New tablet computers are being shown or announced this week as companies try to compete with the wildly popular iPad that was introduced by Apple last year.
Motorola has introduced the Xoom (pronounced zoom) by giving a quick peek to attendees at the Consumer Electronics Show now underway in Las Vegas.
The Xoom is a 10.1-inch tablet that features dual-core processing, an Android 3.0 Honeycomb operating system from Google, and offers 1080p HD video content, the company said in a press release on its website.
Among its features, the Xoom has:
· A 2-megapixel camera facing the front to show video chats over Wi-Fi or 3G/4G LTE.
· A 5-megapixel camera facing the rear to show video in 720p HD.
In a review from The Washington Post, it was noted that the Xoom has a bigger screen and higher resolution that the Apple iPad.
Xoom is the first tablet using Honeycomb.
It is expected to be available for purchase next month, Verizon announced at the CES.
The Xoom tablet will be available only on the Verizon network, according to a report from TechZone360.
Marni Walden, Verizon Wireless’ chief marketing officer, said that the Xoom, “gives consumers complete access and control of their favorite personal content and work files whether through our nationwide 3G network, or through our lightning-fast 4G LTE network as it rolls out around the country,” according to a company statement.
The Xoom starts as a 3G/Wi-Fi-enabled device during the first quarter of 2011 with an upgrade to 4G LTE during the second quarter of this year. In the second quarter, the Xoom will start to be a 4G LTE/Wi-Fi-enabled device, the company said.
During the CES, T-Mobile also announced its version of a Honeycomb tablet, called the G-Slate, which comes from LG.
The G-Slate is supposed to be available for purchase in “coming months.”
The G-Slate is the first 4G tablet from the two companies powered by the Honeycomb Android platform designed for tablet computers, according to a T-Mobile press release.
Jeff Hwang, president of LG Mobile Phones, said that, “Streamlining everyday tasks and enhancing entertainment with blazing fast 4G speed, the T-Mobile G-Slate by LG will deliver the latest in Android technology and provide users with an advanced tablet experience.”
Product details will be released by LG at a “later date,” the company said.
Ed Silverstein is a TechZone360 contributor. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.
