The all-new Motorola Xoom first arrived in Ireland, weighing 730g about the same as the first-generation iPad. It has a 10.1-inch wide-screen display and is quite bright. It also supports up to 720p HD video. The Motorola Xoom still looks fairly similar in style to many of the tablet pcs out there today, with the standard black, glass assembly. The back of the casing is made mostly out of aluminum, though it has a strip of black running across the top.
The on/off switch is at the back of the Xoom, which is a weird place to put a toggle switch for the avid PC Tablet fanatic who is used to looking for any on/off switch at the top or at the bottom of any device. This button is slightly indented to reduce the risk of the tablet actually turning on while in your bag. The Motorola Xoom has a 2-megapixel camera on the frontside and it works best when held horizontally. Plus, the Motorola Xoom comes with an additional 5-megapixel camera added to the back, with dual LED flash. The Motorola Xoom also contains a micro USB port, a micro HDMI output, a 3.5mm jack for headphones and SIM card slot.
Like on the Android smartphone, the five main home-screens to the Xoom can be customized to place your favorite app shortcuts and widgets onto them. These home-screen rearrange themselves to be viewed horizontally as well as vertically, just like in the iPhone and iPad there is a slight lag in the display toggle. You can also switch to “quick controls” on the Motorola Xoom, which lets the consumer access menu options by holding their thumbs up at the side of the screen and making the top bar only accessible for tabs.
While many still want to judge the Xoom on its own breakthroughs, reviews are not hard to make iPad comparisons, but there are things the Motorola Xoom does better than the iPad, such as browser and home-screen customization. However, this desperate attempt by Motorola to surpass the iPad will not be enough to become the much anticipated “iPad Killer”.
Many critics would still go for the iPad today, as the starting price for the iPad is much cheaper and the number of apps available today for the iPad still outweigh those available on the Android tablet. The Motorola Xoom is on display, right now, for Euros €629.