Motorola Xoom was supposed to be the tablet that should’ve jumpstarted the momentum for Honeycomb, but it didn’t and in fact it may have even hurt it, because of the very high price ($800) and the availability of only the 3G (more expensive) version at launch. Now, Motorola seems to want to fix their mistake with not one, but 2 Motorola Xoom 2 tablets. But will they actually do it?
The first Xoom 2 tablet is a 10.1″ one, just like the first Xoom, is 9 mm thick, has 1 GB of faster RAM, records 1080p video, and has a battery life of 11 hours, compared to the original Xoom’s 10 hours. That’s with a dual core 1.2 Ghz processor, that’s probably an overclocked OMAP 4430. It will also have accessories such as an optional keyboard case, and a stylus.
The Xoom 2 will be the first tablet to have Flash Player 11 support (hopefully not months after launch, like they did with Flash on the original Xoom, though). It will also have access to Netflix streaming in HD. Finally, it will feature an IR blaster and some home automation software that should be ready for launch.
The Xoom 2 Media Edition is a 8.2″ tablet with an IPS display with anti-glare coating, meant as an e-reader replacement, and weighs only 0.95 pounds, which makes it very easy to hold in one hand. Motorola seems to have focused a lot on the durability of this tablet, making it from an alloy of magnesium and aluminum, and with a Gorilla Glass screen, and it’s also “splash” proof. This tablet will also come with an IR blaster, and a subwoofer, which means it’s also meant as a media consumption device, not just as an e-reader replacement. Both of the tablets should come with Android 3.2.
The pricing is unknown, but even though the specs don’t look too bad, I don’t think they should price them higher than $400 – especially the Media Edition one. That one would probably be best priced at $300-$350.
I really hope Motorola have learned their lesson with the first Xoom, and won’t repeat the exact same mistakes, like pricing it too high, or not having ready all the features at launch. One of the reasons the first tablet was so expensive is that it had unnecessary specs in it, and thought people would value those and would be willing to pay an extra $200 or $300, but they were wrong about that, and they didn’t even make a more reasonable priced tablet as a back-up.
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