Probably one of the most talked tablets at the moment is the Motorola Xoom. We went to see a preview of the device last week and were infinitely impressed by the “video demos” that we saw.
Unfortunately, we didn’t get to have an actual play on the device – bit of a gutter, we know – as the Android 3.0 operating system and the device’s UI are still pretty hush-hush.
That said, we saw quite a bit – the device is well designed, extremely svelte and ridiculously powerful. It’s got a dual core Tegra 2 processor, 1GB of RAM and will support microSD cards shortly after it’s launched. All in all, we were very impressed!
Specs: But our enthusiasm for the device doesn’t stop here. The Xoom is quite literally packed with some of the best specs we’ve seen to-date in a tablet device.
For example, there’s a NVIDIA TEGRA 2 dual-core processor, Android 3.0 (Honeycomb), 1GB of RAM and a 10.1-inch 16:9 aspect ratio (1280 x 800 pixel) 1080p display, two cameras: 2-megapixel on the front and a 5-megapixel camera with LED Flash on the back, 32GB of internal storage, HDMI output and MicroUSB.
Pros: good looking, lightweight, robust, svelte, NVIDIA TEGRA 2 dual-core processor, Android 3.0, 1GB of RAM, 1080p video playback, two cameras, 32GB of internal storage, HDMI support and a beautiful 10.1-inch 16:9 aspect ratio (1280 x 800 pixel) 1080p display.
Cons: There’s not many. This device is an absolute monster. However, there are a few issues that we’re slightly concerned with.
For starters, Android 3.0 won’t support SD cards when it is first rolled out and, worse still, the amount and quality of tablet-based applications available for Android 3.0 is pretty thin on the ground.
Verdict: The Motorola Xoom is our new, official, favourite tablet – at least until we see what the iPad 2 looks like, anyway.
It’s got every thing, you, me and everybody you know, could possibly want from a tablet. Apple has got some serious work to do to beat this bad boy.
