The first Motorola Xoom was considered a trailblazer — the first tablet to sport Google’s Android Honeycomb operating system. At the time, Honeycomb was considered a big deal given that it was the first Android OS specifically designed for tablets. But while the Xoom was a solid first effort, it also displayed some of the growing pains of a new device, including delayed features and a prohibitive price sans contract. Fast forward to today and Motorola has released the follow up to the Xoom, the aptly named Xoom 2 in Europe. Just to stir the pot a little bit, Motorola has also decided to rename it the Xyboard in the U.S. Why? Your guess is as good as mine. Anywho, here’s a look at the specs for the latest tablet entry from Motorola.
Tale of the tape: The Xoom 2/Xyboard measures 253.9 millimeters or 10 inches wide and 173.6 millimeters or 6.8 inches tall. Thickness is about 8.8 millimeters or about a third of an inch. That means the tablet is bigger from the front than its predecessor but is also more than 30 percent thinner. The tablet weighs in at 603 grams or 1.3 pounds, making it a bit lighter than the first Xoom as well. Wrapping up the entire package is an anodized aluminum finish.
The brains: The muscle behind the Xoom 2/Xyboard is a 1.2GHz dual-core processor. The tablet runs Google’s Android Honeycomb 3.2 operating system so Ice Cream Sandwich lovers will likely be bummed. But before you start herping and derping, Motorola says that the tablet is Android 4.0 upgradeable.
Storage: Internal memory for the Xoom 2/Xyboard comes in two flavors. There’s 16GB version that will set you back $499.99. There’s also a 32GB that costs $599.99.
Display: The tablet comes with 10.1-inch TFT/IPS touchscreen display that sports a resolution of 1280 by 800. It’s also covered with a water-repellant nano coating as a crutch for folks who love to use their tablets while chugging a Big Gulp.
Wireless connectivity: Wireless options for the Xoom 2/Xyboard include Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n and Bluetooth 2.1 +EDR. network options include — take a deep breath — WCDMA, GSM, HSDPA 14.0 Mbps, EDGE Class 12 and HSUPA 5.76 Mbps.
Hardware: The device features a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera for web chats and a 5-megapixel rear camera with an LED flash. Connectors include a microUSB, HDMI out, and a 3.5mm headset jack. The tablet also sports an accelerometer, ambient light sensor, digital compass and GPS.
Battery life: The Xoom 2/Xyboard comes with a built-in 7,000mAh lithium-ion battery. Battery life is rated at up to 10 hours for video and Wi-Fi browsing and up to 56 days for music. Standby time is up to 30 days approximately.
Media formats: The device is capable of both 1080p video playback and capture. Supported formats include H.264, AAC, MPEG-4, MP3, WMV, H.263, OGG, MIDI, AMR NB, eAAC+ , AAC+.
The Xoom 2/Xyboard certainly trumps its predecessor in many facets. Of course, the issue for hardcore geeks at this point is that quad-core is the new darling when it comes to tablets, so the Xoom 2/Xyboard isn’t at the cutting edge of tablet tech. Still, it’s not like quad-core tablets are a dime a dozen so Motorla’s latest effort isn’t quite a dinosaur yet. In fact, it looks like a pretty solid device. If Apple decides to make its next iPad a quad-core device, though, then watch out.
