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Motorola unveils tablet computer, the Xoom. US telecom maker Motorola Mobility has jumped into the bustling tablet computer market with a touchscreen device powered by "Honeycomb," the latest version of Google's Android software. Sanjay Jha, the chief executive of Motorola Mobility, also presented three new Android-powered touchscreen smartphones to reporters on the eve of the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Motorola Mobility's hotly awaited tablet computer, the "Xoom," will be available in the first quarter of the year, Jha said.

With a 10.1-inch (25.6-centimeter) screen, the Xoom is about the same size as Apple's iPad, which hit stores in April and has other leading technology companies around the world scrambling to catch up. More than 100 firms are expected to unveil tablet computers at CES, which officially opens on Thursday and features more than 2,600 exhibitors of the latest gadgets. "It's been designed ground up for the tablet, the user interface, the whole interaction," Jha said.

"It has multi-tasking capability. " XOOM - Android Smart Tablet - Experience - Motorola Mobility, Inc. United States. Motorola Xoom tablet PC - new Android internet tablet at PC World. Testing the Goods: Motorola Xoom, the First Real Android Tablet. We've been anxiously awaiting the Motorola Xoom's arrival ever since we groped it at CES.

The first dual-core tablet! The first tablet to use Android's tablet-only Honeycomb OS! The first Android tablet that doesn't immediately make us think "look at that giant phone"! And, yeah, the first legitimate iPad competitor, period. What we found was a great tablet--not a "promising" product, but a tablet that is seriously fast, fun to use, well-designed, and very pretty (when was the last time you heard "pretty" applied to an Android device?). What's New The 10-inch Xoom is both the first tablet to hit stores that runs the Honeycomb version of Android, which Google has designed specifically for larger screens, and the first boasting a dual-core processor (Nvidia's Tegra 2) to handle heaps of tasks at once.

What's Good Notifications and Settings: Honeycomb has taken the notifications bar from the tippity top of the screen and moved it down to the lower righthand corner. What's Bad The Price. Xoom Sues Motorola Over New Tablet Computer With Same Name. Xoom Corp., operator of a money- transfer website, sued Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. for trademark infringement for naming its new tablet computer that went on sale today the Xoom.

Xoom Corp., based in San Francisco, said it has been offering its online service since 2003 and registered the trademark for the name in 2004, according to a complaint filed yesterday in federal court in San Francisco. “To confuse and mislead consumers, Motorola without authorization deliberately and unlawfully appropriated Xoom’s trade name and trademark rights,” the closely held company said in the complaint. The Xoom tablet went on sale today in the U.S. through Verizon Communications Inc.’s wireless unit to compete with Apple Inc.’s iPad and rival devices that, like the Xoom, run on Google Inc.’s Android software. Xoom.com allows users to transmit money through the website to more than 30 countries.

Motorola Mobility’s trademark application was rejected in December by the U.S. Public Application. Motorola Xoom Tablet`s $800 Cost: 10 Reasons It`s Overpriced - Mobile and Wireless. Some leaked promotional images from Best Buy of the upcoming and highly anticipated Motorola Xoom tablet indicate that the device will go on sale for $800 when it hits store shelves on Feb. 24. For its part, Motorola hasn't confirmed the rumor, but considering that the chances of the Xoom being quite expensive are high, most believe the $800 price tag is accurate. If it is, Motorola might have some trouble on its hands. The technology company is undoubtedly popular right now, thanks to its many outstanding smartphones, like the Droid X, but at $800, the Xoom could price itself out of the market. The device is an unknown quantity right now, and consumers might not know for sure if it's worth such a price.

The better move for Motorola would be to offer a cheaper Xoom to spur demand for its product. Read on to find out why: 1. 2. 3. 4. Don Reisinger is a freelance technology columnist. Is Motorola gearing up to abandon Android for its own OS? It may sound crazy, but there’s reason to believe that Motorola isn’t content to rely entirely on Android for its mobile future. Motorola Mobility has been gathering developers from Apple and Adobe has been gathering developers from Apple and Adobe in an effort to build its own web-based mobile OS, a source tells InformationWeeek. (Motorola recently split itself into two separate companies; Motorola Mobility is the company handling consumer devices.) If true, and it seems very likely that it is, Motorola could be preparing for a future where it gives up on Android entirely. Alternatively, (and this is my own speculation) the new OS could serve as companion software to Android that would help Motorola differentiate its smartphones and tablets from the seemingly endless supply of Android competitors.

Motorola didn’t deny the existence of the OS project when asked by InformationWeek. Then again, we may be jumping the gun here. Motorola Mobility Building Web-Based OS -- InformationWeek. Hedging its bet on Android, Motorola is looking for a way to have more control over its destiny. (click image for largerview) Slideshow:Motorola Xoom Teardown: Inside The New Android Tablet Motorola Mobility has hired a number of experienced mobile and Web engineers from Apple and Adobe and is developing a Web-based mobile operating system as a possible alternative to Google's Android software, according to a source familiar with the matter. Asked to comment, Motorola did not deny the existence of the project but re-affirmed its interest in Android.

Jonathan Goldberg, an analyst with Deutsche Bank in San Francisco, said that he too had heard Motorola was at work on its own operating system. Goldberg said it's unclear how far along Motorola's operating system effort is and how serious the company is in seeking an Android alternative. Over the past nine months, Motorola has been hiring engineering talent that would well-suited to create a new mobile operating system.

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