOPRINT integrated into key apps so you can print wirelessly from your tablet. It is approximately 100 grams lighter than the original Motorola XOOM to make it even easier to take on the road, and can withstand spilled drinks or dashes out to the car in the rain thanks to its new splash-guard coating. A battery delivering more than 10 hours of video playback means it can go with you wherever you need to be. Xoom 2 Romanian

Accessories to connect to your life easier, from anywhere
With the Work and Play kit, plug your tablet into the HD Multimedia Station to connect to your HDTV, speakers and other peripherals for large-screen entertainment. Get more done, faster with the included keyboard and mouse with Bluetooth®3 technology. Now, when your tablet is docked, the Smart Controller lets you MC the show from the comfort of your couch.

Xoom 2 Romanian

Motorola Mobility’s Droid Xyboard 10.1 tablet brings the iPad some solid competition thanks to its Android 3.2 Honeycomb operating system, thin profile, HD display, 1.2GHz dual-core processor, and compatiblity with Verizon’s 4G LTE network. Yet, Motorola should take the hardware button design and new stylus option back to the drawing board, this eWEEK review adds. XYBoard Droid

Forgive me for this eye-roll-inducing observation, but high-tech is often the hunting ground for the game of “hindsight being 20-20.” New evidence of that struck me dead center this past week as I tested Motorola Mobility’s follow-up to its Xoom tablet, the Droid Xyboard 10.1, and realized just how much better it seems in comparison. XYBoard Droid

Consumers can now purchase the new 10.1-inch tablet — which weighs 1.29 pounds and is just 0.34 inches thick — in 16GB ($530), 32GB ($630) and 64GB ($730) editions with a two-year contract from Verizon Wireless. Verizon also offers the “enterprise-ready” Xyboard 10.1′s similar, but smaller twin, the Xyboard 8.2. The latter offers an 8.2-inch screen and is focused mostly on consumer media consumption. XYBoard Droid

 XYBoard Droid

The 32GB XYBoard Droid I tested was a data-chugging monster that runs Android 3.2 (“Honeycomb”) on a 1.2GHz dual-core CPU, with a promise for an Android 4.0 upgrade in the future. It also offers Verizon’s 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) cellular service. I’ve tested other 4G Android tablets before, including AT&T’s HTC Jetstream and the HTC Evo View 4G, and neither is as fast as the Xyboard.

Having been an early testers of the Xoom, which ran the often buggy Honeycomb 3.0, I can safely say Google has worked out the system-freezing quirks in Android 3.2. As on Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus slate, which I tested last month, the operating system let me drag and drop widgets fluidly across all five home screens without any freeze-ups.

I further kicked the tires of the Xyboard’s Android 3.2 build with Gmail, Google Search, Google Maps, Facebook for Android, Twitter for Android, and Google Music, and they all ran great. The Xyboard even passed the more strenuous tests of Angry Birds Seasons, YouTube, and Netflix.

The pre-installed Netflix, which was revamped to support larger touch targets, looked great on the Xyboard’s in-plane switching (IPS) 1280 x 800-pixel display, which is designed for wide viewing angles. This makes it easier for more than one person to watch videos on the 10.1-inch display. I watched one quick episode of “Parks & Recreation” without so much as a hiccup. XYBoard Droid

The XYBoard Droid offers a five-megapixel back-facing camera, which can’t match the Jetstream’s great eight-megapixel camera, but nevertheless supports 1080p video capture. Stills and video shoots looked middling to great. A 1.3-megapixel camera is available in front for video chat via Google Talk or Skype. XYBoard Droid

My favorite part about the Xyboard’s photo capabilities is that once you log into the tablet with your Google account, photos from your Picasa Web albums populate the gallery application. This was an awesome perk. XYBoard Droid

The Xyboard is a corporate road warrior’s dream in the sense that it comes preloaded with Citrix’s Receiver desktop virtualization app, as well as the Go To Meeting web conferencing software. Web conferencing apps such as Fuze Meeting and Polycom’s RealPresence Mobile app for business users are also available. In addition, QuickOffice HD is preloaded to let workers access their documents on the go. XYBoard Droid

Salespeople who use the iPad for presentations would do well to consider the Xyboard as an alternative for virtual collaboration. To that end, the Xyboard 10.1 also has a stylus to let users take notes and save them in the cloud via the Evernote application.

Major black marks

For me, the Xyboard has two major black marks, which may or may not be deal-breakers for premium tablet shoppers. First are the power and volume keys. The power button is a ridiculous, recessed little piece of soft rubber on the right side of the tablet. The volume button is made of the same material, only raised slightly higher, presumably so users don’t have to fumble and risk dropping the device as they’re watching a movie or gaming.

The Xyboard’s rounded edges make these buttons that much harder to locate by touch. I often had to flip the tablet over to find the buttons. Any time you have to do that on a personal gadget that you’re going to use a lot, it’s a deal-breaker.

Second — and this one is bigger — is that the stylus technology Motorola added to the Xyboard is pretty poor. It’s slow, balky, and barely responsive for nearly all of my writing gestures. I had to frequently slow down, and often was forced to erase and rewrite letters and other sketches with the digital eraser.

To see if the digital pen itself was the source of the problems, I tried using my forefinger. I actually had better luck writing notes with my pointer finger than I did with the plastic pen, and switching from pen to brush to eraser mode was also a chore.

I’ve tested two tablets imbued with HTC’s Scribe digital ink pen and software — the HTC Evo View 4G and the HTC Jetstream 4G — and this is far superior. Unlike the Motorola technology, HTC’s Scribe made the experience fluid and effortless, and upon logging in, all of the notes and drawings I made on previous tablets with the Evernote app were displayed. XYBoard Droid

Anyway, the Xyboard doesn’t really need a pen. Android 3.2′s soft keyboard has evolved to be well-designed and even quite cozy for heavy typing.

Hidden buttons and sub-par stylus aside, the Xyboard is a solid tablet, equipped as it is with a speedy processor buoyed by Verizon’s 4G LTE network. And the 7000mAh battery held up reasonably well, with seven hours of web surfing and Netflix watching via LTE.

If you want a premium Honeycomb tablet that is faster than an iPad but priced similarly, I can suggest the Xyboard. It’s the tablet Motorola should have launched a year ago instead of the Xoom.

 XYBoard Droid

The point of this post is twofold: To see who finds $199.99 low enough for Xoom (or any tablet) and to compare Apple and Motorola tablets on a purely cost basis, which is the criteria that will matter most to many bargain shoppers. Xoom LTE Tablet Cost 

If you are in the market to buy the Motorola Xoom LTE or another tablet like the Apple IPad, a Xoomer has put together a very nice comparison between the cost of the tablets including data plans. Good information to know! Xoom LTE Tablet Cost

Verizon kicked off helluva holday sale for Xoom LTE on Black Friday — and you can still get it today online: $199.99 with new two-year activation. But hurry, if interested. Surely pricing like this can’t last. That’s $529.99 less than the closest comparable iPad 2, and you won’t get an LTE radio from Apple. Xoom LTE Tablet Cost  Cost

Is that price low enough for you to buy? In February, when Xoom pricing first leaked, I asked: “Would you pay 800 bucks for the Motorola Xoom?  But now the price is way less, so I’m asking again. Would you pay $200 for Motorola XOOM LTE? Please answer in comments. Xoom LTE Tablet Cost

Based on a BetaNews tablet pricing poll, $199.99 is just about right. Among the 1,200-plus respondents, 30.31 percent said $199 would be low enough for them to buy a media tablet. For $199 and below — 64.53 percent; $299 and below — 92.96 percent. So the majority of respondents aren’t willing to pay as much as the cheapest iPad 2: $499. The comparable Apple tablet, with 32GB storage, sells for $729. Xoom LTE Tablet Cost 

Of course, that XOOM requires a 2-year data contract, which the non-LTE, 3G/WiFi iPad 2 doesn’t. But for anyone planning to regularly use data anyway, does it matter? You pay less up front and get big data-speed boost. Verizon promises 5Mbps-12Mbps downstream over LTE compared to 600Kbps to 1.4Mbps over 3G.

Let’s do some real-world price comparison. Upfront cost for Motorola Xoom LTE is $199.99 with minimum $30 per month for 2GB data. Upfront cost for comparable iPad 2 is the aforementioned $729. Xoom LTE then has, comparably, a $529.99 credit to apply against data service — 17 months against the 24-month contractual commitment. Unless the iPad 2 buyer only plans six months of data, XOOM LTE is the better deal — and that’s ignoring faster bandwidth benefits.

Looked at differently, and acknowledging the iPad 2 user isn’t committed to any contract, the holiday-priced XOOM LTE costs $919.99 over two years compared to $1,449 for Apple’s tablet, when including data. Buyers could reduce iPad 2 data costs by $120 buying an AT&T model, if opting for the 2GB plan, which is $25 a month. AT&T offers 250MB plan for $15 a month, too. I wouldn’t take it for a tablet. Xoom LTE Tablet Cost 

By the way, Verizon’s no-commitment, month-to-month data option raises price to $669.99, which is still less than the 32GB iPad 2.

Quick specs:

XOOM LTE: 1GHz dual-core nVidia Tegra 2 processor; 10.1-inch display with 1280 x 800 resolution; 1GB of RAM; 32GB internal storage, expandable to 64GB with MicroSD card; 5-megapixel back-facing and 2-megapixel front-facing cameras; 720p video recording; 1080p video playback; HDMI and USB 2.0 ports; WiFi N; Bluetooth; accelerometer; barometer; gyroscope; Android 3.2 (Honeycomb).

iPad 2: 1GHz dual-core Apple A5 processor; 9.7 inch display with 1024 x 768 resolution; 512MB of RAM; 32GB internal storage (non-expandable); front-and-rear cameras; 720p video playback; WiFi N; Bluetooth; accelerometer; barometer; gyroscope; and iOS 5. There is no HDMI port and external USB connector costs $29 extra. Xoom LTE Tablet Cost

Xoom LTE Tablet Cost

The Motorola Xoom LTE edition is now available from Verizon’s and Motorola’s stores.  As for the specs of the Motorola Xoom LTE, they have remained exactly the same as the current Xoom tablets, with the addition of 4G radios. This means that customers can expect a 1GHz NVIDIA Tegra-2 dual-core processor under the hood with 1GB of RAM, a 10.1” display and Android’s Honeycomb 3.2 on board. Motorola Xoom LTE

 The Motorola Xoom LTE version of the Motorola Xoom tablet will set you back $499 (32GB version) on a two year contract with Verizon, while the off-contract model will cost you $649. While Motorola Xoom LTE would be pretty sweet, would you rather hold out for the rumored Xoom 2 instead?  To read and get more info on the Motorola Xoom LTE upgrade visit www.xoomcommunity.

Motorola Xoom LTE

The first details on the US version have surfaced along with future branding changes. 

The Motorola Xoom 2 will undergo a change in branding and identity to distance it from the Xoom branding used on the first generation of tablets in the US, with Verizon filing the trademark for the XYBoard brand in the last month. Following recent trends set by Samsung to differentiate different versions of the same tablet family by display size, the first two tablets will be known as the Motorola XYBoard 8.2 and XYBoard 10.1 with prominent Verizon Wireless branding. LTE Android tablets

As far as specifications are concerned, the first model in the XYBoard series in the 8.2 will feature a 1.2GHz dual-core processor running Android Honeycomb with the inclusion of an LTE radio, fixing the most glaring issue present in the first Xoom model, namely the lack of a built-in LTE radio and needing to undertake a shipping program in order to have Xoom 4G tablets fitted with LTE modules, a process fraught with delays and numerous other issues.

With Verizon and Motorola undertaking another major push to promote LTE Android tablets, the Motorola XYBoard series looks to rectify the mistakes made with the first version in terms of hardware design  and software. However, it remains to be seen whether the XYBoard series will be enough to spur sales and lure customers away from the increasing spate of similar Android tablets.

With the branding change being front and center, it also signals Verizon and Motorola’s desire to move away from the Xoom brand, damaged by lower than expected sales and poor perception thanks to the high cost of the original tablet and the botched release plan of the 4G LTE version. LTE Android tablets

With Motorola and Verizon working together again on the new tablet line, time will tell whether attempt number 2 will signal success for both companies or if it will languish in the wake of the iPad 2, which is considerably more popular than any current Android tablet, both in terms of marketshare and usage metrics. LTE Android tablets

As Verizon also sells the iPad, one also questions why they would spend more time and money on developing more LTE Android tablets, as the current sales numbers reflect that the money spent on developing such devices isn’t reflected in increased sales or profit unless one takes into account purchases made by the minority Android hacking community.

The Android mod and developer community is the perfect audience for such tablets as the XYBoard based on hardware potential alone, but are Verizon and Motorola targeting the same general consumers that were driven away by the first Xoom series, or are they conceding that market to Apple and focusing on enterprise and enthusiast customers? If the former, then expect more of the same lack of visibility and lack of sales volume that effectively killed the first Xoom in the US. LTE Android tablets

However, if they are deliberately going after the corporate customer and the enthusiast, this new series may effectively revive Verizon and Motorola’s attempts to sell Android tablets to the masses, by focusing on the ones that would care about the product to begin with.

LTE Android tablets

Follow the Motorola Xoom discussion at http://www.xoomcommunity.com/forum

I’ve used a number of different Android-based tablets, and each and every one of them has their own pros and cons. With a small pile of the hardware in front of me, I wish I could mash them all together to create a sort of super tablet — pulling one feature from this tablet, one feature from that tablet, and more features from yet another tablet. Eventually, I would come up with the perfect combination of tablet delight.

Or I could just purchase the Verizon Motorola Xoom 4G LTE and be done with it.

That’s right, I said it. Of all the tablets I’ve tried, I have to say the Motorola Xoom 4G LTE is far and away the best. It may not be the single most powerful or have the best battery life, but the combination of form, function, and feature comes together on the Xoom in such a way that it beats all of the other Android tablet offerings.

As expected, I have specs to share. This isn’t some huge “reveal,” because the Xoom has been out for some time now. However, the difference between the Xoom I’m reviewing and the Xoom that’s been in the public’s hands is that this is the 4G LTE version of the same tablet. Regardless, here’s the skinny on the specs: Motorola Xoom 4G LTE

Hardware

• CPU: 2GHz dual-core processor
• Screen: 10.1-inch widescreen HD (1280×800) display
• Network: 4G LTE upgradeable
• Video: 1080p HD video support
• Output: HDMI output
• Camera: Front-facing 2-megapixel camera for video chats over Wi-Fi or 3G/4G LTE; Rear-facing 5-megapixel camera that captures video in 720p HD.
• Sensors: Built-in gyroscope, barometer, e-compass, accelerometer, and adaptive lighting
• Hotspot: Mobile hotspot capability for up to five Wi-Fi-enabled devices
• Removable memory: SD Card
• Battery: 24 Watt hours; browsing on Wi-Fi approximately 10 hours usage; standby up to 14 days

Software

• Android 3.2 “Honeycomb”
• The usual complement of Android software (and full weight of the Android Market)

Cut to the chase

I don’t want to beat around the bush. Why is this tablet so good? First and foremost, the case of the Xoom feels better in my hand than any other tablet. It’s perfect — not too thick (like the Toshiba Thrive), not too thin (like the Samsung Galaxy), and it has a great tactile feeling to the outer casing. With this tablet, you don’t ever feel like it’s going to slip out of your grasp.

Another nice touch to the Motorola Xoom 4G LTE  is the location of the power button. Instead of it awkwardly placed on the side of the device, the button is placed on the back where one can quickly and easily turn the tablet on or off without having to juggle or even move your hands from holding the device in landscape mode. Motorola Xoom 4G LTE

Of course, the Android platform has something to do with the near perfection of this tablet. Instead of layering on the typical extras that so often accompany a tablet, what you get with the Xoom is about as straight-forward an Android 3.x experience as you’re going to get. This goes a long way to making the Xoom outperform many other tablets whose providers take it upon themselves to add their own take on Android. Although this phenomenon isn’t quite as rampant as it is with the smartphone world, it still creeps up.

The downside

Okay, so the Motorola Xoom 4G LTE  isn’t perfect. It does have two little issues that prevent it from actually reaching perfection — battery life and tiny external volume control buttons. The latter issue really isn’t that big of a deal, but the former can be.

Because of the power this tablet offers, the battery life isn’t quite up to par with some of the other tablets on the market. You can still squeak out a full day from the device, but beyond that, you’re taking a chance. And since the charger isn’t the standard micro USB that nearly every Android user has come to love, you’ll only be charging this device in one location (unless you purchase a second power cable).

The second issue is the size of the physical volume buttons. Although this isn’t a deal breaker, it can be a bit of an inconvenience at times. The buttons are very tiny. Anyone suffering from a lack of dexterity in their digits or who has chubby fingers might find these buttons a bit of a pain to deal with. Motorola Xoom 4G LTE

Other than those two issues, the Xoom is as close to perfection as a tablet can be. It’s got speed, a great form factor, a case built as solid as any other, and it’s Android platform is well played for business and personal use alike.

If you’re looking for an ideal device for your mobile needs, and you have the money to spend (originally selling at $799.00, but now going for around $499.00), I highly recommend the Motorola Xoom 4G LTE.

 Motorola Xoom 4G LTE

It was announced early last week that Verizon Motorola Xoom customers could begin sending in their Motorola Xoom Tablets for factory 4G LTE upgrading. This Motorola Xoom Tablet enhancement was promised many months ago to enthusiastic buyers.

Now, the time has come to send in our Motorola Xoom Tablets for the Motorola Xoom 4G LTE upgrade.  Motorola Mobility informs us from the time they receive the device to the time they ship it back out should be approximately 2-3 days.  We now hear from Motorola Xoom users in the Xoom Community that users are experiencing delays of a week or more. Furthermore, we are hearing issues concerning FedEx pick-up from factory.

Here is an example of the frustration with a positive ending by Motorola.

Let’s hope the the Motorola Xoom 4G LTE Upgrade will go a little smoother. And that the Motorola Xoom 4G LTE Upgrade experience will be as satisfying as promised.

Motorola Xoom 4G LTE Upgrade