Motorola Xoom Tablet Over Priced or Not?

Lately I have been seeing many posts on the web, saying that the Motorola Xoom is priced to high. That at "$600 for WiFi only and $800 WiFi and 3G" is priced to high compare to current iPad tablet. If you compared the specs of the Motorola Xoom to the current iPad, the Xoom is actually priced at a better price. A 32GB iPad WiFi only is $599 and a 32GB iPad WiFi & 3G is $729. Yes you can get a 64GB iPad for basically $29 more compare to the $800 Xoom, but you do get more with the Xoom. I still use my 64GB iPad, but after getting a Galaxy Tab, I don't really use the iPad except at work in the office. I still say, the best screen size for portability is a 7" screen size. This is just my opinion. Many would say its to small. I got to see the Motorola Xoom at the CES 2011 this past month in action. I really how fast the Xoom was in performing all actions and is smooth.

Motorola Xoom 32GB

Resolution:
1280 x 800 pixels
Physical Size:10.10 inches
Touch Screen:
Yes (Capacitive)
Multi-touch:Yes
Proximity Sensor:Yes
Light sensor:
Dimensions:
Dimensions - Phone's dimensions
9.80 x 6.61 x 0.51 (249 x 167.8 x 12.9 mm)
Weight:
Weight - Phone's weight
25.75 oz (730 g)
the average is 4.8 oz (136 g)
Android (3.0)
Processor:
Dual-core NVIDIA Tegra 2
Processor speed:1000 MHz
Memory:1024 MB RAM
3D Graphics hardware accelerator:
Yes
Camera:
Camera - Camera specs

Yes
Resolution:
Resolution - Shows the particular phone's camera resolution. The major mobile phone camera resolutions available are QCIF; CIF; VGA (640x480); 1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.0 and 3.0 megapixels.
5 megapixels
Flash:Yes (Dual LED)
Features:Auto focus, Digital zoom
Video capture: Yes


Apple iPad 32GB

Display
9.7-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen Multi-Touch display with IPS technology
1024-by-768-pixel resolution at 132 pixels per inch (ppi)
Fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating
Support for display of multiple languages and characters simultaneously
Size and weight
Height:9.56 inches (242.8 mm)
Width:7.47 inches (189.7 mm)
Depth:0.5 inch (13.4 mm)
Weight:1.5 pounds (0.68 kg) Wi-Fi model;
1.6 pounds (0.73 kg) Wi-Fi + 3G model
Processor
1GHz Apple A4 custom-designed, high-performance, low-power system-on-a-chip


Motorola XOOM, is the company's first tablet computer. And with a 10.1-inch capacitive screen, and with a resolution of 1280x800, a 5MP HD camcorder (front-facing cam included) and a dual-core ARM-based Tegra 2 chipset, to help pump out the 1080p playback. The Xoom will ship running Android 3.0 Honeycomb operating system. In addition, the tablet will feature a accelerometer, gyroscope and of course, Adobe Flash 10.1 Player support for those times that you really want to view a flash site and just don't want to wait till you get to a computer.




If your in the market for a 10" tablet, and want something that is powerful, then the Xoom can be in your list of items to purchase. Also you can wait for the iPad 2 and hope that the price starts at the same as the first iPad. So which one will you pick?

iPad 3G vs iPad WiFi Using Verizon MiFi

This is a quick compression of the 3G iPad, and a Verizon MiFi with a WiFi iPad. Everyones milage will vary, but so far I have been getting great speeds using AT&T throughout all areas I travel for work and on vacation. We have vacationed out in Mammoth and AT&T did connect out in the mountains, but Verizon was a bit faster out in the mountains. I will post a video showing the connections between both. One of the great advantages with 3G iPad is, that you can add the data at anytime you want and stop it at the end of the month. I usually use my iPhone 4 with MyWi to tether all my devices, but at times I will activate the 3G on the iPad if I will be working on the iPad for long periods during the week. Only because when tethering to the iPhone, I can only get around 3.5 hours before battery goes low on the iPhone. With the iPad 3G I can go with no problem around 7 hours using the 3G and doing work. Usually its all using Word, email, searching on the web to write information, and using excel with Pages as well. This is in no way saying the AT&T is better than Verizon, it has just worked better for me. Another feature I really like is the GPS that is included on the 3G iPad model. I have set that up with GPS software and works great for long trips.

iPad Targus Stylus

 

 

 

Recently I happen to be at Best Buy store and ran into the Targus Stylus for the iPad, iPod Touch, and the iPhone. I had been using the Pogo Sketch Stylus, which has worked good. The only thing was that when inking with the Pogo, it wouldn’t be the best experience but that’s all I had to use and for me was better then the Dagi Stylus as well. I always said to myself, if someone would release a stylus with the tip sort of round, like your finger, but in a smaller version, and some how soft so that it can be like your finger pad. Well that’s what the Targus Stylus feels like. The tip is a soft rubber that feels very good when inking and works very well. Here is a quick video I did of the Targus Stylus, compared to the Pogo Stylus.

 

 

As you can see that the Targus stylus works well, and feels very nice and smooth on the iPad. Well at least in my opinion. I know that inking on the iPad is not for everyone, but for me it works for those notes that I need to take and then sync over, depending if I am using MobileNoter.

Here you can see that the Pogo Sketch tip is like a sponge like material and the Targus stylus is like a soft rubber material. Since the Pogo has the tip like a sponge, it makes it a little harder to do inking. Now my stylus choice is the Targus and have been using it over 4 days. The Targus stylus is little shorter than the Pogo, at first I thought that it would be a problem but it’s not. The other nice thing is that the Targus stylus is almost feels like a regular pen. I compared it to my Cross pen and they are almost the same in diameter. This makes it feel better in your hand when using it, to write down those notes. So for now the Targus will be my inking Stylus of choice.

Apple Submit Application for Solar Charging...

Apple has submitted a application for solar powering devices. They might not use this at the moment, but Apple always to manage to think 5 years ahead and this could be for the future iPhone, iPads, and iPod's. The photocells are inside, "By integrating both the touch sensors and the solar cell layers into the same stack-up, surface area on the portable device may be conserved," from the filing writing.

mSpot Streaming Service

 

 

For those that have a iPhone or iPod Touch with a MiFi or Overdrive,  youo will be able to stream movies directly to your mobile device. As long as you have 3G or Wi-Fi coverage. mSpot has been around for about a year, but you had to do it in your browser and wasn’t available on many handsets. The price of the videos range from $1.99 to $4.99 depending on the movie. Some of the older movies are even listed as free which nice if you find a old movie to watch while waiting for a flight. Of course the library of movies is no where near Netflix’s movies but at least now if you find a movie you want to watch you can stream it. The quality is not to bad over 3G and you can pause the movie if you want to and come back to it later. You can even start watching a movie on your PC and continue it on your iPhone later if you want or vice versa. This is pretty nice feature . Looks like a promising app for now, until Netflix is available for the iPhone. The Netflix app works great on the iPad.

Penultimate for the iPad update…

 

I have been using the Penultimate app on my iPad for quite awhile. I like how well it inks, but had to make sure that I didn’t put or lean with my palm on the screen or I would get a lot of vectoring or scribbles. Well now Penultimate has updated to 1.1 and have added a feature called “Wrist Protection” and what that does is that you are able to rest your palm on the screen to ink. This is not 100% but it is working great for my needs and taking notes. This just makes this app, much better to use for me. Hopefully in the next update they can really perfect the Wrist Protection and this will be a great app for inkers. This might feel like if the iPad had a active digitizer. Now if they can also add where you can import pictures into the notebook to mark up or even PDF’s, this will be one great app. So for now I will continue to use Penultimate to write down notes. After I take notes, I email them back to myself so that I can have them to attach to either a ToDo or appointment in Outlook.

iPad GPS and Archos 5 GPS...

I happen to be out and about today and brought along both the iPad and the Archos 5. I had upgraded my Archos 5 to the new firmware today so, good time to test it on the road and see how much more stable it was compare to the older firmware. So far it has made a big difference with this new firmware. It is much more stable and is working very nicely so far. Since I had both with me I thought that I about the GPS. I know that the iPad doesn't really have a hardware GPS and the A5 does. So I thought I would test both with Google maps. I reall thought that the A5 would be more accurate, since it does have a hardware GPS. Maybe the firmware has something to do with this, but I was really surprized that the iPad was so much closer in locating me.






As you can see the iPad and the Archos 5 location. I will still give the Archos 5 some more testing maybe just one of those things that didn't work correctly today. I plan on giving a test Monday on the way to work or maybe this weekend.

Shutter Snitch for the iPad

There is a app called Shutter Snitch that shows coming soon to the iTunes store. This will let you transfer pictures from a Eye-Fi SD card to your iPad. This is great if you like to bring your iPad along to a picture shooting. You basically have the iPad setup in a section, and let your customers view the pictures right away. Also would be nice for those times you take pictures on vacation and just don't want to bring your cable or the iPad picture kit, you can just buy the Eye-Fi SD card and the app. You will receive warnings when shutter speed, aperture, and other doesn't fit your predefined rules. With the great screen on the iPad it will be a joy to see the pictures. Link to ShutterSnitch for the iPad.

Jorno Bluetooth Keyboard Coming Soon...

 

I ran into this website that shows that it will be releasing a portable keyboard that looks like the Think Outside BT keyboard in late Spring 2010. Also the StoweAway BT keyboard is no longer made so now many iPad users are out looking for a portable solution and this might just be the ticket. I still have my Think Outside BT keyboard that I have been using for several years. Here is the link to the Jorno.

“Coming Late Spring 2010
A modern, fold-up, Bluetooth keyboard for your Android,
Windows Mobile, or HID-profile-compatible device”

Pocket size. Folds up to the size of a deck of cards*
Laptop power. Turns your mobile device into a pocketsized laptop
Full size keys. For long-form typing, word processing, blogging,
emails, note taking
Bluetooth connectivity. So you can place the keyboard anywhere
you like. Also functions with your desktop or tablet computer
Cradle. To hold your phone in either portrait or landscape
Rigid when unfolded. So you can place the keyboard in your lap.

How to Add ePub books to your iPad

 

For those that want to add your DRM free ePub books to your iPad and take them on the road to read, well it is pretty easy to do. You just have to drag over your ePub book to your iTunes library and then drag it to your iPad and it will sync the book over to your iPad and ready for on the go reading. Here is a quick video as well.

 

One BIG iPhone or maybe not?

I have loaded Skype on my iPad and it is working good. I was able to make calls to landlines, mobile phones, and regular Skype calls to desktop Skype users and all the calls came in clear. The Skype app is not yet made specific for iPad, but the regular iPhone one worked great. When you zoom in on the Skype app, it does get a little jaggy edged because its not made specific for the iPad. But never the less it does work and you can use the mic and speaker that is built-in on the iPad to make calls to your family, friends, and others.

iPad Cases

Here is two cases I got for the iPad today. The Apple one and the Incase one. The Incase one is very nice case. It has 4 positions to put the iPad at different angles to view it. When you slide your iPad the back of the iPad is meet with the case soft padded. The openings all line up with Incase which is good, because sometimes these 3rd party cases will sometimes not align. The case is much thicker when closed compare to the Ap

ple case, so it will depend if you would like the case slim or don't mind the extra thickness. So far I like the Incase and will give it a try this week and decide whether I will keep it o

r c

hange it to the Apple one. The case

does a good job of protecting the iPad once you slide it in. The Apple one is very thin and keeps the look of the iPad pretty much thin. It hardly adds any weight to the iPad with this case. The case is like a rubber type that makes gripping the iPad very good, which can help that it will not slip off your hands.