Hey all you keyboard Casanova's,
Valentine's is almost here and there is an ongoing forum concerning the way technology has affected romance which, if you would like to participate, can be found here.
Meanwhile, I have been testing the newest Motorola tablet, the Xyboard, for the last week or so (Courtesy of Ashley at Jeff Dezen PR), using both WiFi and Verizon's rockin 4G LTE network.
As per my usual, I won't list the specs. You can get them directly from the site.
My first impression was that the Xyboard was nothing more than a slightly re-designed Xoom, and overall I think that's true. And what is also true is that it has been re-designed for the better.
The Xyboard is slimmer than the Xoom, and it weighs less. It's cool industrial design concepts such as the metallic plate in the back with the exposed screws, the water -repellant nano coating, and it's government grade encryption software for maximum security, make it seem more like the Droid Razr's big brother than a cousin to the Xoom.
It's still just a bit on the heavy side however, which makes the fact that it can be purchased in a smaller version (8.2 in), very cool because some people (my two nieces for example), found the 10 inch version to be cumbersome when typing on the keyboard, where-as I found it to be just right for my larger hands.
Its 1.2 GHz dual core technology and 4G LTE compatibility guarantee that it's super fast. The widescreen HD display is bright and lush with color, so video and game play graphics are awesome. And as is typical with Motorola speakers, the sound quality is fine.
As far as the OS is concerned, I understand that there will always be die-hard iOS fans out there, who will stick by, and continue to use their Apple products, but personally, I really like the Android platform and although there are not 500,000 apps for it (yet! and how many can we possibly use anyway?), there are certainly enough to allow for any type of usage, from office productivity to the playing of your favorite games. And the multiple desktops, available with a simple swipe, are a very convenient way to organize all of those apps!
Unlike the Xoom, the Xyboard's software package is not heavily influence by Google so Verizon and Moto, (Motorola's software developers), saw fit to preload a number of very cool apps, the best of which, in my opinion are Amazon Kindle, Madden NFL 12, My Verizon Mobile Quick Office, Skitch, Slingbox and one that I really really like call Dijit which allowed me to use the tablet as a universal remote to run all of my video hardware! Awesome!
Needless to say, the Xyboard which comes with the Honeycomb version of Android out of the box, is upgradeable to "ice cream sandwich", so staying current is not an issue.
I was also given the very classy looking Motorola stylus to try out and found that it made the tablet easier to use, once I got used to it. And of course, it enabled me to use the device like a true notepad, jotting down thoughts and impressions in my own handwriting, using apps like Sketcher and Antipaper note.
One of the things that I did find annoying about this tablet is the way that the power and volumn buttons lie flush under the top right edge. That may look good as a design element but I most often found myself fumbling when trying to either turn the device on or make it louder. Perhaps it is something that can be gotten used to.
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