While eReaders and 3D televisions were all the rage last year (look at the Kindle – Amazon’s BEST selling device), tablets were THE rage at CES 2011. Everybody wants into this market space and let’s face it, it’s because everyone really wants to own one of these. The question is – “Will consumers be willing to fork out the top dollars currently required to purchase one?” given that the costs of these portable devices, even at the low-end, is the same price as a pretty good desktop machine.
That said, you could not turn the corner without bumping into one. So, what is going to differentiate one from the other and when will consumers start paying for them? At the end of the day, I am a firm believer that consumers are going to want what Apple has refused to fully deliver in their iPad product: A FULL WEB EXPERIENCE and that is exactly what the Motorola Xoom promises to offer.
TECH SPECS INCLUDE:
- Not only is its OS Android, it is Honeycomb 3.0 – the only Android OS made specifically for tablets
- a USB port (HINT: tethering)
- Front-facing 2mp and rear facing 5mp (with LED flash) cameras
- Widgets (which iPad still doesn’t have)
- 1280 x 800 px full HD display
- Data encryption
- 1GB onboard RAM
- 10.1″ display
- Unlocked bootloader (making customization a snap)
In the interest of full disclosure, I myself do own an iPad (which will be put on ebay here shortly as I have just acquired the Xoom). I will also say that the ONLY reason I own this is due to my winning it in a drawing held by NPR as I was entered into the contest during my annual pledge drive donation. Not in my lifetime, would I spend $629 for a web-enabled device that could not actuall deliver a full web experience (it does not, nor will it ever in its forseeable future, support Flash)! While I have owned it, it has been a good amount of fun: kudos to the app community where I actually spent a good amount of $ actually buying cool games (hello Dragon’s Lair) and other neat tools.
Look, I don’t care what everyone says about Flash being on the way out because it remains the top platform for viewing the top medium that everyone wants to see on mobile devices: VIDEO. I’ve seen some estimates as high as 85% of all websites use flash. And while Netflix has adapted to a non-Flash stance, Hulu,Vudu, Disney, Amazon Prime and other major video download sites have not. Many web developers and UI designers find the technology to be weighty and somewhat obnoxious, but I will say that Flash when used properly, can also lead itself to some fantastic website experiences (Apple gets kudos on their execution of Flash as a selling tool on their website via their product demos).
It’s not a perfect device (Flash not yet out but coming Sprint 2011) and has its issues as its first gen device (why the heck can’t I create folders?), but with this year’s showing at CES, Motorola has once again managed to gain what they had lost – the highest COOL factor.
gadgetwarriorprincess 