Motorola Xoom Tablet Announced for Verizon [CES 2011]

On January 5th at CES 2011, Verizon Wireless and Motorola unveiled Xoom, the first Android Honeycomb tablet.

Xoom boasts more than just an operating system that was built by Google’s Android team specifically for tablets. The device packs a dual core processor with each core running at 1 GHz, delivering up to two GHz of processing power, and 10.1-inch widescreen HD display. Motorola XOOM gives Verizon Wireless customers a new type of mobile computing experience on an incredibly thin device that is LTE upgradeable.

It allows consumers to experience HD content right on the device, supports 1080p HD video and HDMI output to display content on larger HD screens, and plays video and other rich web content seamlessly with Flash 10.1. The Xoom features a front-facing 2-megapixel camera for video chats over Wi-Fi or 3G/4G LTE, as well as a rear-facing 5-megapixel camera that captures video in 720p HD.

Xoom delivers console-like gaming performance on its 1280×800 display, and features a built-in gyroscope, barometer, e-compass, accelerometer and adaptive lighting for new types of applications. The device is super-thin compared to its width, which in itself makes it a relatively large tablet–perfect for viewing multimedia content. It also features Google Maps 5.0 with 3D interaction and delivers access to over 3 million Google eBooks and thousands of apps via Google’s Android Market.

The most intriguing feature of the device is its 4G capability, meaning that ultra-fast tablet computing on Verizon’s lighting-fast LTE network is just a few months away. Verizon Wireless’ official press release stated, “Starting in Q2 2011 the Motorola XOOM will be a 4G LTE/Wi-Fi- enabled device.”

Almost equally innovative is Xoom’s OS, Honeycomb, which was designed almost exclusively for larger Android tablets (the Xoom fits this category perfectly with hits 10.1″ screen). Will you be dropping your iPad to pick up this Android speed-demon when it arrives? If Motorola’s goal was to make this a serious question, it’s succeeded.

Looking for more of the latest news from the Consumer Electronics Show 2011? You’ll want to check out Lenovo PC Mods and HTC Inspire Smartphone.

Via: Motorola