Motorola Xoom gets Ice Cream Sandwich- Reviewed

Ice Cream Sandwich Android with Motorola Xoom, tasty.

I bought the Motorola Xoom for its computer-like guts and the flexible Android OS.  Ever since I have purchased the tablet I have received a couple Android OS updates, which were fairly "under the radar" in terms of new features and functionality.  Recently, we as collective Xoom owners received the Ice Cream Sandwich Android 4.0.3 update (well, at least the Wi-Fi Only owners did).  Below I will give you my thoughts on some of the new features and tools.  Did I mention you get a new boot animation?  Goodbye, Honeycomb.  Hello, Ice Cream Sandwich!

What is New for the Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0.3. Motorola Xoom
At first you notice the snappiness of the tablet, it seems to move faster between work spaces and the apps seem to render faster (after you update all of them in the Android Marketplace).  The font is a little different on the tablet now and they even moved the keys around on the screen unlock, which can get some getting used to if you are using a number combination to unlock your tablet. By the way, if you are not using a stylus on your Xoom it is pretty easy to hold the tablet up to the light and see the pattern that your fingers leave to unveil your "unlock" pattern. The new Android 4.0.3 update even gives you some new but not so exciting Ice Cream Sandwich wallpapers (no ICS Android character wallpapers), and even some that are "live" wallpapers. 

Live Video Chat on Xoom (Skype)
I am not sure if the Android update had anything to do with the Skype update, but anyway you can now enjoy live video chatting via Skype on the Xoom.  I had an hour long chat this weekend (I was on the Xoom and my friend on his new Samsung Galaxy 8.9" tablet).  The quality was good and the Xoom's front facing camera performed well in even low light conditions.  After an hour of Skyping the Xoom's battery icon was barely depleted, which surprised me copnsidering the power to the camera, speakers, and screen were on for more than an hour.

Micro SD slot now available for Xoom
Apparently the micro SD slot is now operational.  I remember being frustrated last summer as I was modding an Elocity A7 tablet. What a pain it was not to throw Dexter's mod on the Elocity's micro SD from the Xoom's micro SD slot (it was dead then), instead I had to find a card converter and then stick it in a laptop and so on.  I do not have any storage issues right now on the Xoom but with the Micro SD slot now functional you can store more media or stick in a Credit Card swiper and charge customers right from your tablet.

Xoom to have better browser after Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS)?- Not Really 
Remember to go to the Android marketplace and have all of your apps updated after you run the 4.0.3. update.  So far, it doesn't matter which browser you are using they all have bugs.  The Dolphin HD browser was my favorite browser pre ICS, now it force closes and I have deleted it off my device. 

The Chrome browser used to be a workhorse but now has issues with flash and the Mozilla tablet browser has issues with flash videos too, though even worse than the Chrome. 

One hugely annoying thing is still to be treated by the web as a mobile device and not being given the option of viewing the full site for some websites (MLB.com among others view all mobile as mobile and diverts users to a stripped down mobile website with no option to view the full site- they are not the only ones).  Hey web developers out there, "My Screen is 10", give me the option of viewing the full desktop version of your site!".

Google's Voice to Text on Ice Cream Sandwich
One really nice feature is the new voice to text option within Gmail, SMS, and other apps on which you can type.  You must use the default Android keyboard, as I was using a split 3rd party keyboard app and it does not feature the microphone button.  The quality is on par with the popular voice to text applications like Dragon Naturally Speaking and it is easy to use (and it is free).  Even with a lot of background noise the voice to text and voice search features work amazingly well (Xoom as well as other Android devices).

*Information contained within these pages do not necessarily reflect the opinions or views of Schreiner University.

One Week with a Motorola Xoom Review

Just like any new device that fits in your hands, it takes time to get acquainted with it.  There is some heft to the Xoom due to the weight of the battery I figure, but it is not enough to cause any fatigue while seated (with or without a table to rest it upon).

I do wish they would implement a handle into the body of the tablet, yes it would make it bigger but easier to move around ( I am imagining the orange Speak and Spell- for those of you old enough to remember it) .  Most popular tablet devices are really too big to fit in a pocket or carry like a book.

Since I do not yet have a case for the Xoom I have been using my padded laptop sleeve to transport the device from home to work.  Leaving my laptop at home and replacing it with the Xoom has lightened my bag considerably, which is a plus.


Can you replace a Laptop with a Tablet?

Yes and no, would be the answer I would give.  Production is a challenge with handheld devices and while I am aware of the younger crowd's ability to whip out long text messages with on-screen keyboards, you probably are not going to want to compose any long text documents or emails with any handheld device or tablet unless you are carrying a keyboard around with you.

There is a Motorola Bluetooth keyboard that retails for about $60.  I am thinking this might be a good purchase for traveling, but then again you would have to buy some sort of stand for it so you could see what you are typing.  Before you know it your Xoom or iPad bag would start feeling like you had a laptop in there, which would cause you to ponder why you bought it in the first place. Obviously, some of these basic computing issues are still being worked out and will hopefully be remedied by apps. 

What I would like to see is some sort of Google Speech to Text App a la a Dragon Speaking product, but cheaper and better.  Content consumption is really what the Xoom and other tablets are made for, popular websites and social networking sites look good on the Xoom and are easy to use. 

I prefer the Dolphin Browser (avail in the Marketplace for free) to the pre-installed Google Chrome browser.  The Chrome seemed to take longer to load and my inputted text seemed delayed since the Google search results were trying to catch up.  Dolphin also allows the user to manually select which flash videos on websites you want to play, which leads to pages loading faster and the shutting down of some flash advertisements.  Overall the Dolphin Browser is great and has that barebones simplicity that you want from a web browser.

Xoom Apps or,What's Available in the Android Marketplace

It is cool but hard to navigate.

The Android Marketplace is a great place for developers to release and showcase Android Apps and there are some real gems in there, there are some rough ones too.  That being said, the Android Marketplace is frustrating place to navigate and many of the apps are really made for small Android phones not 10" screened Xooms.  While most of the apps I have tried worked well, many of them seemed really stretched out on the Xoom.

A really awful thing about the Android Marketplace is the navigational tools afforded to the user.  Performing a search will generate thousands of results, which you will have to scroll through manually.  Let's say you select one app to see what it is all about (which takes you off the results page).  You see the app page and decide it is not for you and decide to go back one page to the results page. Well, the Android Marketplace will then default you to the top of the results page, forcing you to scroll all the way down to where you left off.  As the number of apps grows in the Android Marketplace, someone must overhaul the user interface, or create an app for navigating it.  As you would expect, Apple's iTunes is out front in the app arena with a really nice user experience with only a couple different sizes of devices for developers to focus on- plus they have been at it for a much longer time. 

What I Like About the Xoom So Far

So far, I like the Xoom for all the things the Apple iPad can't do.  I am primarily talking about the freedom to interact with other hardware or devices, and they do not have to be Android, made by Google, or performed with Apple accessories.  A work colleague called me over to his office today and showed me the Xoom hooked up to a 40" LCD via a micro hdmi cable.  We went through Youtube videos, Angry Birds, some apps, and even tried to log-in to his Netflix account via the browser (which didn't work, and we didn't spend any time trying to make it work- I am sure there is a way).  The Xoom looked great on a big HDTV and the best part was it was connected with a $7.99 cable purchased on Amazon, Radio Shack charges $29.99 for the same thing by the way (avoid Radio Shack at all costs).

The nice thing is that the Android Marketplace and the Android platform are growing, and I think that most buyers realized this before they purchased the Xoom.  The Xoom already has a lot of opportunity for owners and developers alike to tinker and see what the thing can really do. 

New work phones are being ordered around here for those that have had their phones for over 2 years and a colleague called me and asked which device they should buy.  She already had an iPad at home, so I told her to go for the Android phone.  Why not go for the best of both worlds?  Explore what both platforms have for offer.  Both Apple and Android have a lot of good things going for them and I am thankful that they are competing in this market, which ultimately will push mobile technology further and give us the best experience and tools possible.

Read the Ice Cream Sandwich for Xoom Update!

*Information contained within these pages do not necessarily reflect the opinions or views of Schreiner University