Xooming Marvellous

Up front, I will admit I am an Apple iPad man. I bought my iPad 2 about a month ago, upgrading from the iPad in the process. And I love it.

Now here's a curious thing. Chatting to a high-up-in-Microsoft mate of mine recently, he basically said that the iPad would get swamped by the Microsoft combatants. I poo-pooed his argument as usual as just MS bluster version 3.5.

BUT, whilst my MS friend version 2.0 maybe wrong on one count he may be right on another. You see, I also recently received an upgrade on my mobile phone and went from a steam-driven pseudo Nokia smartphone to the HTC Desire Z. Oh my, what a spanking phone - if you will forgive the battery from not lasting anything like it says on the tin, that is.

OK, battery aside, the phone is superb. And that's because of its Android operating system from Google. There are tons of brilliant Apps, the Wifi linkage is brilliant and even the retractable keyboard for idiots like me is actually fairly redundant as the touchscreen works really well.

What is more, the operating system seems stable and quick. The graphics are dazzling and it's a dream to Twitter, email, text and all else from. In short, it's the cat's whiskers in smartphones, in my humble opinion.

So enter the Motorola Xoom, the Android 3.0 (honeycomb) driven tablet. Even the marketing blurb is wonderful simply saying 'It supports Abobe Flash Player 10'. If only Apple could say that for the iPad - it continues to be a rusting nail in a festering wound for them.

There's more. The Xoom has a 10.1" display at 1280x800 WGA screen. What does that mean? It's bigger and better definition than the iPad 2. The onboard cameras are better than the iPad's too. Better still, you can buy nice accessories like a portfolio case rather than useless and expensive Smart cases that the iPad 2 has. Mine went straight into a cupboard and I stuck with my nice, leather and expensive yet not dimensionally correct 'Snugg' case bought by my family on my birthday.

If there is going to be a serious threat to Apple, I think it will be Android that will bring it on. If nothing else, we are all a bit jaundiced by the Microsoft 'catch up and botch it' syndrome. In this case they cannot simply buy the company to compete as Apple and Google are just a little beyond reach on that front.

There are a few drawbacks at this stage. Models available are Wifi only so far, with external 3G Mobile broadband extra which is a shame and it looks slightly pricey at the moment although you do get bigger memory for your bucks.

I would like to see one in action to validate my argument but on 'paper' the Motorola Xoom with Android looks pretty darn hot.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad