Motorola Xoom

Motorola just tweaked its Android Software Upgrade timetable for Ice Cream Sandwich updates, and it looks like both the United States-based Droid Razr and Razr Maxx are getting Android 4.0 in the second quarter.

The Xoom 3G model is also eyeing an ICS rollout in the same quarter, while the 8.2-inch and 10.1-inch Xyboard, Droid Bionic, and the Droid 4 are upgrading to the latest and current Android OS in Q3 2012. These devices were once listed under “Evaluation & Planning” when Motorola last altered the timetable in February.

It is worth noting the rollout dates could change once Google’s buyout of Motorola completes. Check out the manufacturer’s Motorola Android Software Upgrade News website for a full chart of slated ICS promotions.

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[slideshow]
Hulu Plus is now available on seven Android tablets with a new user interface.

The “Hulu Plus” app is available on Google Play with an improved experience for the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime, Asus Eee Pad Transformer, Motorola Xoom, Motorola XYBoard 10.1, Toshiba Thrive, Acer Iconia, and LG G-Slate.

“This is just the beginning of our Android tablet rollout,” announced Hulu on its official blog.

Hulu is a flash-based service with ad-supported on-demand streaming video of television shows, movies, webisodes, and trailers from a variety of content suppliers, including NBC, Fox, ABC, CBS, and Nickelodeon. Hulu Plus is the $7.99 monthly subscription variant that officially launched in 2010 and allots subscribers an expanded content library. Like the free version, Hulu’s videos showcase commercials.

Video is available below.

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If you are after an Ice Cream Sandwich tablet you now have exactly two options: the ASUS Transformer Prime which got the update last week, or the Motorola XOOM Wi-Fi that just got ICS, according to Motorola.

Note that only the Wi-Fi version gets ICS.  The 3G/LTE versions are coming shortly —we are assuming— due to radio issues.

It is still impressive of ASUS/embarrassing for Google/MOT that ASUS beat the Android tablet reference design to ICS.  The press release is available below…

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Skype today updated its Android client with the ability to share videos and images over 3G cellular networks or WiFi hotspots. According to a blog postannouncing Skype for Android version 2.6, the company also improved battery life while the owners of devices using Nvidia’s Tegra 2 chipset, such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, Motorola Xoom and Acer Iconia Tablet, will notice better video quality on a bigger canvas. Additionally, the app now supports video calling on new devices, including the HTC Amaze 4G, Motorola Droid 4 and Motorola Droid Razr. Skype 2.6 for Android is a free download from Android Market.

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Motorola Mobility has announced their Q3 earnings this afternoon, reporting $3.3 billion in revenue up 11% from Q3 of 2010 and a net loss of $32 million, which is better than Q3 of 2010’s $56 million net loss. Motorola Mobility also announced that they sold 100,000 Xoom tablets and shipped 4.8 million smartphones in Q3.

In the press release, seen after the break, Motorola Mobility shed some more light on their on-going acquisition by Google. November 17th the company will hold a meeting with shareholders to gain approval, and also has current pending approvals from the US Department of Justice, European agencies, and other governments around the world. The deal is expected to close by the end of 2012.

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From 9to5toys.com:

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Woot! via Amazon has the 32GB Motorola XOOM Android Tablet for $339.99.  That’s 32% off and the lowest price we could find for this refurbished item.

Andy Rubin told the audience at AllThingsD in Asia that the XOOM would be the first tablet to be upgraded to Ice Cream Sandwich later this year.
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IGN has discovered a leaked Verizon document going over the release date for many upcoming devices this fall. The Droid BIONIC, which we’ve been waiting forever for, is set to launch September 8th according to the doc. Also, it appears the Motorola Xoom LTE is launching the 8th.

Something we haven’t quite heard of is the Samsung Galaxy Tab P8, which is set for November according to the doc. This in fact could be the 8.9-inch Galaxy Tab we’ve seen floating around. Android Central outlines:

• Samsung Stratosphere on Sep 8
• Motorola Droid Bionic on Sep 8
• Motorola Xoom LTE on Sep 8 (3G to 4G upgrade could be one week earlier)
• HTC Bliss with Android 2.3 on Sep 29
• HTC Vigor is slated to replace the Thunderbolt on Oct 5
• LG Revolution 2 to replace the LG Revolution on Oct 20
• Samsung Galaxy Tab P8 with LTE in November
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Motorola Mobility reported June quarter earnings today, nearly hitting Wall Street estimates with the reported GAAP net loss of $56 million, 19 cents a share. Revenues for the quarter topped $3.3 billion and non-GAAP earnings were nine cents a share. One of the noteworthy highlights includes shipments of 400,000 Xoom tablets, although the company wouldn’t divulge actual sell-through numbers. Xoom shipments amount to some 2.65% June tablet market share, per Strategy Analytics’s cumulative figures.The company also shipped eleven million mobile devices in total, including 4.4 million Android smartphones. Analyst Tomi Ahonen wrote on Twitter that Android shipments amount to an eight percent market share, making Motorola “8th biggest smartphone maker and 5th biggest Android”.

Xoom aren’t bad at all, actually a bit higher than the 300,000 units investors were expecting. Furthermore, the Xoom, Motorola’s inaugural Honeycomb tablet, arrived to market with little or no support from third-party developers plus devices from rivals ensued soon thereafter. Motorola benefited from an expanded distribution of the Atrix 4G smartphone and Motorola Xoom tablets in Latin America, China, Korea and Europe. They also rolled out four new smartphones in China. Moving forward, the company previously pledged to launch ten new devices in 2011 with Sprint, including Motorola Photon 4G which launches this weekend. Other tidbits right below…

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Motorola’s Xoom will get the promised 4G LTE modem upgrade in September, per corporate communication from Verizon Wireless sent to registered users, published by the Droid Life blog. The free of charge update promises a tenfold increase in network speeds, available to more than 110 million people in select markets where the carrier rolled out its 4G LTE network, with “coverage expanding every day”. The email notice reads:

Be on the lookout at the end of summer for an email with information about how to upgrade your Motorola XOOM to speeds up to 10X faster than 3G. In the meantime, learn more about what you can do to prepare for the 4G LTE upgrade to your Motorola XOOM by backing up data, encrypting, or resetting your Motorola Xoom tablet.

On a somewhat related note, T-Mobile and Sony Ericsson also began rolling out Gingerbread updates to the Xperia X10 and G2x

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Dr. Raymond M. Soneira,President, DisplayMate Technologies Corporation put the current crop of Android tablets up against the iPad 2.  What he found was that the iPad 2 beat them all, save for the Samsung Galaxy Tab which narrowly beat Apple’s contender.

While the iPad 2 display easily outperformed all of the previous Android Tablets, with the new Galaxy Tab 10.1, Samsung has delivered the first Android Tablet with an impressive, potentially outstanding display, but then ruined it by turning up the color level to obnoxious levels – apparently in an effort to overcompensate and blatantly standout from the other mobile LCD displays that have subdued color. But in the case of color, too little is a lot better than too much…

As a result the iPad 2 still delivers the best color picture quality and accuracy of all of the Tablets, even though its colors are somewhat subdued. As things stand, based on all of the display tests, the iPad 2 and Galaxy Tab 10.1 are reasonably close in performance in most categories, so it’s almost a tie, but the Galaxy Tab is ahead more often than the iPad 2, so the Galaxy Tab is the Winner, by a nose…

Perhaps most interesting was that the Motorola Xoom, which is the official Google Honeycomb tablet, came in last behind Asus and Acer.

Read the report for all of the details.  Via ZDNET
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From 9to5toys.com:

(Click to print)

That little marvel above means the Acer iConia Tab is $299 after coupon, the ASUS EeePad Transformer is $299 as well and the Dell Streak 7 drops to a paltry $199.  The Motorola Xoom drops to $399.  Not bad for folks who have a Staples nearby.

Remember, only one per person per day and not good for the Nook Color – which you can get from Barnes and Noble for $199.

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According to “industry sources” who spoke to Taiwanese trade publication DigiTimes, Google is about to release Android Honeycomb 3.2 to select tablet makers at the end of July or early August:

Google is expected to release its Android 3.2 OS to production partners at the end of July or early August, according to industry sources. Asustek has indicated it will launch Android 3.2-based tablets soon, while Huawei Technologies also said it will roll out a 7-inch Android 3.2 tablet in the third quarter.

Meanwhile, CNET confirms that Google is already pushing out the Honeycomb 3.2 update to the Motorola Xoom, hoping to bring the software to other tablets “in the near future”.

Android 3.2 is a minor update that will improve hardware acceleration and bring optimization for Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processors that power many top-selling Android smartphones and tablets. The software update will also bring improvements in Google-created apps, including Movie Studio, Movies, Music and Widget. It will also have a new compatibility mode for apps called zoom-to-fill. “Imagine viewing your app at the size of a phone screen then zooming in about 200 percent,” Google explains on the Android Developers blog. And as we explained earlier, this Honeycomb version also takes into account the popular seven-inch tablet form factor, which continues to be in abundance…

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Is Motorola pulling a “Samsung” and going back to the drawing board with their XOOM, prettying and slimming it to match Apple’s iPad 2?  The Verizon ad (screenshot above, video below) seems to suggest just that.  Hopefully that channel inventory is ready to move because who is going to buy a XOOM now that a thinner version is coming down the pike?

Full video below (via Droid Life):
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Update: Ended

From 9to5toys.com

Today only, until 4 pm ET, MacMall via eBay Daily Deal offers the Motorola Xoom 32GB WiFi Tablet with Google Android 3.0, model no. 00001NARGNLX, for $499.99 with free shipping. That’s $73 under our mention from two weeks ago and the lowest total price we’ve ever seen for this tablet by $31. (It’s also a current price low by $73.) This 0.51″-thick tablet weighs 1.6 lbs. and features an NVIDIA Tegra 2 1GHz dual-core processor, 10.1″ 1200×800 touchscreen LCD display, 802.11n wireless, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, front and rear cameras, accelerometer, gyroscope, microSD card slot, up to 10 hours of battery life, micro USB and HDMI connectivity, Android 3.0 Honeycomb, and more.