Related
But they say, it's for the tablets. :-(
http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/05/google-shows-off-android-3-0-the-entirely-for-tablet-honeycom/
EDIT : hopefully , we'll get video chat this time.
I'm actually happy its just for tablets. Tablets need something to make the special beyond "just big phones"
Plus I couldn't imagine how weird it would be with capacitive screen buttons on the phone but honeycomb virtual screen buttons as well?
Well played Google... Well played
Oh yes... sweet yes... portable?
Who knows.
agree 100%. theres got to be something that differentiates tablets and phones. google is moving in that direction. i only hope that there will be a version of HC that will run on phones in a "translated" form to make it more usable on a mobile interface.
Clueless on how to cope with two different sets... but seems they don't give ..... about it.
Sent from my Dell Streak using Tapatalk
sigh, it does NOT say tablet only, it says designed for tablets, a whole of difference.
Told y'all the CNN Honeycomb article leaned toward tablets: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=10001097#post10001097
ROM_Guest said:
Told y'all the CNN Honeycomb article leaned toward tablets: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=10001097#post10001097
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Click to collapse
have you never heard of marketing?
"designed for tablets" is marketing bs. Until someone shows a significant change in the tablet and cell phone hardware, it will continue to be bs. A few applications will need to be changed (like GMail) but the rest is marketing.
descendency said:
have you never heard of marketing?
"designed for tablets" is marketing bs. Until someone shows a significant change in the tablet and cell phone hardware, it will continue to be bs. A few applications will need to be changed (like GMail) but the rest is marketing.
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Click to collapse
The screen size is that significant change. It requires quite different application layout concepts (which in turn require OS support).
It could well be, that honeycomb development is focused solely on tablet issues (like being in essence sort of gingerbread "tablet edition") and is worthless in the smartphone context.
Again, Andy Rubin at D: Dive into the mobile said the focus was on tablet but that the new views/pane could be adapted to phones.
That being said wouldn't be to surprise if we have to wait until Google I/O for some of this eyecandy on cell phones.
Oh and Gtalk Video is there...
Honeycomb looks great. I agree that "designed for tablets" its good marketing. They can play the angle that the ipad was based on a phone OS & Honeycomb has been built for the ground up with tablets in mind.
My guess (or atleast what I hope) is that Google will announce Honeycomb for phones as well. They would share the same UI just with one designed for smaller screens in mind. Ideally the phone OS wouldn't need the dual core processing (so fragmentation doesn't kick in). And this way both tablets and phones share the same platform making it a bit easier for developers. Ofcourse this is just the way I am dreaming things up but it does make a bit of sense with Google making Gingerbread 2.4 after all the initial speculation that it would be 3.0. It makes me wonder if Gingerbread was rushed in order to get the next Nexus flagship phone out before the holidays.
lazaro17 said:
They can play the angle that the ipad was based on a phone OS & Honeycomb has been built for the ground up with tablets in mind
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Click to collapse
Sure the markets will play that angle I'm sure. Of course the reality is that the iPad was actually designed before the iPhone. So the iPhone is using a tablet OS, not the other way around!
lazaro17 said:
Honeycomb looks great. I agree that "designed for tablets" its good marketing. They can play the angle that the ipad was based on a phone OS & Honeycomb has been built for the ground up with tablets in mind.
My guess (or atleast what I hope) is that Google will announce Honeycomb for phones as well. They would share the same UI just with one designed for smaller screens in mind. Ideally the phone OS wouldn't need the dual core processing (so fragmentation doesn't kick in). And this way both tablets and phones share the same platform making it a bit easier for developers.
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Click to collapse
Provided el goog did not invent any new kind of wheel, I think it is quite safe to assume, that honeycomb "tablet edition" changes are geared to support those new additional screen layouts typical to the tablets.
Like currently developer can define several different layouts, for example one for portrait and one for landscape, screen form factor, docking state, night/day mode etc.
So, there will be additional modes for tablets. And additional UI controls utilizing those modes.
Then google will need to modify all the system apps, I think this makes the most of the honeycomb overhead. To do it properly it is by far not enough to "inflate" your present smartphone apps. Samsung already hacked this into the most of the apps shipped with galaxy tab.
It is actually quite boring if you look at it from the smartphone point of view. More like the new UI skin if at all.
only (put your curse here) would presume Google is ditching the mobile phones to tablets by providing new 'cool' updates to tablets and let the phones rot. almost every person has a phone not every person has a tablet or planning on getting one. Not very good for Google business, so they won't keep (put any Android version here) exclusive to a certain platform.
So this means that Gingerbread 2.3 will remain the flagship OS for phones till the year end or will the Dual Core Motorola Atrix & Optimus 2X can have 3.0 sometime later
android_master said:
So this means that Gingerbread 2.3 will remain the flagship OS for phones till the year end or will the Dual Core Motorola Atrix & Optimus 2X can have 3.0 sometime later
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Click to collapse
No. All this means is that 3.0 will be shipping on some tablets in a few months. We don't yet know anything about Android releases for phones beyond Gingerbread.
damn right it looks great!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CenYofDGwoU
edit: thank god that now the confusion that many have regarding the difference between "gingerbread" and "android 3.0" will be cleared up. yes, there are folks like that :eek
Perhaps facets of the UI are Tablet only.
What a stupid thing it would be to fragment Android even further.
Nice UI..BB Playbook task switching still is miles ahead in terms of wow factor and ease of switching.
The apps themselves look great. Once again I have great fear of these 3d aspects bogging things like the Froyo Gallery.
If it doesnt load at lightning speed they will be guilty of overshooting the programming for available HW.
I cant see that UI running smoothly on any current phone including the Nexus S.
The real question, which has yet to have a definitive answer, is when can i actually buy something that runs this?!
Its safe to say that I will be picking up a tablet with Honeycomb this year.
Out of all the the companies that have announced Honeycomb tablets, not one of them have laid a finger on Android 3.0? Is Google not allowing this? Or are they simply not familiar enough with 3.0 to make any dramatical changes? I don't think it is us consumers forcing them to do this, as it is very clear Motorola and Samsung will skin their devices as they please... but this struck me as odd that they aren't making any changes to the software to differentiate their tablets from the others.
Does Google want to make sure that their tablets get updated as soon as possible? Or do the manufactures believe that Android 3.0 doesn't need to be altered whatsoever and that stock Android is fine?
I know none of you may have a definite answer but I am very curious. I do know that this isn't a bad thing as people actually prefer stock Android... it just somewhat shocks me that these companies aren't trying to alter these tablets to their liking. All the tablets are essentially the same with a different shell. If this is the case, Google could have just released one Honeycomb tablet on all carriers with a decent price. Of course the answer to this will be "choice", but if ONE (and only one) Honeycomb tablet with a low enough price was announced.. that had USB ports, SD Cards slots, etc. -- we wouldn't have to look elsewhere.
The xoom will get an update for motoblur at a later date.
Sent from my EVO using XDA App
Sirchuk said:
The xoom will get an update for motoblur at a later date.
Sent from my EVO using XDA App
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Click to collapse
A Motorola employee said that, but then Motorola itself dismissed that as false.
It was a big race to get the first tablet out the door. It's going to take months to do a 3.0 as they need to re-do it from the group up.
Then perhaps manufacturers have finally come to the realization that google got it right and chose not to sink the money into software development and are sticking to the hardware.
Sent from my EVO using XDA App
If you watch the engadget interview with Matias Duarte, they ask him about his thoughts on manufactures laying hands on Honeycomb. He simply smiles and seems like he doesn't want no one changing up the UI. I mean he is the designer for Honeycomb and I doubt anyone would want their masterpiece being murdered by Motorblur and touchwiz! I think honeycomb looks amazing personally. I also think Google wants these tablets to succeed; therefore, leaving them in charge of updating the software, not manufactures like Samsung who never really update their devices.
Unfortunately we still have to rely on the manufacturer to do the updates I think.
Tico.ASandoval14 said:
If you watch the engadget interview with Matias Duarte, they ask him about his thoughts on manufactures laying hands on Honeycomb. He simply smiles and seems like he doesn't want no one changing up the UI. I mean he is the designer for Honeycomb and I doubt anyone would want their masterpiece being murdered by Motorblur and touchwiz! I think honeycomb looks amazing personally. I also think Google wants these tablets to succeed; therefore, leaving them in charge of updating the software, not manufactures like Samsung who never really update their devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my EVO using XDA App
Tico.ASandoval14 said:
If you watch the engadget interview with Matias Duarte, they ask him about his thoughts on manufactures laying hands on Honeycomb. He simply smiles and seems like he doesn't want no one changing up the UI. I mean he is the designer for Honeycomb and I doubt anyone would want their masterpiece being murdered by Motorblur and touchwiz! I think honeycomb looks amazing personally. I also think Google wants these tablets to succeed; therefore, leaving them in charge of updating the software, not manufactures like Samsung who never really update their devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not to mention that Goog wants fast to market adoption of apps and the potential behind a store ala Apple.
Allowing third parties to muck around with what users can do has been the whole basis of the 'fragmentation' argument.
If Google uses its power in this case they do have a good chance to steal thunder from Apple, but only if they don't allow for the software and devices to get wildly out of sync as they are now.
And that really only pisses off the consumer, not the manufacturer folk - these hardware makers should be beholden to Google, not the consumer to the manufacturer.
Google needs to put the line in the sand so to speak and take ownership of the app side of the game with regards to the platform.. and as much as it pains me to say so, they need to start enforcing some rules about things.. within reason to their current scope/intention - a few friggin standards/rules would not hurt the platform at all.
Not seeing anything for the past week or so when it comes to development, kernel updates, custom themes....etc. Has development halted already? Would be satisfied even with a debloated, optimized stock Honeycomb ROM. The Thunderbolt had its first ROM 2 days after launch and it was opened up before it was even released...what gives, a so called open tablet and nothing. Anything to give me faith again that I don't own a 800.00 bookend would be appreciated.
Then I was thinking about the Nexus One.....Maybe this Xoom is the Nexus One of the Tablet market & will be the developmental Tablet that everyone does everything on.....I'm just so confused at this point I don't know what to do
Honeycomb source hasn't been released = No custom ROMs
ksc6000 said:
Honeycomb source hasn't been released = No custom ROMs
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Click to collapse
Not even able to remove bloat & optimize what we have?
mrksbrd said:
Not even able to remove bloat & optimize what we have?
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Click to collapse
I'm sure bloatware could be removed, but optimizing I think would require our Devs to actually have the source code to optimize
mrksbrd said:
Not seeing anything for the past week or so when it comes to development, kernel updates, custom themes....etc. Has development halted already? Would be satisfied even with a debloated, optimized stock Honeycomb ROM. The Thunderbolt had its first ROM 2 days after launch and it was opened up before it was even released...what gives, a so called open tablet and nothing. Anything to give me faith again that I don't own a 800.00 bookend would be appreciated.
Then I was thinking about the Nexus One.....Maybe this Xoom is the Nexus One of the Tablet market & will be the developmental Tablet that everyone does everything on.....I'm just so confused at this point I don't know what to do
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am confused by your post. What is bloated on the Xoom? It pretty much is a stock OS. You can root it, boost it to 1.5GHz, hook USB flash to it. What features are you exactly looking for?
Its an enjoyable browsing experience, the flash works pretty well, its great for reading ebooks and pdfs, you can listen to your music, watch videos, stream tv, connect to your desktop and have full access to your windows apps(or mac). Look at all your pictures, and if you take advantage of googles cloud, you can store them there and synch it with your phone and tablet without having to store them directly on your devices. It has a great RSS reader, N64 / SNES apps and hook a Wii controller up and have a console like experience, video chat, heck you can hook it up to a HD widescreen and it maintains the perfect aspect ratio and looks great, organize view and reply to emails, explore a really feature filled Map application with a great navigation features. You can even rant about Xoom features from your XDA App . Maybe you dont' agree, which is perfectly cool. Personal opinions are great and should always be respected. But I really am enjoying my Xoom, this is my first tablet, so maybe I am missing something that should be there.
All done with my xoom:
I will say, that I have had some fun with my xoom, but with any toy the xoom in my house has joined my other obsolete toys on my closet shelf. It was a interesting tablet computer I just haven't found much use for my xoom other than playing converted movies. I will just leave it in the box on the shelf, and someday someone will buy it from me at one of my wife's garage sales.
sleeplessninja said:
I am confused by your post. What is bloated on the Xoom? It pretty much is a stock OS. You can root it, boost it to 1.5GHz, hook USB flash to it. What features are you exactly looking for?
Its an enjoyable browsing experience, the flash works pretty well, its great for reading ebooks and pdfs, you can listen to your music, watch videos, stream tv, connect to your desktop and have full access to your windows apps(or mac). Look at all your pictures, and if you take advantage of googles cloud, you can store them there and synch it with your phone and tablet without having to store them directly on your devices. It has a great RSS reader, N64 / SNES apps and hook a Wii controller up and have a console like experience, video chat, heck you can hook it up to a HD widescreen and it maintains the perfect aspect ratio and looks great, organize view and reply to emails, explore a really feature filled Map application with a great navigation features. You can even rant about Xoom features from your XDA App . Maybe you dont' agree, which is perfectly cool. Personal opinions are great and should always be respected. But I really am enjoying my Xoom, this is my first tablet, so maybe I am missing something that should be there.
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Click to collapse
I agree with this. There's really nothing missing right now. Nor is there much bloat to remove. Dungeon Defenders? Sure, you could root and remove it, but it's a nice way to show off what the tablet can do.
Down the line, when Moto stops providing proper updates or something, a ROM might be warranted. But with the likelihood of this getting pure stock Android for at least a year to come, means there's really no need for a ROM right now.
goldsworthy said:
I will say, that I have had some fun with my xoom, but with any toy the xoom in my house has joined my other obsolete toys on my closet shelf. It was a interesting tablet computer I just haven't found much use for my xoom other than playing converted movies. I will just leave it in the box on the shelf, and someday someone will buy it from me at one of my wife's garage sales.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure how a tablet doesn't make it into your daily routine. It's the first thing I grab in the morning now (after it wakes me up, of course)
I don't know, the way this was marketed it should have bells, whistles, screaming sirens and the ability to control [email protected] least that is what I grabbed out of all the ads, commercials I have saw. I wanted something that came outta the hole like the OG Droid. I know it's still in its baby's footsteps but my main thing is it not taking full availability of this monster Tegra 2. According to the specs of this chip the Xoom is only using 1/16 of its capability. And the other thing I would like is for it to be snappy and responsive....AAAAAHHHHH maybe I'm asking too much, I am just at a crossroad right now & need re-alignment.
mrksbrd said:
I don't know, the way this was marketed it should have bells, whistles, screaming sirens and the ability to control [email protected] least that is what I grabbed out of all the ads, commercials I have saw. I wanted something that came outta the hole like the OG Droid. I know it's still in its baby's footsteps but my main thing is it not taking full availability of this monster Tegra 2. According to the specs of this chip the Xoom is only using 1/16 of its capability. And the other thing I would like is for it to be snappy and responsive....AAAAAHHHHH maybe I'm asking too much, I am just at a crossroad right now & need re-alignment.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HEY! the xoom also makes for a nice calculator if nothing else!.
mrksbrd said:
Not seeing anything for the past week or so when it comes to development, kernel updates, custom themes....etc. Has development halted already? Would be satisfied even with a debloated, optimized stock Honeycomb ROM. The Thunderbolt had its first ROM 2 days after launch and it was opened up before it was even released...what gives, a so called open tablet and nothing. Anything to give me faith again that I don't own a 800.00 bookend would be appreciated.
Then I was thinking about the Nexus One.....Maybe this Xoom is the Nexus One of the Tablet market & will be the developmental Tablet that everyone does everything on.....I'm just so confused at this point I don't know what to do
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should already be satisfied then because there is no bloat on here which makes it a pure google experience device and once source is released i expect it to be the nexus one of tablets
PaulG1488 said:
You should already be satisfied then because there is no bloat on here which makes it a pure google experience device and once source is released i expect it to be the nexus one of tablets
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Click to collapse
"once source is released ?" you meen IF SOURCE IS RELEASED they may never do so!. I still dont have a SD card slot that workes in my xoom.
Its a stock google device. Bloat? Cordy and dungeon defenders? Rename apk to bak in root explorer and they're gone. It'll be ROMmed eventually but right now just enjoy pure honeycomb minus lame blur skin.
Source will be released once more tabs are out. Lame ass tabs are hacked and OSs thrown on them that shouldn't be. Google is protecting their prized OS from being hacked onto a 7"gtab or nook.
I don't think it has to do with the loss of enthusiasm but the lack of the source as stated by other posters. Maybe spirits have been dampened by Google's decision to delay the release of the source code but once it's release there will be a fresh breeze of ROMs.
Poll options suck
can't vote as none of the poll options support my thoughts.
"Everything I dreamed of"
funnycreature said:
I don't think it has to do with the loss of enthusiasm but the lack of the source as stated by other posters. Maybe spirits have been dampened by Google's decision to delay the release of the source code but once it's release there will be a fresh breeze of ROMs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think this says it best. People are disappointed that source isn't being released soon but it definitely doesn't it won't be. They have released source for each one so far doesn't make sense that they would stop now
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk
Above I started a thread entitled: "Is Motorola Ditching Android." If anyone bothers to read the linked article, it presents a possible motivation for not releasing the source code:
WAR
The hardware companies are starting to talk about breaking away from Google. HP has purchased palm and is releasing its own tablet. Now Motorola is rumored to be considering the same thing. The Blackberry Playbook Tablet is now up for pre-order on Best Buy. http://www.bestbuy.com/site/iPad-Tablet-PCs/Tablet-PCs/pcmcat209000050008.c?id=pcmcat209000050008
The Holy Grail in this business is to own BOTH the OS and the hardware. Know any other company who has done this? Begins with an A... named after a fruit....
Perhaps Google is reconsidering just how open-source it wants to be.
We can't have a deodexed or optimized rom until the smali utilities are updated, which requires honey comb source to drop.
Sent from my Samsung-SPH-D700 using XDA App
Digital Man said:
Above I started a thread entitled: "Is Motorola Ditching Android." If anyone bothers to read the linked article, it presents a possible motivation for not releasing the source code:
WAR
The hardware companies are starting to talk about breaking away from Google. HP has purchased palm and is releasing its own tablet. Now Motorola is rumored to be considering the same thing. The Blackberry Playbook Tablet is now up for pre-order on Best Buy. http://www.bestbuy.com/site/iPad-Tablet-PCs/Tablet-PCs/pcmcat209000050008.c?id=pcmcat209000050008
The Holy Grail in this business is to own BOTH the OS and the hardware. Know any other company who has done this? Begins with an A... named after a fruit....
Perhaps Google is reconsidering just how open-source it wants to be.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Take off your aluminum hat for a moment.
I hope you understand that the "holy grail" as you put it is a bit more complicated than you think. For those of us who ummmm....read and know ****. We refer to thing like that with a really fancy phrase called "vertical integration". Also, remember Apple is a vertical integration monster, owning the hardware, OS, AND * drum-roll* distribution channels. They've built their company up like this. Motorola is still a long way from having this sort of capability. They don't even own all their hardware. The article you posted contains statements taken out of context. Complaints like those are hardly rare and mostly amount to nothing.
I can promise you google will release the source code for Honeycomb. It is no surprise that they are withholding a product that was specifically designed for and still incomplete on the xoom. If they put out the source code small companies as well as every **** and jane could peddle incredibly ****ty software with google branding with a side pile of bricks large enough to build a bridge to russia. They rushed the release because of the Ipad 2. **** works OK. Give them some time to make 3.0 play nice with pretty much everything else, and if that includes phones, it might take awhile. Be patient.
Digital Man said:
Above I started a thread entitled: "Is Motorola Ditching Android." If anyone bothers to read the linked article, it presents a possible motivation for not releasing the source code:
WAR
The hardware companies are starting to talk about breaking away from Google. HP has purchased palm and is releasing its own tablet. Now Motorola is rumored to be considering the same thing. The Blackberry Playbook Tablet is now up for pre-order on Best Buy. http://www.bestbuy.com/site/iPad-Tablet-PCs/Tablet-PCs/pcmcat209000050008.c?id=pcmcat209000050008
The Holy Grail in this business is to own BOTH the OS and the hardware. Know any other company who has done this? Begins with an A... named after a fruit....
Perhaps Google is reconsidering just how open-source it wants to be.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All of this is not entirely true. The Holy Grail in business doesn't always mean you have to do hardware and OS. One pure example of where it didn't work out as planned is Nokia. Grant it there is more involved that just this, but it just serves as an example.
Mobile is a very complex platform that involves many, many factors. In fact one of Apples biggest moves in our decade was to switch from making their own in house processors(their own hardware) and to go with x86 Intel Chips (someone elses hardware). Yes apple puts the hardware together, but its not just their own hardware. Even for the iphone and ipad, do you know who makes the CPU/GPU for Apple phones? They partnered with a company called Samsung, who also makes android phones.
Motorola isn't rumored to be making their own OS, they are, but the kind of OS they are looking to build is much different from the android or apple. From what I have read in the technology articles they are building a web based phones, which is still very much an untapped market and will most likely be different than a smartphone experience. Motorola has done a solid job with the android platform so far. I love my droid, the droid X is great, the Atrix is a smart idea, and the Xoom is a solid device(all my personal opinion) , I think motorola is one of the best android devices out there right now and it makes sense for them to explore new territory, like they did with the Atrix. Honestly the other companies like HP need to find a way to compete in a sea of android devices especially with great manufactures like HTC and Motorola, i think its smart that they choose to differentiate themselves.(again my opinion)
There is no right way to do a business. Whether you choose to focus in do good in one thing, or create an empire that does many amazing things, every business has their way to what they do. I am not dissing apple, android, microsoft, nokia, you or anyone. But please you cannot break down these very complex companies with thousands of employees, dozens of divisions across the world into simple black and white answers.
_RTFM_ said:
Take off your aluminum hat for a moment.
I hope you understand that the "holy grail" as you put it is a bit more complicated than you think. For those of us who ummmm....read and know ****. We refer to thing like that with a really fancy phrase called "vertical integration". Also, remember Apple is a vertical integration monster, owning the hardware, OS, AND * drum-roll* distribution channels. They've built their company up like this. Motorola is still a long way from having this sort of capability. They don't even own all their hardware. The article you posted contains statements taken out of context. Complaints like those are hardly rare and mostly amount to nothing.
I can promise you google will release the source code for Honeycomb. It is no surprise that they are withholding a product that was specifically designed for and still incomplete on the xoom. If they put out the source code small companies as well as every **** and jane could peddle incredibly ****ty software with google branding with a side pile of bricks large enough to build a bridge to russia. They rushed the release because of the Ipad 2. **** works OK. Give them some time to make 3.0 play nice with pretty much everything else, and if that includes phones, it might take awhile. Be patient.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you what I mostly feel as well.
Two months ago, I was getting ready for my vacation (first one in six years) and a trip to US (Going next week). I spent several days checking forums, sites, magazines, everything that would help me choose the best tablet, and Xoom looked like the best option.
I never liked Apple and Ipad. To 'restricted' I’m my opinion. It's like a fine car that doesn't allow you to change the gear, break, accelerate or even steering. Basically the only think you can do is to insert address in the GPS and horn!
I have a Samsung galaxy S and so fat it’s the best phone I have ever had. I already had HTC, Kaiser, Blackberry, Motorola, LG, Nokia, etc and this is, by far, the best one. At first it was terrible: slow, too may Samsung bloatware, terrible battery live, but after flashing few cooked roms it transformed itself to a new device. It was Clark and now became Superman.
Back to the Tablets, when I was looking for the best tablet for me I checked other tablets as well: Samsung didn't had micro SD slot, no HDMI output and it also had almost the same weight as Xoom. Rim Tablet was too "Blackberry alike", and with an unknown OS. LG didn't have all the option as the Motorola Xoom and Ipad is… Ipad. So Xoom looked like the best option available. I decided to pre-order the Wi-Fi version to be delivered to the hotel address because I was afraid of a possible shortage. I have only one shot and I couldn`t miss it. Also this way I would be able to use it as my main computer during the trip. The Xoom is already waiting me on the hotel front desk…
….But I wish it wasn’t. In few weeks Xoom changed from the best available option to the worst option in the new Android market.
First, Motorola wasn’t able to keep up with other companies. Samsung did a major strategic movement and decided to re-design their table. Samsung created a tablet that weight just like an Ipad, and almost 30% less than the Xoom with almost the same specs as the Xoom. Samsung included a MicroSD slot, a much better screen (Super IPS) and HDMI while keeping same price as an Ipad 2. I can get the 16gb version for 100 less than the Xoom and I will still able to buy three or more 16gb MicroSD. Looking at the Samsung tablet make you feel like Motorola isn’t even trying. Bulkier, heavier an more expensive (ok 32gb is the same price, but they didn’t include a 16gb version which is cheaper if you think that you can get a 16gb MicroSD for 30 now.)
In the meantime Motorola is fighting itself: news that they will drop the production of Xoom, e-mails sent to Xda to remove .dump file, locket bootloader on the atrix and droid phones. It looks like Motorola is attacking the only thing that could save the Xoom: The community that could help support the device by making customs rom and other improvements.
In my opinion, it looks like Motorola is working hard to prevent customs Roms to the Xoom
So I keep asking myself if I should keep the Xoom, and the short answer is: No. I shouldn’t
I will be needing a tablet during my trip and I still haven`t decided if I should keep my Xoom until I can get a Samsung Tab or if I should send it back to Amazon and get a Asus Transformer. I am afraid that keeping the Xoom for too much time I won`t be able sell it in the future. I`m feeling like I am with a time bomb on my lap and if I doesn`t sell it fast enough it will blow.
And I have no doubt that it will be much easier to sell an Asus Transformer or an Acer A 500 than sell the Xoom in the near future. Hey, the transformer have a different strategy (that it can also be used as a netbook) so I may ending keeping it (but I still like Samsung Tab 10.1 best).
For now, Xoom is just better than nothing because there are no other android devices available. From April 24th (Acer A500 launch) it will face the competition of Acer. After that Asus and Samsung. The truth is that I haven`t even open the Xoom box, but I’m already with bitter taste in my mouth.
Some people talk about Xoom having the premium price. You paid more because you wanted to have the first Android device in the market ahead from everyone. OK, but would you pay this “premium price” if you knew that it would only last four weeks? That after 4 weeks you would have 4 new and better options (cheaper ones) available? Also, how much “premium price” you’ll have to pay? You already paying it in dollars, but you already paying it in the fact that the OS have bugs (like Mem space bug), that the SD card doesn’t work, that the screen is worst than every other device. How much you’ll have to pay as premium price?
Now I just need to know how can I return an unopened Xoom to Amazon and have a refund to purchase and Acer or and Asus for 200 bucks less.
It’s sad when you haven’t event received a new gadget but you already have give up on it, but it is worst when you realized that even the manufacture have already give up on the device.
isnt the galaxy tab shipping with FROYO? with Samsung's track record, I doubt it'll get honeycomb in 2011, gingerbread is a more realistic goal, maybe near christmas?
Xoom is a great tablet and I'm sorry that you've decided to return it without even using it.
This same thread has been posted too many times, and needs to be added to a forum FAQ or something. "Should I buy x if y is coming out soon?" turns into "Should I buy y if z is coming out soon?". At some point you just have to make a purchase and accept that no technology is going to be "the best" for very long
Wait, you haven't even opened the box and we get this long rant?
Use the device, let your experience guide your choices. The simple fact is that the Xoom is a powerful and beautiful slate, if you are one of us who love it out of the box.
We have root, we have overclock and regardless of the Xoom platform Honeycomb will have a strong community support even if because it is Android.
I for one am a power user and love my Xoom, it's attractive and does it's job well for my tastes.
Regardless, you need to experience the thing in your environment before you decide it isn't worth your time. Normally the hurdle would be the purchase, but you've already passed that one. Take the time to configure and play, then decide!
Dubar said:
isnt the galaxy tab shipping with FROYO? with Samsung's track record, I doubt it'll get honeycomb in 2011, gingerbread is a more realistic goal, maybe near christmas?
Xoom is a great tablet and I'm sorry that you've decided to return it without even using it.
This same thread has been posted too many times, and needs to be added to a forum FAQ or something. "Should I buy x if y is coming out soon?" turns into "Should I buy y if z is coming out soon?". At some point you just have to make a purchase and accept that no technology is going to be "the best" for very long
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Galaxy Tab 10 is not shipping with 2.2. Launching with 3.0.
LordLugard said:
Galaxy Tab 10 is not shipping with 2.2. Launching with 3.0.
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my bad, must be thinking of the older one; I feel sorry for anyone who bought that oversized phone that doesnt make calls
After using honeycomb, 2.x just doesnt make sense on a tablet
edit: I cant wait for all these new tablets to come out so people can start to differentiate between problems with the xoom and problems with honeycomb.
It's amazing how you've managed to out dumb every single other post in xoom general with this ridiculous pointless rant.
You've not even opened the box and you're complaining about the xoom.
The xoom is the most unlocked device moto has ever produced, it won't ever be locked.
You have nothing to backup your claims at all. There is nothing about the new tablets coming out that will reduce your enjoyment of the xoom. If you keep worrying about the next tablet and then the next tablet you will never have a tablet, and never be happy.
The xoom is a wonderful device with a lot going for it and nothing samsung or acer does will change that for me.
Honestly its your fault for ordering something so far ahead of time, especially a device like this that had almost no chance of selling out.
Sent from my Xoom using XDA Premium App
I'm sure that the description "From Heaven to Hell" seems a bit dramatic to most readers, but if thats the way you feel, you will probably never be happy with the Xoom even after the upgrades & updates.
The more I read the more I realize the Xoom really is only going to one of the best tablets after it's hacked, overclocked and running a high quality custom ROM. This is the way I always intended to use the Xoom, though I am learning that I really am in the minority of users. Those consumers having no intention of hacking the tablet are likely to be disappointed when comparing it to a more "finished" product.
I add my experience to this post only to help illustrate the importance of considering the intended use of the product by the individual giving his opinion of it. Critics of users who are dissatisfied with the Xoom seem to overlook that relevance and chastise them unjustly. Inevitably, every thread that includes negative opinions of the Xoom turns to **** as a polarized pissing contest ensues.
The ironic good part of this usual course of behavior is that waiting for these updates will give everyone a chance to get this crap out of their system so that by that time we can get busy talking about nothing but development, improvements and ROMs. Won't THAT be great?!
Sorry if you think that what I wrote is 'ridiculous pointless rant', but what a wrote is just what I am feeling so I am probably feeling ridiculous pointless right now.
About pre-ordering, yes it was a bad call. But I was in the US last thanksgiving and I spent two weeks trying to get a Xbox Kinect with no luck. I just didn`t want that to happened again. I also pre order a 3DS in the same way as the Xoom.
I agree that there is nothing from the new tables that would keep me from enjoying the Xoom, but that's not so simple. It's human nature to search for the best, and have the best. So I can say that except for some users that actually try several devices in order to choose the right one, most of the consumers will just choose the ones that looks the best. And between too devices, one 30% lighter and with the same specs, most of the users will go for the lighter even without testing.
I know that I am responsible for what happened but I think that what you should realize is that this will be the most typical scenario for the Xoom in the next weeks. Do you think that most of the consumers will act as XDA user and will do their homework (even then some XDA users will return theirs Xoom) or they will make their decisions like I did, in an impulse purchase?
Just look how many people stood on the line to purchase an Ipad 2 in the first day. None of these people were able to fully try Ipad before buying it. They just went for the one that looked the best.
And so this will probably happens with Android devices too. Most of people will go for the one with better specs or, in a secondary decision path, for the cheaper one. Very few people will go for the `right one for me`.
I just don't think that Motorola will hold on the Xoom if they start getting low sales numbers and high return rates. Motorola hasn't show that it will support Xoom if it fails in sale, and that's, combined to a POSSIBLE decision to prevent custom rooms (like they did in some Droid and Atrix phones) will turn out to be doom fall to Xoom users.
Psychokitty said:
I'm sure that the description "From Heaven to Hell" seems a bit dramatic to most readers, but if thats the way you feel, you will probably never be happy with the Xoom even after the upgrades & updates.
The more I read the more I realize the Xoom really is only going to one of the best tablets after it's hacked, overclocked and running a high quality custom ROM. This is the way I always intended to use the Xoom, though I am learning that I really am in the minority of users. Those consumers having no intention of hacking the tablet are likely to be disappointed when comparing it to a more "finished" product.
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I agree with the fact that Xoom will be a much better device after hacked and with custom Rom. I just don`t know if that will happen. Just look at the Atrix forum and the petition to have an unlocked bootloader. If I`m wrong please let me know but we are not sure, at this time, that there will be custom roms avaiable to the Xoom.
If I may throw my 2 cents into the can...
Yes, it looks like cheaper, and slimmer or lighter tablets are coming around the corner. Acer and Asus have it right in the price. Samsung built a thinner mouse trap, if you will, with redesigning the 8.9 and 10.1 Tabs.
Here's why the Xoom is my pick to date: Stock Android Device. Yes, all these tablets will have Honeycomb, but the OEM's are placing UI's on top. Granted, They don't appear to be too obtrusive to the Honeycomb experience (thank you Samsung for figuring that out) it will still be an issue when updates are released. I learned my lesson on the phone side and bought the Nexus S, and am so, so glad I did. Now, I don't want to get into a discussion of who the updates will be coming from, but it's obvious that a stock operating system will get the updates much, much faster than any devices with custom UI's. Samsung will have one, Asus will have one, hell HTC wants to put frigging Sense on their tablets. Yes people, you HTC tablet owners will get to stare at that stupid clock widget all day long on a bigger screen.
Look, I understand that the Xoom is way too expensive, I look at my Best Buy account and cringe, but I'm glad I pulled the trigger and bout the Xoom. It may not be a "Nexus" device per say, but for the joy of having the "pure Google experience" I'm all about the Xoom.
Dandarebr said:
I agree with the fact that Xoom will be a much better device after hacked and with custom Rom. I just don`t know if that will happen. Just look at the Atrix forum and the petition to have an unlocked bootloader. If I`m wrong please let me know but we are not sure, at this time, that there will be custom roms avaiable to the Xoom.
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the only thing stopping the development of custom roms right now is the lack of HC source code, so if the xoom never gets custom roms then no 3.x device will
chrisharmful said:
If I may throw my 2 cents into the can...
Yes, it looks like cheaper, and slimmer or lighter tablets are coming around the corner. Acer and Asus have it right in the price. Samsung built a thinner mouse trap, if you will, with redesigning the 8.9 and 10.1 Tabs.
Here's why the Xoom is my pick to date: Stock Android Device. Yes, all these tablets will have Honeycomb, but the OEM's are placing UI's on top. Granted, They don't appear to be too obtrusive to the Honeycomb experience (thank you Samsung for figuring that out) it will still be an issue when updates are released. I learned my lesson on the phone side and bought the Nexus S, and am so, so glad I did. Now, I don't want to get into a discussion of who the updates will be coming from, but it's obvious that a stock operating system will get the updates much, much faster than any devices with custom UI's. Samsung will have one, Asus will have one, hell HTC wants to put frigging Sense on their tablets. Yes people, you HTC tablet owners will get to stare at that stupid clock widget all day long on a bigger screen.
Look, I understand that the Xoom is way too expensive, I look at my Best Buy account and cringe, but I'm glad I pulled the trigger and bout the Xoom. It may not be a "Nexus" device per say, but for the joy of having the "pure Google experience" I'm all about the Xoom.
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I agree with most everything you said however, where is the microSD card support on Xoom? These new tablets are releasing with functional slots. For a flagship device for Honeycomb, I am a bit disappointed. I have had my Xoom since day 1 and being as patient as possible with this but seeing other honeycomb tablets release with microSD support is a slap in the face.
dandearebr,
notice this...
regarding development of android device you must have development device, until now the development device supported by google are : G1 (legacy, not supported anymore), Nexus One, Nexus S and Motorola Xoom... the last three have unlock bootoloader officially, not by doing a hack, G1 Dev are coming unlocked from the first day of release (except G1 T Mob)..
so now, are you sure the next coming HC tablets have official unlock bootloader? "fastboot oem unlock"
Droid, Desire, Xperia etc, they are not development device, so is Atrix and others..the only way to put custom android to that product is hacking the bootloader..
Atrix have a good bootloader lock, afaik until now, no one have succes unlock milestone bootloader..so atrix will do the same..
now, one million dollars question for u, are u sure u want to buy next tablet that we dont know about their bootloader? u love custom rom right?
Dear Dandearebr
You will never get "perfect" tablet because there is no definition of such. There are expectations that are constantly changing, also they are very personal and subjective.
Your opinion is based on reviews and vocal complainers baseless in most of cases.
Xoom is very solid tablet capable of replacing of laptop. I am sure that it will get updates and will be useful for a least a year, year and a half. Then it will be a picture frame.
BTW, it has amazingly powerful sound. Listening online radio is very enjoyable.
My opinion is based on experience using Android since 2009, starting with HTC G1, then MyTouch, Galaxy S, Samsung Galaxy Tab 7". Xoom is a different animal because of Honeycomb and it is a big step forward.
Personally I prefer 7" tab with phone capability and pocketable size.
Classic buyer's remorse. We've all been there. My suggestion is to follow through and return it. You will never likely be happy with it, regardless of how well it functions for you.
Happily typing from my unlocked, rooted, overclocked Xoom.
Please return it so that real users don't have to clean up after you and kiss your boo-boos. Sheesh, you don't need a Xoom, you need a mom!
Sent from my Xoom using XDA App
So have you actually used the device?
God, return it.
Then when the XYZ tablet you want comes out you will go cry to those forums that ZYS v2.0 tablet is coming out.
I don't get why a lot of you are getting all defensive and starts attacking a fellow member, just because he's having a much better look at the future than us early adopters. I mean, be honest guys! A lot of us here are all wishful thinking about the opposite of what the OP has said! Yeah, we all might be happy for now, as the Motorola Xoom is the only tablet available that's actually competing with iPadLock2. But a few days, weeks from now, with all these tablets coming out and (hopefully not) the chance of Xoom reaching it's end of life/production. Along with threats of locked bootloader and a chance of not getting any update support from Motorola (FACT: XOOM is NOT the developer TAB from Google), we might just end up flooding this forum with threads just like the OP's.. Let's face it, no one knows about Xoom's future.. Heck I don't even know if Jha even knows the Xooms future at this point.. But the fact that Xoom's sale wasn't really that good, due to motorola's marketing strategy and price, with the iPad 2's overwhelming, and the upcoming flooding of Honeycomb tablets with better specs and/or pricing, our Xoom tablet could very well just end up as a very expensive paperweight.. Don't get me wrong, I am very happy with my Xoom! It meets my daily needs but the fact that it hasn't yet reached it's full potential due to Honeycomb's infancy, the FC's and limited apps worries me. I mean, we all know how these companies are.. If their product doesn't sell, they stop the production and support/updates. Add to that the threat on the XDA community regarding the Dump files and chances of the Bootloader getting locked, helps me understand the OP's sentiments/rants.. Let's face it, this is not the Developer's TAB like what we all hoped it would be when we bought it. Without the support from Motorola and the XDA community, this product we're defending would actually just end up like what the OP has said on the title of this thread. So let's just get along and stop bashing the OP just because he still has a chance to change his mind. Me, I would advice the OP to just return/sell the Xoom and wait for a few the upcoming tablets before it's too late. Because if he does, he would have a much better look at the future of the Xoom. Who knows, he might even see Motorola getting crazy coming up with a 16GB version, with better pricing and unlocked bootloader! Now that would be a win/win situation for the OP and us early adopters!! My fingers are crossed..........
Perfect! There really is no more to debate on this, and just no reason to bash the OP. Nobody knows anything for sure yet. I'm in it for the long haul, but only because I intend to be an end user of custom ROMs. I WILL be disappointed with how much I spent on the Xoom if that doesn't ever happen.
I love my atrix despite its quirky flaws. I love the size, the pentile screen (even though Im told Im not suppose to like the screen), the battery life, etc.
I just feel like the software side has not lived up to the hardware. My opinion is Alien4 has been the only good OS/ROM released yet. Everything about the current software feels like a tradeoff. ex. you can run this fast beta but theres 10 issues. You can run this kernel but there these issues, etc. While I appreciate the work of devs, time doesnt seem to be on this devices side. The CM7 betas/nightlies/weekly's while good to see for enthusiasts are still not very good for daily runners for heavy users who value stability. I guess I don't subscribe to the 'every release of CM7 is perfect for me so you must be doing something wrong...'. I mean look how long developmental is taking on CM7. Does anyone see this effort being put into CM9?
I guess my point is what do you see being the high water mark of Rom releases after its all said and done? Will development continue for years? Is Atrix an officially recognized CM phone and enjoy the fruits of that?
My guess we will see a final CM7 release. a very early CM9/ICS alpha, a few more GB based roms and updates, and most devs will move on within the next 6 months. My gut tells me many serious devs have moved on.
Same here, I'm thinking of moving on to the HTC Sensation
Sent from my Atrix 4G
Like I said in other threads, I'm samsung galaxy lines all the way from this point. The development community on them is insane.
Motorola was dicks with their bootloaders and the atrix was the first american dual core, 1 gb ram phone. I think that stop the atrix more so than started it.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
I wouldn't move on to a marginally better phone such as the Sensation. A friend of mine has it and the performance difference is negligible.
I think people are looking for something that isn't there. A hunger for something more for their phones, to quantify 'what' they're looking for is vague at best.
What people DO see is a phone with powerful hardware and potential not fully realized, and with that dissatisfaction, the desire to change devices arises.
If nvidia decides to release binaries and possibly source for their tegra architecture, I think that developers who stuck around despite the locked bootloader, despite the pain-in-the-ass hardware Motorola put into this device, could do a lot more with this phone.
If nvidia renders ICS an impossibility for such a capable device, I will be joining in the nvidia boycott. They have pulled out a lot of stops to make this device difficult to develop for, and there is no reason for it.
The developers who 'moved on' moved on when the bootloader was locked. We have a small, very devoted community of developers and despite its size, it is my favorite dev community for any device at the moment. Coming from HTC devices, releases for the Atrix are reliable and consistent. I spend a lot less time concerning myself with 'will it boot?'.
That being said, until more software is released that takes advantage and optimizes this sort of hardware, there truly isn't a need to upgrade or change. We're seeing companies pump out more hardware than they can keep up with on the software end because people are stupid enough to buy into it. They keep making money, so why not keep the software development ****ty? No one can seem to tell the difference.
Concerning CM7/CM9: The effort put into CM7 will pave the way for CM9, if nvidia cooperates.
Ah I do have to disagree with you on the locked bootloader issue, it's unlockable with a hack, secondly you shouldn't blame nvidia for missing drivers but instead motorola. It is very true that sources for tegra would greatly improve developing, but actually nvidia updates its drivers quite regularly and besides all the tegra2 tablets will get ics eventually, so one can use those drivers for the atrix too. The bigger problem is that motorola probably won't release ics for the atrix, which would in turn make developing way easier ( assuming they release the sources with it). But ye the phone has great features, and there isn't really any phone with as revolutionary specs in regards to the atrix as the atrix was to the other phones when it was released (most high end are 1.2ghz dualcore with 1gb ram and similar display res/size, even 9 months after the release of the atrix you get at best 20% better specs). So yes hopefully with cm9 on the phone it will be still very useful.