The fight to produce the best tablet is still on! Different companies are analyzing other companies inventions and improving their own. You guys this is going to be a war between some of the biggest companies out there…Samsung, sony, apple, motorola, LG, maybe even Nokia will make one…lol. Ladies and Gents hold on to your pocket books and wallets because you are about to be dazzled by some of the best technology! CNN Journalist Mark Millian reports the following:

Electronics manufacturers have all the pieces they need to create a great competitor to the iPad.

The challenge may be figuring out which technology gives them the greatest strategic advantage.

Whether it’s using the fastest 4G cellular chips, myriad screen size options, 3-D viewing, 3-D image capture or those retro stylus pens, tablet makers are hoping to mine a niche that Apple is ignoring.

When it comes to tablets, Apple doesn’t have the vast technological lead it had in touchscreen smartphones when it introduced the iPhone in 2007.

When rival phone makers finally caught up years later, they were able to outflank Apple somewhat by offering similar products on cellular networks, such as Verizon, where Apple was not.

But the iPad 2, which went on sale two weeks ago, is available on the two largest carriers. Apple also has a significant lead in software, with more than 60,000 applications tailored to the iPad. Google’s tablet operating system, called Android Honeycomb, has only a few because it’s so new.

So competitors aim to flood the tablet industry — and smother Apple — with new choices.

Samsung Electronics, which already offers Android tablets with 7-inch screens on every major carrier, is introducing new versions in 8.9- and 10.1-inch display sizes.

The largest Galaxy Tab underwent a major revision in response to Apple’s introduction of the iPad 2, Samsung executives said. The new prototype, which was only shown behind glass recently at the CTIA Wireless conference in Orlando, packs the same components but is significantly thinner.

“We went back to the drawing board,” said Omar Khan, the strategy chief for Samsung Telecommunications. “Changes in the industry,” he said, referring to the iPad 2, “caused us to accelerate the development process.”

Instead of betting on one or two optimal screen sizes, Samsung is leaving it up to shoppers to decide. “Consumers have become very, very sophisticated in their technology product buying,” Khan said.

But Samsung’s chief electronics rival in South Korea is critical of such a seemingly unfocused tactic.

“They did 7-inch. And then they did 10.1. I’ve got to think that they copied us. Why did they do 8.9-inch?” said Yongseok Jang, vice president of strategy for LG Electronics, which is making its own G-Slate tablet with an 8.9-inch screen. “Their strategy is: copy the others.”

LG will release the G-Slate on T-Mobile USA’s network and will tout its ability to capture 3-D photos and video. To view those shots, people can connect the device to a TV using a cable or watch on the G-Slate’s 8.9-inch screen using 3-D glasses. They can also upload videos to a special YouTube 3-D app.

Other tablet manufacturers also are emphasizing features that might make their products stand out of the pack.

HTC’s upcoming tablet will also be capable of shooting in 3-D and displaying 3-D video on a connected TV with special glasses. And the EVO View 4G offers a throwback feature that recalls Apple’s 1990s-era Newton: a stylus that will be sold separately.

Sprint Nextel demonstrated the drawing and note-taking features of the gadget at CTIA, the U.S. wireless industry’s largest annual convention. The stylus, a spokesman said, makes the device unique.

Tablet makers, including Samsung and Motorola Mobility, say offering an attractive package — a device with a great operating system and a variety of available apps — is critical for rivals who want to compete with the latest iPad. For that to happen, more developers need to create software for Android Honeycomb, they said.

“Right now, if we talk about our friend in Cupertino: Hey, they built a pretty good product. They have a good ecosystem. But on the Android side, it has yet to be built up,” said Jang, from LG. “You need books, magazines, movie clips, the whole nine yards. It’s in the process of being built up. And we are going to contribute to the ecosystem there.”

Because these designers use the Android system, most of them tout their tablets’ ability to run Flash video, which Apple’s mobile devices cannot do.

Research in Motion is targeting the corporate market with its BlackBerry PlayBook, which begins selling on April 19 at prices similar to the iPad. Hewlett-Packard is touting high-fidelity speakers, and seamless integration with other HP products, for its TouchPad tablet that will arrive this summer.

“The pace of this industry is amazing,” said Jim Wicks, a Motorola vice president of design.

Motorola Mobility’s main weapon is its adoption of the latest high-speed cellular technology. People who own the Xoom tablet will be able to send it in for a free upgrade to work with Verizon’s 4G LTE network, which promises faster data transfer speeds than current 3G networks.

Motorola plans to begin selling a Wi-Fi-only version of the Xoom on Sunday for $599. But Alain Mutricy, a senior vice president of product management for the company, highlighted the focus on 4G LTE technology as the Xoom’s major competitive play. By contrast, Apple’s iPads aren’t capable of 4G access.

“We designed this product really as a true 4G product,” Mutricy said. “We believe that people like to have [fast] cellular connectivity on their tablet.”

See Full Article at: http://edition.cnn.com/2011/TECH/gaming.gadgets/03/25/new.tablets/index.html

Many consumers will debate on whether to purchase an iPad or an Xoom. I have found some pretty insightful footage that may direct you in one way or another. There are sure to be some intense competition between these different companies; apple, motorola, HTC, etc. so get ready for lot of updates and improvements. This video link is comparing iPad vs Xoom, ofcourse there are factors like what internet services the devices are using, but you can see for yourself:

PART 1

Part 2

iPad 2 vs Xoom

So which will it be XOOM or IPAD, that seems to be a debate today. Android software has proved it can compete with apples iOS software. Before you make your decisions see what the experts had to say about the Xoom…

The good: With Google’s next generation of Android, Motorola’s knack for great hardware, and Verizon’s promise of 4G network compatibility, the Xoom tablet technically offers a more powerful, more capable alternative to Apple’s iPad.

The bad: It’s expensive, slightly heftier than the iPad, and novice users may balk at Android 3.0′s read-the-manual attitude. Adobe Flash not yet supported.

The bottom line: The Xoom’s spec sheet is enough to make any tablet tremble, but the price is high and Google still has some work to do before its tablet software experience is as fleshed out and intuitive as Apple’s.

Review:
Motorola Xoom
The Motorola Xoom tablet is easily the best competition Apple’s iPad has ever seen. Sporting a 10.1-inch screen, front and rear cameras, HDMI output, a dual-core processor, and Google’s tablet-optimized version of Android, the Xoom is entering the tablet wars with guns blazing.

Priced at $800 off-contract or $600 with a two-year commitment from Verizon, the Xoom isn’t out to win frugal customers. Instead, Motorola is taking the approach used with its successful line of Droid smartphones: emphasizing the device’s horsepower and the many capabilities not found on its Apple counterpart.

To this end, the Xoom’s spec sheet is an all-star cast of dual-core processors, multimegapixel cameras, expansion slots, and maxed-out RAM. Combine the hardware with Motorola’s exclusive access to Google’s long-awaited Android Honeycomb operating system, and you have one of the most talked-about tablets of 2011.

Does the reality of the Xoom match up with the hype? Let’s dive in and see what’s working and what could be better.

Design and hardware features
With a 10.1-inch screen, you’d think Xoom would feel larger than the 9.8-inch screen-wielding iPad, but it actually comes off as slightly smaller. As tablets go, the Xoom carries its weight in its hips, stretching its screen area out to a more wide-screen-worthy 1,280×800-pixel WXGA aspect ratio.

This wider screen, coupled with the landscape-oriented positioning of the Motorola and Verizon logos, makes the Xoom a natural fit for use in a landscape view. This is fundamentally different from the original iPad, which prescribes a portrait orientation with its placement of the Home button. Of course, either device will reorient its apps and home screens for however you prefer to hold it, but nonetheless, the Xoom is ostensibly made for landscape view, whereas the iPad’s design is naturally geared for portrait.

Motorola also slims the total device size down by running a 0.5-inch bezel around the screen, instead of the 0.75-inch bezel on the iPad. It’s a small yet meaningful difference in a number of ways. The bad news is that the slimmer bezel offers less area for your thumbs to grip the screen, making it less comfortable to hold with one hand. And although the Xoom is only a tenth of a pound heavier than the original iPad, the smaller bezel and wider form of the Xoom make it noticeably heavier to hold in one hand. On the upside, when holding the Xoom in portrait, the thin bezel makes it easy to get your thumbs over the screen, making thumb-typing much less awkward than on the iPad.

The Xoom’s keyboard, in general, deserves a round of applause. With its ample size and well-spaced virtual keys, typing performance is excellent in both landscape and portrait orientations. The keyboard supports multitouch for speedy typing, dedicated tab and emoticon keys, and a dedicated button to quickly jump you into keyboard settings. The keys are slightly smaller and more rectangular than the iPad’s, but the overall performance is both swift and accurate.

On the bottom of the Xoom you’ll find connections for Micro-USB, Micro-HDMI, a socket for the included power adapter, and a pinhole microphone. Don’t let the HDMI port fool you, though. In order for us to get video out from the Xoom, we first had to dock it in Motorola’s $129 HD speaker dock. Once we did, though, the entire Honeycomb experience was mirrored on our TV, allowing apps like YouTube and Maps some room to show off.

Up on the top edge you’ll find a standard headphone jack packed conspicuously in the middle and a removable door to its left that conceals the microSD expansion port and a place for a 4G SIM card, both of which were disabled at launch. Motorola is promising microSD card support (up to 32GB) shortly after the product launch, enabled by an over-the-air update. Support for Verizon’s 4G network is also forthcoming, though later in 2011, and not without submitting your Xoom to an authorized dealer for a hardware update.

Finally, there’s the back of the Xoom, which includes a 5-megapixel camera and dual-LED flash, a stereo pair of speakers, and a sleep/wake button. Again, the layout of all these features somewhat dictates that you hold the device in landscape view, less you risk obscuring the camera with your hand. Camera quality is about what we’d expect from any high-end smartphone: good, but not point-and-shoot quality, and easily ruined by fingerprints on the lens. Video quality is also good, recording up to 720p. In spite of its capabilities, the Xoom makes for a comically large camera or camcorder by today’s standards. We felt a bit silly snapping photos in public, holding the Xoom up in the air like Moses on the mountain. Still, it’s a great capability to have, and one which Apple has received considerable flack for leaving off the original iPad.

A front-facing 2-megapixel camera is also included on the Xoom, geared for video chat. We tested the camera using the included Google Talk app, and it worked without a hitch over both Wi-Fi and Verizon’s 3G data connection.

The Xoom has plenty of features under the hood, as well. For horsepower, you have a 1GHz dual-core processor with 1GB of RAM at its disposal. You really notice it, too. System performance purrs along, even with multiple browser tabs open, Pandora playing in the background, and e-mail notifications popping up

Read more: http://reviews.cnet.com/tablets/motorola-xoom/4505-3126_7-34468548.html#ixzz1H3xfoLAo