xoom

More Motorola Xoom 2 leaks: Two models?

Motorola, now with the backing of prospective new owner Google, may have a worthy competitor to the iPad 2 on the way, according to a report. And another, smaller model may be coming, too.

After some rather murky initial Xoom 2 speculation was reported earlier in the week, This Is My Next has come up with some more-solid details.

Those deets include a 9mm thickness (the iPad 2 is 8.8mm) and a 1.2GHz dual-core processor. This time it may be a Texas Instruments ARM chip variant, according to speculation. The Xoom currently sports a 1GHz Nvidia Tegra 2. The ability to record 1080p video is also expected.

Other goodies include Adobe Flash Player 11, Netflix streaming in HD, an optional keyboard case, a stylus pen, and the ability to sync wirelessly to a PC, according to the report.

And that's not all. There may be a smaller 8.2-inch 0.95-pound Media Edition coming, too.

Tablets and smartphones pouring out of Motorola Mobility over the next 12 months should be compelling considering that well-heeled Google--the provider of the Android software that runs on Motorola's consumer devices--is expected to absorb the company. Perish the thought that this would give Motorola a leg up over rivals in the Android ecosystem!

Updated on September 25 at 4:22 p.m. PDT: Added new photo.… Read more

Motorola's next Android tablet gets spied in video

A new Motorola tablet, spotted in a video obtained by This Is My Next, appears to be both thinner and smaller than the company's 10.1-inch Xoom.

Looking more in line with tablets such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 or HTC Flyer, this unannounced Motorola device looks to be half the thickness of its predecessor. Details are scarce at this point, but TiMN points out that the bottom of the tablet has both Micro-USB and Micro-HDMI ports. The aspect ratio appears to be 16:9, which is quite common in Android circles, especially in displays of this size. Based on the placement of the Motorola logo, we might be looking at a table one might hold in portrait mode rather than landscape.

The exact version of Android is unknown, but it will be at least Android 3.2 Honeycomb since that was the first version optimized to support the smaller, 7-inch display size.

The existence of such a tablet is not a complete surprise. Motorola Mobility CEO Sanjay Jha indicated back in July that we could see this model, as well as another 10-inch tablet by year's end. … Read more

BlackBerry PlayBook tablet gets $150 price cut

The BlackBerry PlayBook got a hefty discount at one major reseller though it hardly compares to the fire-sale pricing seen recently for Hewlett-Packard's TouchPad.

Best Buy today started offering the 64GB PlayBook at $550, $150 off the original price of the $700.

That hardly compares to the $100 offer for the 16GB HP TouchPad. Nevertheless, the PlayBook is not a defunct platform like the TouchPad and $550 is a low price for a 64GB tablet. 64GB models from Apple, for example, are more than $800.

Features include BlackBerry's Tablet Operating System based on QNX, Wi-Fi connectivity, 7-inch HD capacitive screen with multi-touch, 1024 x 600 resolution, 1GB of system memory, 1GHz dual-core processor, forward and rear cameras, and Micro USB and Micro HDMI ports.

Best Buy is also offering the 16GB PlayBook for $449, $50 off the regular price of $499.

But stiff 7-inch tablet competition is on the way. The Lenovo 7-inch IdeaPad A1 with Android 2.3 will be offered at $200 and $250 for 8GB and 16GB models respectively. (Currently, the release date for the A1 is unclear.) And existing 7-inch competition includes the original Samsung Galaxy Tab, a model released last year, which is priced at $279 at Best Buy.

Overall, the PlayBook is competing in an increasingly crowded tablet market. Apple's iPad dominates the tablet space, making it very difficult for any rival to gain a big toehold. And then there's the non-Apple market with tablets from Motorola, Samsung, Toshiba, Acer, Asus, and others--all based on Google's Android operating system. Not to mention the WebOS-based TouchPad, which is due for a final production run in the coming weeks at $100 and $150 for the 16GB and 32GB models respectively. … Read more

Motorola to kick off Xoom 4G LTE upgrade?

Motorola will start upgrading existing Xoom tablet owners to 4G LTE within the next week, but the initial pilot program will target only business and government customers, says enthusiast site Droid Life.

According to an e-mail reportedly received by a Droid Life reader, Motorola is "piloting" the initial upgrade just to business and government customers before it starts rolling out 4G en masse to individual Xoom owners.

In late July, Verizon confirmed that the Xoom's 4G LTE upgrade would kick off sometime in September following several months of delays. As reported earlier this year, the upgrade to 4G is free, … Read more

It's iPad or nothing, survey says

The tablet market continues to be summed up like this: the iPad and everything else. And everything else doesn't amount to much.

That's according to a recent survey conducted by Robert W. Baird. The study found that out of more than 1,100 potential tablet purchasers, an overwhelming 94.5 percent cited the iPad as a device of interest. Hewlett-Packard's TouchPad was the second most-cited device, garnering just 10.3 percent of the people surveyed, while Research in Motion's PlayBook was a laggard.

The study suggests that despite a number of new entrants jumping into the … Read more

The 404 882: Where everyone did it in the '90s (podcast)

If you willingly choose to pay to see a movie like "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," you give up your right to complain about your fellow theater-goers. This is the lesson Wilson and I impart to our third co-host, who got suckered by the trolls on Rotten Tomatoes into seeing the pre-prequel to "Planet of the Apes."

The big news, of course, is Google's proposed acquisition of Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion, so we'll discuss what that means for existing patent trolls, Android handset competitors, and the Android platform in general.

Stick around until the end of the show, when we'll announce which two lucky listeners won our V-Moda Faders earplugs giveaway contest!

The 404 Digest for Episode 882

Google to buy Motorola Mobility for $12.5B. Air Swimmers let you fly your own fish. Rise of the Planet of the Apes: An animal-rights manifesto disguised as a prison-break movie. Weekend breaches: BART page by Anonymous.

Episode 882 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Motorola: Latest Apple lawsuit has 'no merit'

Motorola plans to fight hard to defend itself against Apple's patent infringement claims related to the company's Xoom tablet.

Writing to CNET in an e-mail last night, a Motorola spokesperson said that the company plans to "vigorously defend Motorola's own product designs."

Yesterday, FOSS Patents reported that Apple made mention--in a complaint brought before the European Union against Samsung--of a patent suit it filed against Motorola over the design of its Xoom tablet. Apple's Motorola complaint previously hadn't been made public. However, in the e-mail to CNET, Motorola provided a timeline of … Read more

HP cuts TouchPad price to $399; price war?

HP has permanently cut the price on its low-end TouchPad price to $399 as it seeks to stand out in a crowded tablet market.

The 16GB TouchPad had been cut briefly from $499 to $399 over the weekend at various resellers. But that drop is permanent now, as HP's Web site clearly shows.… Read more

Apple sues Motorola over Xoom design, report says

Apple has filed a complaint with the European Union over the design of the Motorola Xoom, FOSS Patents is reporting.

According to the blog, Apple's complaint against Samsung, which was filed in German court, includes mention of a complaint that Apple filed against Motorola. Exactly when Apple filed the complaint with the EU is unknown, but FOSS's Florian Mueller said that it could have happened either before or at the same time Apple took aim at Samsung.

The Android-based Motorola Xoom comes with a 10.1-inch display, and users can choosef Wi-Fi-only or Wi-Fi-and-3G connectivity. The device retails … Read more

Motorola CEO: 'Completely open' to Windows 8

Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha said his company is open to Windows 8 as a platform and expects an aggressive roll out of new Android tablets in the second half.

"We're completely open to Windows as a platform," he said when speaking at an Oppenheimer Annual Technology & Communications Conference today. The conference was streamed via Motorola's Web site. Its stable of devices such as the Droid 3 and Droid X2 smartphones and Xoom tablet currently all run Google's Android operating system.

"We're not leading the charge on Windows 8, but as we become … Read more