Arrival of Xoom (MMI) Officially Launches iPad (AAPL) Tablet War

After months of speculation, the tablet wars begin in earnest this week. Motorola is releasing its Xoom (NYSE:MMI) tablet on Feb. 24, and I consider it the first truly comparable competitor to Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) hit iPad. That is partly because it is the first iPad challenger to run Honeycomb, an elegant new version of Google’s Android operating system designed especially for tablets.

Both Motorola’s hardware and Google’s new software are impressive and, after testing it for about a week, I believe the Xoom beats the first-generation iPad in certain respects, though it lags in others. Like the iPad, the Xoom has a roomy 10-inch screen, and it’s about the same thickness and weight as the iPad, albeit narrower and longer. And, like the iPad’s operating system, Honeycomb gives software the ability to make good use of that screen real estate, with apps that are more computer-like than those on a smartphone.





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