The MOTO Zombie

Motorola has been the pioneer of it's industry. It holds the credit for manufacturing the first ever walkie-talkie. It has seen immense success with devices like the MOTO RAZR which sold millions world wide. After a few management mishaps Motorola seems to be back on track. Well, most of this rejuvenation is a result of the fact that Motorola is now on the Android band wagon and the leadership of Mr. Sanjay Jha.

The very fact that Motorola is in direct competition to Apple Inc. in mobile phones and tablets shows how it's back in the game. It's done a great job with devices like the Atrix and XOOM this year. The Atrix is a very impressive device which works on Froyo though has MOTO-Blur atop. In terms of hardware it is a geeks dream. With a 4-inch display, dual-core processor,  finger-print reader, two cameras and 1 GB memory, the Atrix is now an industry benchmark. The Android OS has a very unique experience on the Atrix and hence it is the best Android device out there.

Motorola XOOM is certainly a great device with a lot of potential but kinda falls short or I must honestly say lags far behind the experience on an iPad.

This is the part where I explain why I called Motorola a zombie. This analogy is to emphasize on the fact that Motorola does come up with some very functional devices but does not have the utopian ease of use in them. That's primarily because they do not make their own software, so unlike Apple. Just like a Zombie moves around but has no soul. Nokia is a similar company that ditched it's famous (read infamous) symbian platform and has tied up with Microsoft. Let's just hope it's not a zombie and makes effective use of the features of Windows Phone 7, especially hardware acceleration. Samsung certainly does a better job than Motorola in developing custom UI, or custom OS if I may. However, they suck at supply-chain management and bringing their products into stores at the right time. Nevertheless, Samsung has to be commended for undergoing complete redesign of it's Galaxy Tab 10.1 after the launch of the iPad 2. It is now the slimmest and lightest tablet on the planet. Can't wait to see how Honecomb fairs on this beauty! RIM deserves praise for sticking to it's platform and of course adapting QNX for the playbook. The best part is that the playbook is gonna 'play' Android apps. How cool is that?

Coming back to the MOTO (Motto) of this post. Motorola is assumably in the race but has to buckle up. It does a good job with operator collaborations implying wise choice of AT&T. Though has a long way to go to enable a seamless experience on it's devices, it does seem to be on right path.

XOOM vs iPad 2

Okay, I know this is a very clichéd topic but having used both the devices extensively, I couldn't resist myself from writing about them. I purchased the Motorola XOOM 3G version in the first week it was launched. Luckily, there was no restocking-fee and i could return it with a full-refund. Please read on to know why I returned.

Interface / User-Experience

The revamped UI of honeycomb (XOOM) is pretty impressive and sometimes very useful too. But the overall user-experience is incomparable to that of the iOS counterpart. The widgets are very helpful and the choice of customization of the interface is something which the iPad lacks. The lack of physical buttons might look beneficial at first but it actually reduces the real-estate of the display. Honeycomb has three touch-screen buttons 

on the display instead of physical buttons.

Hardware

The Motorola XOOM is a 4G enabled devices. However, after purchase the XOOM has to be returned to Motorola to incorporate the 4G hardware, when it becomes available, without any charge. It has a dual-core processor and 1GB memory. Also, it has 32GB on-board and is expandable. It also has a display larger than the iPad at 10 inches. The display on the iPad is definitely sharper and has better color balance. The XOOM beats the iPad 2 comprehensively in the hardware sector. The common features include two cameras, Wi-Fi, etc. I never understood why a tablet needs a back camera. Imagine how awkward it would look if you held a 10" tablet trying to take a video, even if it's HD. The XOOM has an 8MP rear camera which was absolutely unnecessary and increases the production cost. Instead, they should have increased the quality of the front-facing camera.


iPad 2 Tech Specs
XOOM Tech Specs

Apps

There has never been a debate over which of the applications platform is better. The App store has 300,000 apps whereas the Android Market has 100,000 apps. Well, that is not a criterion for a comparison here as all these are not designed for a tablet. The iOS app store has 65,000 apps specifically designed for the iPad but there are fewer than 100 apps. Still it is not just the numbers that matter, the quality and usability of apps is hands-down better on the iPad. From productivity apps to games every app looks and feels much better on the iPad. More tablet-friendly apps have to be developed for the Android Market for Android tablets to compete with the iPad.

Flash

Adobe Flash has always been a deal-breaker (probably the only deal-breaker) for iOS devices. Personally, I do not even consider it so. Almost every major website has an alternative iOS version or an app. It is only the pirated websites that have flash as a streaming standard that cannot be accessed on an iPad. Well, Apple is doing a good job by boycotting Adobe and trying to make HTML 5 as a standard. It is also indirectly partially curbing  piracy as a result. 

Now coming to performance of Flash on the XOOM. After the recent update, flash certainly works on honeycomb. Do not ask me if it crashes or if it's any buggy because you are not going to get an answer you wished for. It currently supports up to 720p video.

Conclusion

The Motorola XOOM is undoubtedly the best competition the iPad has but honestly Android has a long way to go to beat the intuitiveness and functionality of the iPad. The restrictions and closed approach of Apple Inc. is actually beneficial to an average user than the openness of the Android platform. The iOS is a more finished and polished operating system. So anybody looking for a tablet, my advice is to get an iPad 2. Trust me ;)