X-SciTech

Motorola Xoom

By Donald Bell

February 23, 2011 / 11:15 PM EST / CBS News

The Motorola Xoom tablet is the first to run Google's tablet-optimized Honeycomb version of Android. It is due out February 24, available on Verizon.

A view of the connections on the bottom of the Xoom tablet, which includes Micro-HDMI output.

Barely visible on the side of the Motorola Xoom are two buttons for volume control.

A wireless Bluetooth keyboard accessory ($69) is available for the Xoom, though any Bluetooth keyboard should work.

A $129 HD dock accessory is also available for the Xoom, allowing you to mirror the onscreen tablet experience to a television.

Compared with the Apple iPad, the Xoom is a little wider and shorter in landscape orientation. Because of a slimmer bezel, its total size is slightly smaller than the iPad, in spite of its larger screen.

Up until now, the best Android tablets have been running versions of Android 2.2. Examples include the Samsung Galaxy Tab (right).

The Xoom's multitouch keyboard is a breeze to type on. Unlike the iPad, buttons for tab, emoticon, and settings are available directly from the keyboard.

Donald Bell

Donald Bell has spent more than five years as a CNET senior editor, reviewing everything from MP3 players to the first three generations of the Apple iPad. He currently devotes his time to producing How To content for CNET, as well as weekly episodes of CNET's Top 5 video series.

Twitter Facebook Facebook