XOOM - 11/13 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Feb

Trademark Research Fail Or Balls Of Steel? ChaCha Suing HTC For Trademark Infringement While Xoom Corp Is Going After Motorola

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Chacha, HTC, Motorola, News, XOOM

You would think that large hardware manufacturers, such as HTC and Motorola, would dedicate at least a few hours to trademark searches before naming their products and investing millions of dollars into promotional efforts for said products. That would be a fair assumption, right? It seems like the answer sometimes is: not exactly.

HTC ChaCha

Last week at MWC, HTC unveiled 6 new devices, one of which was bearing the name ChaCha (that's one of the Facebook phones). Unsurprisingly, exactly a week later, on February 22nd, ChaCha Search Inc, which owns the trademark ChaCha in the U.S. and Europe, filed a trademark infringement suit against HTC America.

Feb

Motorola XOOM System Dump Now Available To Download

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Development, Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, Motorola, News, Verizon Wireless, XOOM

This one's for you, developers: XDA user adub007 just posted a full Motorola XOOM system dump. What new and unprecedented goodies does it contain? That remains to be seen... feel free to download the 112MB (183MB when unpacked) file and start digging for yourself.

Android Police mirror

Source: XDA-Developers via Droid Life

Feb

Xoom 4G LTE Upgrade Will Require A Shipment To Motorola

Posted by Nate Kimmey in News, XOOM

For anybody who is planning to buy a Xoom tomorrow, we finally have an idea on how the upgrade to 4G LTE compatibility will work. Instead of just being a simple software update, you'll have to send your device to Motorola, which, while free, will take "up to 6 business days." The process will be available approximately 90 days after the Xoom is released, and will remain available for six months. Be warned, however - this may result in some unpleasant circumstances, as users are warned to backup their device before shipping it. The details should be available officially tomorrow, and will be found on Verizon's soon to go live Xoom 4G LTE upgrade page.

Feb

This Changes Everything: Motorola XOOM's Bootloader Will Be "Unlockable/Relockable"

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Development, Motorola, News, Verizon Wireless, XOOM

Sure, the first part of that title might sound like a Steve Jobs quote, but Motorola's latest tweet merits the expression:

That's right - unlike almost all other Motorola devices in recent memory, the XOOM will ship with an unlocked (or at least "unlockable/relockable") bootloader. That means modders will be free to create custom ROMs and kernels for the tablet - not as surprising as it would be were the XOOM not a flagship Google device, but still very reassuring.

Now, Motorola, about your other devices' bootloaders...

Source: Motorola (Twitter)

Feb

Wirefly Unboxes Motorola XOOM: "The Next Generation In Tablet"

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Motorola, News, Verizon Wireless, XOOM

OK, so unboxings aren't exactly the most exciting videos on the web, but when they involve a certain tablet called the "Motorola XOOM," they're definitely worth a look. Such is Wirefly's latest creation:

Items of note:

Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) - boot times seem really fast
10.1-inch 16:10 display - larger than an iPad
1GHz dual-core Tegra 2 processor
32GB of internal storage
2MP front camera
5MP rear camera capable of recording 720p HD video

Interestingly, the video mentions a slot for a 4G SIM card, which is odd since Verizon and Motorola say the XOOM will require a ~~hardware~~ software upgrade to connect to LTE.

Feb

Motorola XOOM Will Cost $599 On Contract, Launching On February 24th [Official]

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Motorola, News, Verizon Wireless, XOOM

Verizon's latest press release confirms rumors that the Motorola XOOM will cost $599 with a 2-year contract and $799 without (though we already knew the latter price thanks to Verizon's website) when it launches this Thursday.

Data contracts will start at $20/month for 1GB of data, with Verizon confirming once again that the XOOM will be upgradeable to 4G LTE in Q2 of 2011 at no extra charge.

Read more about it in the official press release:

MOTOROLA XOOM TABLET TO BE AVAILABLE ON THE VERIZON WIRELESS NETWORK ON FEB. 24

“Best of Show” Winner at 2011 Consumer Electronics Show Delivers the World’s First True Tablet Experience, With Upgrade to 4G LTE in Q2
BASKING RIDGE, N.J., and LIBERTYVILLE, Ill.

Feb

Verizon Confirms February 24th Release Date For Motorola XOOM; Adobe Flash Not Included Until Spring

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Motorola, News, Verizon Wireless, XOOM

Verizon just updated its product page for the Motorola XOOM, and in the process, the tablet's release date has been made official. Just as expected, you'll be able to buy the Honeycomb-loaded beast this Thursday (2/24), but unfortunately, Adobe's Flash Player won't be included out of the box. Instead, the page's fine print says, the software is "expected in Spring 2011."

Engadget speculates that Verizon / Motorola are waiting for Flash 10.2, which is supposed to launch in the coming weeks, and I would say that's a pretty fair assumption. Still, it's kind of disappointing that the XOOM won't have Flash at launch since even the Galaxy Tab can play back Flash content.

Feb

[Updated] Wirefly Opens Pre-orders For Motorola XOOM: $799.99 With A Month-To-Month Contract, $599.99 2YR

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Motorola, News, Verizon Wireless, XOOM

Last Updated: February 23rd, 2011

Wirefly just opened pre-orders for the highly anticipated Motorola XOOM, the world's first Honeycomb tablet, and like Best Buy, they'll be selling the device for $799.99 on a mandatory one-month contract that will cost a minimum of $20 (oh, and what's up with the "Switch My Existing Wireless Number to my new MOTOROLA XOOM" option?).

In related news, Wirefly lists a February 24th shipping date, though they note that this is "subject to change." Additionally, if you pre-order an unreleased phone along with your XOOM, your whole order will be held until both items are ready to ship (as opposed to something like Amazon's model, where your orders are shipped separately).

Feb

Motorola XOOM User Guide Leaked, Now Available To Download

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, Motorola, News, Tips & Tutorials, Verizon Wireless, XOOM

Sure, you've already spent hours salivating over the Motorola XOOM, checked out some apps built for Android 3.0, and even played with the Honeycomb emulator, but obviously, the one thing you've really been longing for is the XOOM's user guide.

Thanks to Droid Life, you can now sift through that clumsy collection of instructions you never would have read otherwise. Nonetheless, go ahead and download the guide if you so desire; we didn't discover anything previously unknown during our preliminary reading, but who knows - something new and exciting could be contained within!

Download link

Source: Droid Life

Feb

Sanjay Jha On Motorola XOOM Pricing: 3G Version Will Cost $799, WiFi-Only Model To Retail For $600

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Motorola, News, Verizon Wireless, XOOM

Told you so - the price of the XOOM will indeed be significantly less than $1,200 (at least according to Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha). In fact, if you decide to take the WiFi-only route, the tablet will cost just $600 - half of the price Best Buy put up (and subsequently took down). 3G connectivity will come with a $199 premium (jacking the price up to $799), though it's worth noting that the XOOM's radio will see an LTE upgrade sometime down the road.

Of course, there's probably one question on your mind: "How does this look next to Apple's pricing?" Well the cost of the WiFi-only model actually compares favorably - a 32 GB WiFi iPad costs $599, so the two tablets will be neck-to-neck.