I had been looking at the tablet market for quite some time now. Of course the iPad(2) is still the most known and popular out there, but now that Google has released their tablet-optimized Android version I felt that the time was right to plunge myself into this territory. I know that there had been quite some devices around before the Honeycomb era, like the Samsung Galaxy Tab or the Archos tablets. However, in my opinion, either the overall experience or the moderate hardware specifications of these devices left much to be desired.

This is where the Xoom comes in. This device sports a Nvidia Tegra 2 processor, doing its work on 1 Ghz. It has a 10.1 inch capacitive screen, a 5MP camera on the back and a 2 MP camera on the front. Running Android 3.0, which was partly developed on this tablet, giving you a really nice and polished experience when using it. Unlike Apple’s iOS, Honeycomb has support for Flash, which in my opinion alone is a huge advantage. Let’s face it, Flash isn’t going anywhere anytime soon and it is still the dominant technology for a lot of the interactive content you can find on the Web.

At the time of writing there aren’t that many Honeycomb optimized applications out there yet, but you can slowly see more and more appear in the Android Market. It’s true that some of the more popular apps don’t really scale well to tablet resolutions, which is especially true for games, but that doesn’t necessarily need to be a deal-breaker, since it’s only a matter of time before these apps get updated. Operating System wise I think Google did a great job here. Of course their own applications work like a charm and I’m definitely impressed with their Books application.

It speaks for itself that one of the primary functions of this device is reading. It’s a shame however that available titles on Google Books are a bit on the low side, at least here in Europe, but you do have the option to install both Amazon’s Kindle and B&N’s reader apps which work well. Alternatively you can also install one of the many PDF readers. My favorite is EZ PDF reader, which does require a small contribution, but I think it’s worth it. Addionally, checking out your news feeds is really a pleasure with the excellent Pulse news reader app. You might already be using this on your phone, but believe me, experiencing this on a tablet is a world of difference.

Another popular use for tablets, at least if you can believe the latest stats on this, is gaming. While I’m not that much of a gamer myself, it’s true that these type of devices open a whole new market. The way you play games is more akin to playing on a console than on a PC, but I actually believe it will become a subset of its own. Performance wise the Xoom tablet works really well, thanks to the Tegra processing power under the hood. 3D graphics are fluent, look great and there’s no stuttering whatsoever. If you’re into gaming, this definitely is something to consider, especially since I believe that with the plethora of Android & Tegra devices coming out we’ll be able to get some awesome looking games on these devices.

What I also like very much about the Motorola tablet is the fact that it is open. With this I mean that it is relatively simple to unlock and root the device. While many mainstream users don’t have an immediate use for a feature like this, I believe it is something that can be important if you value getting updates in the future. Let’s face it, most hardware vendors aren’t very keen on releasing new iterations of Android for their devices in a timely manner. This is of course not without reason. Porting their respective UI shells to new versions is most likely a challenging, time and resource consuming task. That is why I personally prefer the ‘vanilla’ Android devices. Buying one of these gives you a bit more certainty that updates will roll out faster. And even if the vendor abandons the device, you can always count on the many community developers creating ROMs for your tablet with the latest and greatest goodies. When getting a device which is easily rooted, you only increase your chances of finding community updates later on.

Honeycomb in general is looking good. You can tell that Google has put in a lot of effort getting their mobile OS ready for the tablet era. The general experience is smooth and enjoyable but there still are some quirks to work out. When you put the system to the test by running multiple applications at the same time, it can become a little bit laggy. Nothing to worry about, I’m just talking about a slight delay in response time when switching screens for example. It’s probably one of those things that’s coming from the fact that Android is a true multi-tasking platform and will get better as development progresses. Some applications have crashed on me, but only the ones that aren’t optimized for Honeycomb. The main operating system hasn’t failed me yet and I’m pretty confident it won’t either.

Of course it’s not all perfect. I’m sure there’s always some room for improvement, but my biggest annoyances are basically the fact that the Xoom is a bit on the heavy side, nearing 800 grams and the fact that in some cases you need to install multiple applications that basically perform the same task, but offer different content. Weight wise, this will surely get better over time and most Android tablet builders have some catching up to do with Apple on this front, but keep in mind that this is only the truly first generation of Android tablets to hit the market. On the application front I think the problem is a tad more complicated. I’m mainly referencing to the e-books apps here, but also the fact that you now have multiple application stores. Both suffer from the same issue: different applications and stores may offer both identical and unique content. This makes finding what you’re looking for difficult. Prices often vary (although for most items the difference is negligible) which can become quite confusing, especially when it’s not clear what the immediate advantage over a competitor is. This is a problem that I don’t really see being solved any time soon. These companies are trying to make money after all and if the company believes that they can get a fair market share on their own, I don’t think they’ll see any incentive for consolidation. On the other hand you might argue that it does increase competition which in many cases can be good for consumers. I suppose we’ll have to wait and see. As always, time will tell.

My conclusion is that tablets are definitely on the rise. It might be a bit soon for Joe Plumber to jump on the wagon, but if you’re an early adopter or just love technology I’m sure you would not regret investing in a tablet. What device you choose in the end depends on your needs and preferences. All I can is say, give Android a chance, I’m pretty sure you won’t be disappointed. I’m not pretending to give an objective opinion here. My personal preference is and will probably always be with Android. I do believe that it has a very good chance on becoming the dominant platform and therefore a relatively safe bet. Concerning the Xoom, I’m sure it’s not for everyone. It does have its weaknesses, but offers plenty of other things to make up for them. It remains a pricey item for sure, but thanks to the openness of Android we’ll soon be seeing less expensive alternatives.

So let’s get started. Earlier this week Google and Samsung unveiled a new phone, the Nexus S, running Android 2.3, also known as Gingerbread. But how does this new device compare to the previous one? Let’s take a look…

First of all, here’s an overview of the most important specifications:

Source: Google – see their full comparison page for all the details

As you can probably see, there’s not so many differences between the two phones. Basically it has a tad larger screen, possible faster WiFi, a minor Bluetooth upgrade and a possibly better battery when looking at standby time. The hardware extras such as NFC and the gyroscope are very nice, as well as the contour & anti-fingerprint display, but to me not really deal-breakers. I’m quite disappointed about the fact that there’s not a dual-core mobile processor in there. Granted, the Hummingbird is probably better than the older Snapdragon, but my guess: nobody is really going to notice the difference.

Another weird thing with the Nexus S is the lack of an SD-slot. It’s true that the 16 GB internal memory is enough for most people, but it looses some of it’s portability in terms of migrating to a new phone later on. While the Nexus One comes with a 4 GB SD card, it is however upgradeable to 32 GB, which in my opinion makes it more attractive to our inner geeks. I won’t be going into the Tri vs Quand band discussion, mainly because the spec here has been dumbed down for this post, secondly because this mainly depends on carrier preference which is largely a US-only problem.

The most significant difference to me seems to be the Gingerbread OS. As with all Android upgrades, there’s some pretty cool things inside there such as the new and improved keyboard, a new launcher and of course the native VOIP calling. Of course there’s more improvements under the hood. But again, not really that big I think. The keyboard and launcher are already ported to Froyo, VOIP calling is possible albeit a bit tricky with external applications, and in the end it’s only a matter of time before the N1 gets some Gingerbread love too. The OTA update is most likely coming soon, and for those running custom ROMs, I’m pretty sure their developers will crunch out updates asap as well.

All in all, the Nexus S is a very nice phone, but I personally don’t see many Nexus One users jumping ship, mainly because there’s not much to jump to. As many others before me already said, it seems a nice upgrade to a Galaxy S, and I would advise those users to definitely look into this phone. The fact that you have a vanilla Android experience on Nexus phones might not appeal to everybody but for those who like to tinker with their phones this latest Samsung child surely is a great option.

Of course, being an IT person, these kind of things are like my second nature, and I had experimented with Android before on a hacked phone. At the time I purchased this phone, I actually had my eyes on the N900 from Nokia as well, but the fact that they merged their platform with Intel kind of got me scared for future updates. But I’m wandering off-topic… Back to Android!

In general, I’m pretty amazed how much this platform has matured in such a relative short time. All the basic functionalities work like a charm right out-of-the-box, which wasn’t always the case in the past if I recall correctly. The fact that it is an unlocked phone of course is a tremendous advantage, although here in Belgium, it’s illegal to lock phones like they do in the U.S. anyway. The look & feel of the software is very refreshing and blazing fast. Of course this speed is mainly thanks to the premium hardware used to make this phone (hello Snapdragon!). Most applications work great, and the fact that you’re not tied to the Android Market is a big advantage. Clearly syncing with your Google account is seamless, and even the push mail of my company using Exchange ActiveSync works great.

However, naturally there are still some negative points as well. You’ve probably all heard about the problems with the phones’ touchscreen, especially multi-touch. I’ve been lucky and so far I’ve not run into these issues myself, but when you read some of the forums dedicated to Android and/or the Nexus One, it’s clear a lot of people are having headaches over this one. I have had the phone crash on me a couple of times, but nothing a reboot didn’t fix. Another negative point for me is the lack of proxy support on WiFi connections. At home this isn’t a problem, but for use in a corporate environment, this really is a must have. I was actually pretty surprised to see this not being implemented, but I have good hopes for the upcoming Android 2.2 update that this will finally be included. Last but not least, I’ve been also disappointed in the default platform alarm clock. There is no fade-in, no decent snooze and no choosing an mp3 as wake-up music. I’ve solved this using a third-party alarm, and that has worked fine most of the time (actually, it has sometimes not gone off in the morning, which obviously is a painful experience when you do wake up eventually).

All in all, I find the Nexus One, and Android in general, very pleasant. Sure there’s still room for improvement, but I’m sure the 2.2 version and future iterations will only improve the user experience. Unless Google decides to shoot itself in the foot at some point, I think they really have a chance of making this the leading platform for smart-phones and tablet devices.

Reason for all this was bad coding which didn’t incorporate a leap year. Since 2008 was of this kind, the software couldn’t handle an extra day after number 365. Numerous blogposts have been appearing on this topic. One of the possible workarounds first suggested was to hard-reset the player, wiping the updated firmware altogether. This however required getting the battery out, which in turn voided the warranty.

Meanwhile Microsoft has acknowledged the problem an posted their own workaround, being to let the Zune power down completely and only to charge/power on again in the afternoon on the 1st of January (GMT time). The fact stays however that this is a major fuck-up on their part. Things like this should have been tested, and one can only wonder how this ever got passed their QC-department. The proposed workaround doesn’t actually solve the issue, and next leap year this will happen again. Let’s hope Microsoft releases better firmware before that time!

This new hardware is developed by the Redmond company and is supposed to combine the power of optical and the precision of laser, providing a superior mousing experience.

It’s easy to recharge with the accompanied docking station and also has a whole new design & style, as the mouse emits a cool blue light when you pull it out of its docking.

It works as following, the mouse makes use of a proprietary chip which houses advanced algorithms and pixel architecture for even better tracking. The blue optics used provide superior navigational accuracy just like laser mice. This light also is emitted in a wider and more diffuse beam to aid it earlier mentioned accuracy, while also it’s more incoherent, providing the same experience in a dusty environment as it would on a clean surface. This new toy is available from this month, and priced around $100 (about €75).

While above is all presented very nice, I don’t think the majority of people will really notice the difference. Nowadays mice, especially the laser type, already provide a very good accuracy. Maybe some die-hard gamers will run to the stores to get this goody, but the average Joe is already well served with the existing technologies.

Does this really matter? No! In the end, the existing hardware will have to be replaced sooner or later, it’s just a matter of time before we all have a Bluetrack. On the other hand, since Microsoft has probably patented this technology, this leaves very little possibility for competitors to create their own variant. Either they have to take a licence with MS, or develop their own new technology. I don’t see a company like Logitech eager to use this technology, as they most likely have the resources to come up with something of their own.

I hope this is not going to be another ‘Microsoft-only’ thing, like we had with the Office document standards. Okay, you can in no way compare these to each other, but I wouldn’t be surprised if in the end it’ll be exactly the same deal…