XOOM - 7/13 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

May

Motorola XOOM Honeycomb 3.1 Update: Verizon Is First, WiFi And "Other Variants" In The Coming Weeks

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, News, Verizon Wireless, XOOM

Yesterday at Google I/O, The Goog announced the next version of Honeycomb (Android 3.1), and said that the first tablet to see the update would be the Verizon version of the Motorola XOOM. Motorola followed up that announcement with an official statement today, including when the other XOOM variants could expect to see to get some updated Honeycomb action.

XOOM owners will be able to enjoy some nice improvements with this update, including support for the new Movies feature in the Android Market, resizable widgets, full support for the newest version of Adobe Flash player (10.2), which brings drastic improvements to performance and stability; and support for USB peripherals like game controllers, keyboards, and mice.

May

[Visualized] Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Vs Motorola XOOM

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Galaxy Tab 10.1, Motorola, News, Samsung, XOOM

If you've been following the Google I/O coverage today at all, you are probably aware that Google and Samsung gave out about 5,000 Galaxy Tab 10.1 units early to all conference attendees. I didn't take the XOOM with me to the conference to avoid carrying extra bulk, so I didn't have a chance to compare the 10.1 to it while doing the deep dive first look.

Now that I got home and put the two side-by-side... let's just say it's not even funny how much bulkier the XOOM is. The 8.6mm Galaxy Tab 10.1 is not here to mess around, making the 13mm XOOM looks like a year-old clunker.

May

Google Movies: Rent And Watch Movies On The Web (YouTube) Or Your Motorola XOOM Right Now

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Apps/Games, News, XOOM

When Google announced its new Movies service today, some of the details of the service's launch were omitted in the information overload that is I/O. But now that we've had a minute to regain our composure and, you know, investigate, we've got some exciting news about Google Movies: you can start renting and watching right now (note: only the United States is currently supported):

The catch is that you'll only be able to do it from your personal computer (via the Web Market or YouTube in the browser) or on a Motorola XOOM in the Videos app for the moment (we're assuming that means it's limited to Honeycomb Android devices for the time being).

Apr

Adobe Releases Major Update To Flash 10.2, Including Enhancements For Honeycomb

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Acer, Applications, ASUS, Eee Pad Transformer, Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, Iconia Tab A500, LG, Motorola, News, Optimus Pad / G-Slate, XOOM

The latest update to Flash 10.2 for Android (version number 10.2.157.51) hit the Market earlier today and introduced several enhancements, most notably hardware acceleration for 720p videos (mentioned here earlier), albeit only on Honeycomb tablets.

Browser integration in Honeycomb has also been improved, and "important bug fixes and security enhancements," including a fix to the "critical" vulnerability discovered a few weeks ago, have been made across the board - not just in Honeycomb.

The only problem - both of the Honeycomb enhancements above require a yet-to-be-released system update, which could potentially bear version number 3.1, at least according to the app's initial changelog.

Apr

[Download] Live Wallpaper And Weather Widget From The Eee Pad Transformer (Honeycomb Only)

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, Eee Pad Transformer, News, XOOM

Thanks to sano614 over at the XDA forums you can now have a few of the goodies from the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer on other Honeycomb tablets, specifically the super-nifty My Water live wallpaper and ASUS's weather widget. You've probably seen this wallpaper before - it's the beverage-esque one that moves around on your screen as you shift your tablet around, complete with ice cubes and bubbles. The weather widget offers what you would expect: current conditions and temperature in a visually stimulating package.

I've uploaded both the widget and the wallpaper to our mirror for convenience purposes, but don't forget to jump over the to source thread at XDA and drop a thank you note.

Apr

[Updated] Motorola XOOM Update Adds Google Talk Bluetooth Support And More

Posted by David Ruddock in Motorola, News, XOOM

According to a tipster at Droid-life, the Motorola XOOM will be receiving a (relatively minor) system update tomorrow, and no - it doesn't include SD card support (exactly why, we can't even begin to guess). Here's the list of changes and additions:

Access and stay connected to Wi-Fi networks with added Proxy support

SSL data transfer with websites is now supported

WPA Pre-Shared Key pass-phrases are now supported when using the device as a Mobile Hotspot

POP 3 HTML emails will display in their entirety

Bluetooth is now supported in Google Talk

Application storage errors will not appear unless the device has reached maximum storage capacity

Safely dock the Motorola XOOM into the docking adapter without interruption

Ability to add and use a Bluetooth mouse

View and import pictures from digital cameras with Picture Transfer Protocol

When using the device in accessibility mode, menus will no longer prompt with sounds

Generally, this update seems to fix a lot of bugs and add support for some more technical items - nothing to get too worked up about.

Apr

[Free Stuff Alert] Amazon Is Giving Away 8 Motorola XOOM Wi-Fi Tablets

Posted by David Ruddock in Deals, Motorola, News, XOOM

If you head over to Amazon's Facebook page right now and press "Like," you'll find the first product in Amazon's ongoing A-Z Sweepstakes, a Motorola XOOM, is up for grabs. Eight of them - to be precise. All you have to do is give Amazon your name, email address, and phone number to enter. This is a US residents-only contest, though (unlike our super-awesome Motorola XOOM Wi-Fi Giveaway.)

Amazon

Apr

[Giant Giveaway #1] Win A Free Motorola XOOM Wi-Fi For Doing Close To Nothing!

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Contests / Giveaways, Motorola, XOOM

Last Updated: July 18th, 2011

Earlier this week, I dropped a hint on Twitter that we have a few awesome giveaways lined up here at Android Police, and I really wasn't kidding.

To start things off, NVIDIA and Android Police have teamed up to give away a free Motorola XOOM Wi-Fi edition. The dual-core Tegra 2 tablet can be yours - all you have to do is enter by following the rules below.

More great - even better - prizes are coming up shortly, so be sure to keep following Android Police on Twitter, Facebook, and RSS.

Giveaway

And here is the winner (picked at random):

@keef319 (Keef) from Walkern, United Kingdom, who entered using Twitter on April 23rd with this comment "Go on..Turn from the dark side, Android is your friend," you are now the owner of a brand new XOOM Wi-Fi tablet.

Apr

[Download] ClockworkMod Recovery 3.0.2.5 Now Available For Motorola XOOM

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

Last week saw an update to the Tiamat kernel that enabled the XOOM's SD card slot, and now the modders are back with another hack (ugh, that rhymes, doesn't it?) for Motorola's Honeycomb tablet: ClockworkMod Recovery.

For those not familiar with Koush's geeky masterpiece, ClockworkMod is a universal recovery renowned for its ability to create full backups (aka nandroids) of a device to its SD card. To be clear, ClockworkMod has been available for the XOOM for a while now, but it hasn't really had a purpose since SD card functionality wasn't enabled. But with the aforementioned Tiamat kernel, that barrier no longer stands, and ClockworkMod's usefulness is undeniable.

Apr

Tiamat Kernel Adds SD Card Support To Motorola XOOM, Modders Show Up Google Once Again

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

The XOOM's currently nonfunctional microSD card slot has likely turned off many a potential buyer, but – if you're willing to take your chances with unofficial software from the Android dev community – the problem has finally been solved.

The solution comes by way of an update to Tiamat, a custom kernel from XDA member bigrushdog. Installation is more or less identical to any other kernel, but if you need instructions, knock yourself out:

1. Reboot into the bootloader by running:
adb reboot bootloader
2. Flash the boot image to your boot partition, then boot back into Android by running:
fastboot flash boot boot.img
fastboot reboot
3.