MWC 2011 Live: Motorola Xoom Hands-on Preview

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We were live in Las Vegas at CES 2011 where we had a chance to check out a still not working, but impressive, Motorola Xoom tablet. In the mean time Google launched Android 2.3 Honeycomb officially and that’s why we decided to give the Xoom another go.

This time around the Xoom was fully working and it looks like the device is almost ready to hit stores. Honeycomb is a pretty intuitive mobile OS and I found it quite easy to go through menus and apps especially after having handled the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the LG Optimus Pad yesterday. Veteran Android users will probably have an even easier job at hand when it comes to dealing with the tablet-only OS. And yes, we’re looking at a mean machine right here, one that will give the iPad a run for the money.

Apple will still have a significant tablet market share this year, but if you’re thinking to go Android then the Xoom is definitely a great tablet alternative. And starting with MWC, not the only one.

As you can see in the images below, the Xoom is about as big as an iPad, and has approximately the same weight too. What I didn’t really like, and in fact had trouble with, was the custom dock. I was rather afraid not to brake something while trying to dock the tablet in a fixed position with as few moves as possible. The Bluetooth keyboard looks quite slick, and you’ll probably get one if you plan to transform your Xoom into a portable workhorse. The silver finish on the back of the tablet is very much iPad like, but for some reason it’s not just aluminum on the back. Not that this feature should disturb you since you’d be keeping the Xoom protected in a custom case.

The version I, and the crowds present at the Moto booth in Spain, tested was a 3G version and there’s no telling when the Wi-Fi only tablet will be launched. Furthermore the Motorola representatives weren’t able to disclose any pricing details, and while the Xoom will come to other markets too we don’t have any pricing details to share with you at this point. In other words nothing has really changed compared to last week.

But while the Xoom was everyone’s favorite iPad and iPad 2 alternative out there since CES, now that the Galaxy Tab and the Optimus Pad are out Android fans will have a really though choice to make when selecting their new non-iOS portable tablet. Not to mention there’s going to be a TouchPad in the wild too. Have you already decided what Android tablet to purchase?