Not by much. It has more RAM, and it has a slighter larger screen with a higher AR. That's about it, really, for specs that matter.
The lower amount of RAM in the iPad 2 doesn't seem to hurt it, from the various hands-ons online. Still handles things extremely well, and still a lot faster than the iPad 1.
Screen... personally, as I said earlier, I'd prefer the AR of the Xoom for videos. But, as someone else mentioned, it depends on your usage. The actual size difference itself isn't much. It's not like the difference between a Galaxy Tab & an iPad...
CPU... Both use a 1GHz dual-core ARM Cortex-A9, within a Tegra 2 SoC for the Xoom, and an Apple A5 SoC for the iPad 2 [The Cortex-A9 isn't 100% confirmed for the iPad 2, but it's what all the "well informed sources" said on the various tech blogs, and it's the logical step up from the Cortex-A8 used in Apple's previous "A4" SoC].
GPU... The iPad 2's alleged GPU, the PowerVR SGX543, is apparently more powerful than the GeForce ULP in the Xoom's Tegra 2.
Plus, something Apple already knows, is that the majority of consumers aren't that bothered by detailed specs. So long as it has the usability, the look & feel, etc. etc., most won't care which has more or less RAM etc.
Carphone Warehouse has the exclusivity on the Motorola Xoom 3G+WiFi selling for £599.
PC World/Dixons/Currys only have the WiFi version which they're selling for £499.
I like the specs on Motorola Xoom over the iPad2 but i think Motorola are pricing themselves too high. Who'll pay those prices when they can get an iPad2 for less than £599?
That is the problem faced by Motorola, and most likely the other Android OEMs who are trying to compete directly with their own quality (i.e. not cheap shitty) tablets. Happened last year with the Galaxy Tab, and it'll happen this year.
They're all going to end up similarly priced... and even if the specs are that bit better, the majority of tablet consumers will probably just opt for the iPad, because it's an iPad. It has the name, the brand, the familiarity. Tablet = iPad.
Apple controls the hardware, software, app market, and retail chain. Moto et al can only make money on the hardware, and it doesn't have its own chain of shops to sell it from.
Apple also knows that every unit it makes it will sell. It has the economies of scale, & the purchasing power, to buy up everything it needs cheaper than anyone else can...
HP may do better than the Android OEMs. It's big, and it will also control the hardware, the software, and the app market for its TouchPad... if we're lucky, that may hopefully be more competitive on price than the Xoom, Galaxy Tab, etc.
I don't quite remember them when they first came out, but I do remember when the cheap copies dropped in price to £20, which was still expensive but affordable as a kind of medium sized birthday present. At that point literally every household had one, although not many had an actual Sony.
Here's a fun and useful website which does inflation calculations:
Maplins were selling a ropey android tablet for £120 a couple of weeks ago, I wouldn't be surprised if usable and affordable ones reach the market within 18 months or so.
My mates who are into IT also prefer Android, makes sense to me.. horses for courses and all that.
What I've found most interesting about having a tablet device just knocking around, is not what it can or can't do, more where and how it gets used. I'm genuinely surprised at the amount of different situations it slots itself into... it's not so much the amount of ram or processor speed (although obviously there has to be 'enough') more the portability and ease of use.
I guess I'm saying that it's turned out to be very different to a laptop or netbook... more like an over sized iPhone.
Fair enough with me being android...it just seemed fro your post that because I wouldnt buy a refurb I must be android.
:eek: - about inflation, I wouldnt have guessed it was that big a difference.
The horses for courses statement I agree with 100%. If people just said "I prefer an iphone, its cool". I can live with that. Their money their choice. What used to annoy me, now just makes me smile, is when they claim that Apple products are better, yet can not not specifiy how (apart from using words from an advert). There was a big fuss when the iphone 4 did 'multitasking', when it fact it doesnt. Facetime is a new thing by apple, when it wasnt. Spec wise apple phones tend to be lower than others out in the market.
Millions of people love apple products, fair enough. They are easy to use, and work very well. As long as you dont mind being in a straight jacket when using it. Millions of apple users feel the same, hence why they jailbreak their device...to free themselves from the apple straight jacket.
An Apple v Android battle is great news for everyone...better products for the user and more choice. Competition also moves innovation/research along faster than a monopolistic market place.
"Screen... personally, as I said earlier, I'd prefer the AR of the Xoom for videos. But, as someone else mentioned, it depends on your usage. The actual size difference itself isn't much. It's not like the difference between a Galaxy Tab & an iPad...
The two standard movie aspect ratios will not fill any screen on the market. Only widescreen tv shows that are typically 16:9 will obviously fill a 16:9 screen. Of course nether tablet is 16:9.
Widescreen tablets make no sense once you bring up the keyboard in landscape. On the iPad you still have plenty of room to see what your typing. On a 16:9 tablet the space left is painfull to work in. 4:3 aspect makes a lot of sense for a tablet. Apple did it right.
That is the problem faced by Motorola, and most likely the other Android OEMs who are trying to compete directly with their own quality (i.e. not cheap shitty) tablets. Happened last year with the Galaxy Tab, and it'll happen this year.
They're all going to end up similarly priced... and even if the specs are that bit better, the majority of tablet consumers will probably just opt for the iPad, because it's an iPad. It has the name, the brand, the familiarity. Tablet = iPad.
Apple controls the hardware, software, app market, and retail chain. Moto et al can only make money on the hardware, and it doesn't have its own chain of shops to sell it from.
Apple also knows that every unit it makes it will sell. It has the economies of scale, & the purchasing power, to buy up everything it needs cheaper than anyone else can...
HP may do better than the Android OEMs. It's big, and it will also control the hardware, the software, and the app market for its TouchPad... if we're lucky, that may hopefully be more competitive on price than the Xoom, Galaxy Tab, etc.
^^ This. The mainstream user, the less techy people will just end up with an iPad because it's cheaper, or worse still, they'll buy one of those low-end Android tabs like the one Next did last year that everyone slated. If they go with an iPad, that's continuing Apple's dominant market share and if they go with a low-end cheapo Android tab, they'll get a less than satisfactory experience. The premium Android tabs really must come down in price, even if they're a loss-leader otherwise they just won't grab enough market share to be a real competitor to the iPad.
2. In what ways? Seems rather stone age in comparison - I mean 13mm thick - 5mm thicker than the iPad? More like a slab than a tablet…
Duh, as if the size is related to anything.
In technical ways - google it, there have been teardowns made, all the components in the xoom are more expensive than in the ipad with one exception which escapes for for the moment.
Of course if argument is that most people who don't know anything about computers are going to by the cheapest model you might be right, but you can get a lot cheaper android tablets, but they are made of cheap components etc.
The Xoom has more RAM (1GB vs. 512MB) and a slightly larger screen than the iPad 2, they both have the same CPU (dual-core ARM Cortex-A9), and the iPad 2 has a better GPU (PowerVR SGX543MP2 vs. GeForce ULP)... I'm not sure that that plus Flash & a couple of ports is really enough to classify the Xoom as being "more technically advanced than the iPad 2 in virtually every way", which is what CoolboyA claimed (point "2" jokingly replied to by Eejit).
And, although CowboyA's claim was about the Xoom being more "technically advanced", not its components being more expensive, do you have you anything that actually says that all but one of the Xoom's components are more expensive than those of the iPad 2?
Manufacturers can't compete with the price of the iPad because Apple are the biggest buyers of flash memory so they can buy it at the cheapest price. One of the advantages of Android phones is price, a lot of Android users may buy an iPhone instead if they was willing to pay the extra.
At the end of the day, hardware specs are irrelevant. It is how fast it actually feels. A well designed OS that works well with the hardware doesn't need overkill specs just to be fast.
Another big advantage of the iPad is the amount of apps on the App Store. There are thousands specially designed for the iPad.
Without the apps and the cheaper price Android tablets can't compete unless you like Android or get all political about the openness of your OS.
Manufacturers can't compete with the price of the iPad because Apple are the biggest buyers of flash memory so they can buy it at the cheapest price. One of the advantages of Android phones is price, a lot of Android users may buy an iPhone instead if they was willing to pay the extra.
At the end of the day, hardware specs are irrelevant. It is how fast it actually feels. A well designed OS that works well with the hardware doesn't need overkill specs just to be fast.
Another big advantage of the iPad is the amount of apps on the App Store. There are thousands specially designed for the iPad.
Without the apps and the cheaper price Android tablets can't compete unless you like Android or get all political about the openness of your OS.
This is a great point. There are 65,000+ iPad specific apps, PLUS Apple have set up the hardware so it will scale up iPhone apps and run them really well. With Android, developers have to have included the correct specific resolution support or the apps either don't run at all, don't run properly or don't fill the screen. The fact that the Samsung Galaxy Tab and the Motorola Xoom have 2 different screen resolutions also doesn't help matters as it's twice as much effort for developers (or at least graphics people) to support. A larger number of Android tablet makers seem to be going with 1024x600, which could leave the Motorola Xoom out in the cold.
Its still similar for supporting IOS and its 3 screen resolutions.
Easy scaling is very useful but not the be and end all.
Android means choice. With massive sales and no scary Apple tax it will enjoy plenty of support.
Its still similar for supporting IOS and its 3 screen resolutions.
Easy scaling is very useful but not the be and end all.
Android means choice. With massive sales and no scary Apple tax it will enjoy plenty of support.
No you're supporting 3 screen resolutions for the whole of iOS including both versions of iPhone and iPod touch - 320x480, 640x960 and 1024x768. In order to support Android fully developers have to cover seven different resolutions:
240x320, 240x400, 320x480, 480x 800, 480x854,1024x600 and 1280x800 (and that's before you go into the whole screen rotation thing). For instance, there's a new Samsung Galaxy Pro coming out which has a fixed keyboard like a BlackBerry, that's using 320x240 resolution, which is another variation.
This issue of lots of resolutions instead of a couple is what made Windows Mobile such a pain to develop for. It's all well and good to say graphics can be scaled, and for plain apps that's fine, but if you get into detailed games or apps with a lot of writing, scaling up makes the apps look bad and the text hard to read.
No you're supporting 3 screen resolutions for the whole of iOS including both versions of iPhone and iPod touch - 320x480, 640x960 and 1024x768. In order to support Android fully developers have to cover seven different resolutions:
240x320, 240x400, 320x480, 480x 800, 480x854,1024x600 and 1280x800 (and that's before you go into the whole screen rotation thing). For instance, there's a new Samsung Galaxy Pro coming out which has a fixed keyboard like a BlackBerry, that's using 320x240 resolution, which is another variation.
This issue of lots of resolutions instead of a couple is what made Windows Mobile such a pain to develop for. It's all well and good to say graphics can be scaled, and for plain apps that's fine, but if you get into detailed games or apps with a lot of writing, scaling up makes the apps look bad and the text hard to read.
Developers clearly dont have to support all those devices, as you are able to set a resolution requirement for your application as part of the package specification. So I dont think its quite the issue you make out. The desire HD had the same issue when it was released, it turned out a lot of developers hadnt configured there applications to resize properly. Honestly I can do without another toss the paper in the basket app
Developers clearly dont have to support all those devices, as you are able to set a resolution requirement for your application as part of the package specification. So I dont think its quite the issue you make out. The desire HD had the same issue when it was released, it turned out a lot of developers hadnt configured there applications to resize properly. Honestly I can do without another toss the paper in the basket app
They don't have to, but there are devices that sell well across all of those screen resolutions.
My point is simply that Motorola would have made their own life easier if they'd gone with the same resolution as the other current Android tablets. Right now, they're out on their own, so developers have to make extra effort to support them and that dissuades them from doing so if they're not sure they're going to get a decent return from that extra effort.
They don't have to, but there are devices that sell well across all of those screen resolutions.
My point is simply that Motorola would have made their own life easier if they'd gone with the same resolution as the other current Android tablets. Right now, they're out on their own, so developers have to make extra effort to support them and that dissuades them from doing so if they're not sure they're going to get a decent return from that extra effort.
I dont believe there is any additional effort to code for Xoom over any other high resolution tablet. The density and size of the screen are already catered for as part of the SDK. What extra effort are you referring to?
I dont believe there is any additional effort to code for Xoom over any other high resolution tablet. The density and size of the screen are already catered for as part of the SDK. What extra effort are you referring to?
Its more effort to deal with the fragmentation of screen sizes and different hardware configurations in Android. iOS is just easier in that respect. If you write a graphics app or game for an android tablet you would have to account for potentially different 3d graphic capabilites etc.. with an iPAD app you know what the hardware is so you can optimise the app accordingly.
Its more effort to deal with the fragmentation of screen sizes and different hardware configurations in Android. iOS is just easier in that respect. If you write a graphics app or game for an android tablet you would have to account for potentially different 3d graphic capabilites etc.. with an iPAD app you know what the hardware is so you can optimise the app accordingly.
So your saying there arent different hardware configurations in IOS, they are all supported
You dont have to account for different hardware, you have to set a minimum specification for your application. The fragmentation you allude to relates to developers not coding their applications correctly. Apps scale properly when they are coded correctly.
Its still similar for supporting IOS and its 3 screen resolutions.
Easy scaling is very useful but not the be and end all.
Android means choice. With massive sales and no scary Apple tax it will enjoy plenty of support.
What "tax" would that be? It's obvious that competitors can't compete with Apple on price when it comes to the iPad.
And there is obviously very little choice when it comes to apps, tablets and Android.
I dont believe there is any additional effort to code for Xoom over any other high resolution tablet. The density and size of the screen are already catered for as part of the SDK. What extra effort are you referring to?
Creating different sizes and orientations of graphics based on the screen sizes. As someone said below. It's more of an issue for games than apps, but potentially requires artists to have to resize stuff multiple times.
Its still similar for supporting IOS and its 3 screen resolutions.
Easy scaling is very useful but not the be and end all.
Android means choice. With massive sales and no scary Apple tax it will enjoy plenty of support.
What tax? When it comes to iPhone and Macs, granted you do pay a premium. The iPad however is extremely competitive. If you are referring to developers giving up 30% then I think that is also a none issue. Even though Apple take 30% developers make a lot more from Apple than they do on the Android market.
Choice also confuses things. I'd prefer to have one really well designed product than trying to pick out a good tablet in a sea of okay ones.
Creating different sizes and orientations of graphics based on the screen sizes. As someone said below. It's more of an issue for games than apps, but potentially requires artists to have to resize stuff multiple times.
Its the same image at different resolutions. Are you seriously saying that is difficult to do?
Comments
Why would Samsung need a Galaxy S II or Galaxy Tab 10.1?
Why would HTC need a Desire HD?
Oh...
Tech gets better. CPUs & GPUs get faster. etc. If Moto doesn't release a Xoom 2 next year, it will get left behind.
Not by much. It has more RAM, and it has a slighter larger screen with a higher AR. That's about it, really, for specs that matter.
The lower amount of RAM in the iPad 2 doesn't seem to hurt it, from the various hands-ons online. Still handles things extremely well, and still a lot faster than the iPad 1.
Screen... personally, as I said earlier, I'd prefer the AR of the Xoom for videos. But, as someone else mentioned, it depends on your usage. The actual size difference itself isn't much. It's not like the difference between a Galaxy Tab & an iPad...
CPU... Both use a 1GHz dual-core ARM Cortex-A9, within a Tegra 2 SoC for the Xoom, and an Apple A5 SoC for the iPad 2 [The Cortex-A9 isn't 100% confirmed for the iPad 2, but it's what all the "well informed sources" said on the various tech blogs, and it's the logical step up from the Cortex-A8 used in Apple's previous "A4" SoC].
GPU... The iPad 2's alleged GPU, the PowerVR SGX543, is apparently more powerful than the GeForce ULP in the Xoom's Tegra 2.
Plus, something Apple already knows, is that the majority of consumers aren't that bothered by detailed specs. So long as it has the usability, the look & feel, etc. etc., most won't care which has more or less RAM etc.
PC World/Dixons/Currys only have the WiFi version which they're selling for £499.
I like the specs on Motorola Xoom over the iPad2 but i think Motorola are pricing themselves too high. Who'll pay those prices when they can get an iPad2 for less than £599?
They're all going to end up similarly priced... and even if the specs are that bit better, the majority of tablet consumers will probably just opt for the iPad, because it's an iPad. It has the name, the brand, the familiarity. Tablet = iPad.
Apple controls the hardware, software, app market, and retail chain. Moto et al can only make money on the hardware, and it doesn't have its own chain of shops to sell it from.
Apple also knows that every unit it makes it will sell. It has the economies of scale, & the purchasing power, to buy up everything it needs cheaper than anyone else can...
HP may do better than the Android OEMs. It's big, and it will also control the hardware, the software, and the app market for its TouchPad... if we're lucky, that may hopefully be more competitive on price than the Xoom, Galaxy Tab, etc.
Fair enough with me being android...it just seemed fro your post that because I wouldnt buy a refurb I must be android.
:eek: - about inflation, I wouldnt have guessed it was that big a difference.
The horses for courses statement I agree with 100%. If people just said "I prefer an iphone, its cool". I can live with that. Their money their choice. What used to annoy me, now just makes me smile, is when they claim that Apple products are better, yet can not not specifiy how (apart from using words from an advert). There was a big fuss when the iphone 4 did 'multitasking', when it fact it doesnt. Facetime is a new thing by apple, when it wasnt. Spec wise apple phones tend to be lower than others out in the market.
Millions of people love apple products, fair enough. They are easy to use, and work very well. As long as you dont mind being in a straight jacket when using it. Millions of apple users feel the same, hence why they jailbreak their device...to free themselves from the apple straight jacket.
An Apple v Android battle is great news for everyone...better products for the user and more choice. Competition also moves innovation/research along faster than a monopolistic market place.
The two standard movie aspect ratios will not fill any screen on the market. Only widescreen tv shows that are typically 16:9 will obviously fill a 16:9 screen. Of course nether tablet is 16:9.
Widescreen tablets make no sense once you bring up the keyboard in landscape. On the iPad you still have plenty of room to see what your typing. On a 16:9 tablet the space left is painfull to work in. 4:3 aspect makes a lot of sense for a tablet. Apple did it right.
]
Release date? Cheaper price than the ones already listed?
WiFi only: PCWorld/Currys exclusive - £499.99. 1st week of April TBC.
WiFi + 3G: CarphoneWarehouse exclusive - £599.99. Early April.
^^ This. The mainstream user, the less techy people will just end up with an iPad because it's cheaper, or worse still, they'll buy one of those low-end Android tabs like the one Next did last year that everyone slated. If they go with an iPad, that's continuing Apple's dominant market share and if they go with a low-end cheapo Android tab, they'll get a less than satisfactory experience. The premium Android tabs really must come down in price, even if they're a loss-leader otherwise they just won't grab enough market share to be a real competitor to the iPad.
Duh, as if the size is related to anything.
In technical ways - google it, there have been teardowns made, all the components in the xoom are more expensive than in the ipad with one exception which escapes for for the moment.
Of course if argument is that most people who don't know anything about computers are going to by the cheapest model you might be right, but you can get a lot cheaper android tablets, but they are made of cheap components etc.
Teardowns:
iPad 2
Xoom
And, although CowboyA's claim was about the Xoom being more "technically advanced", not its components being more expensive, do you have you anything that actually says that all but one of the Xoom's components are more expensive than those of the iPad 2?
At the end of the day, hardware specs are irrelevant. It is how fast it actually feels. A well designed OS that works well with the hardware doesn't need overkill specs just to be fast.
Another big advantage of the iPad is the amount of apps on the App Store. There are thousands specially designed for the iPad.
Without the apps and the cheaper price Android tablets can't compete unless you like Android or get all political about the openness of your OS.
This is a great point. There are 65,000+ iPad specific apps, PLUS Apple have set up the hardware so it will scale up iPhone apps and run them really well. With Android, developers have to have included the correct specific resolution support or the apps either don't run at all, don't run properly or don't fill the screen. The fact that the Samsung Galaxy Tab and the Motorola Xoom have 2 different screen resolutions also doesn't help matters as it's twice as much effort for developers (or at least graphics people) to support. A larger number of Android tablet makers seem to be going with 1024x600, which could leave the Motorola Xoom out in the cold.
Easy scaling is very useful but not the be and end all.
Android means choice. With massive sales and no scary Apple tax it will enjoy plenty of support.
No you're supporting 3 screen resolutions for the whole of iOS including both versions of iPhone and iPod touch - 320x480, 640x960 and 1024x768. In order to support Android fully developers have to cover seven different resolutions:
240x320, 240x400, 320x480, 480x 800, 480x854,1024x600 and 1280x800 (and that's before you go into the whole screen rotation thing). For instance, there's a new Samsung Galaxy Pro coming out which has a fixed keyboard like a BlackBerry, that's using 320x240 resolution, which is another variation.
This issue of lots of resolutions instead of a couple is what made Windows Mobile such a pain to develop for. It's all well and good to say graphics can be scaled, and for plain apps that's fine, but if you get into detailed games or apps with a lot of writing, scaling up makes the apps look bad and the text hard to read.
Things evolve and for MS Windows choice has more than worked.
Developers clearly dont have to support all those devices, as you are able to set a resolution requirement for your application as part of the package specification. So I dont think its quite the issue you make out. The desire HD had the same issue when it was released, it turned out a lot of developers hadnt configured there applications to resize properly. Honestly I can do without another toss the paper in the basket app
They don't have to, but there are devices that sell well across all of those screen resolutions.
My point is simply that Motorola would have made their own life easier if they'd gone with the same resolution as the other current Android tablets. Right now, they're out on their own, so developers have to make extra effort to support them and that dissuades them from doing so if they're not sure they're going to get a decent return from that extra effort.
I dont believe there is any additional effort to code for Xoom over any other high resolution tablet. The density and size of the screen are already catered for as part of the SDK. What extra effort are you referring to?
Its more effort to deal with the fragmentation of screen sizes and different hardware configurations in Android. iOS is just easier in that respect. If you write a graphics app or game for an android tablet you would have to account for potentially different 3d graphic capabilites etc.. with an iPAD app you know what the hardware is so you can optimise the app accordingly.
So your saying there arent different hardware configurations in IOS, they are all supported
You dont have to account for different hardware, you have to set a minimum specification for your application. The fragmentation you allude to relates to developers not coding their applications correctly. Apps scale properly when they are coded correctly.
What "tax" would that be? It's obvious that competitors can't compete with Apple on price when it comes to the iPad.
And there is obviously very little choice when it comes to apps, tablets and Android.
Creating different sizes and orientations of graphics based on the screen sizes. As someone said below. It's more of an issue for games than apps, but potentially requires artists to have to resize stuff multiple times.
Choice also confuses things. I'd prefer to have one really well designed product than trying to pick out a good tablet in a sea of okay ones.
Its the same image at different resolutions. Are you seriously saying that is difficult to do?
Spec really doesn't mean much, it all comes down to User Experience and Honeycomb appears to be half-baked at best.
Reviews of the Xoom appear to be pretty poor while the iPad 2 is doing oh so well.