Motorola Xoom: Not off to a strong start

Author: Riley Alexander, MD, MBA

The Motorola Xoom represented a fairly important device. It was viewed as the first real competitor to the iPad and many hoped for it to inject some variation into the slate tablet market the iPad had essentially created. Well, initial reports are that the device is not selling as well as planned and production may even be cut on it due to decreased demand. With Motorola hoping for 800,000 units sold by summer, it appears they are having to adjust their sales forecast.

I, for one, am not surprised by this. The Xoom appears to be a compelling device, but initial reports are that the initial version of Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) it is running is quite buggy and feels unfinished.

The more important reason is likely a simple one...price. I went through the pricing of this tablet in a previous post here and mainly ridiculed Verizon's high data pricing, but I think I should have cautioned uptake in regards to the actual unit price more. No single comparable Xoom model costs less than an iPad and most cost a fair bit more. With Apple's considerable brand equity/strength, this is a huge problem for Motorola.

Further thoughts about the iPad 2 and the rest of the competition

Author: Riley Alexander, MD, MBA

Well, this is the week of the iPad so I had to get a post in of my own to talk about it a little bit and try not to cover what's already been covered on our blog here and here. I know that we have discussed in depth the upcoming competitors to the iPad, but now that the iPad 2 is official, it seems fitting that we give it a real comparison. Personally, I think the iPad 2 looks great, but will probably not change the mind of those who are against certain things it lacks (click the third "here" above)--it really didn't pick up any of those. And for those of you with iPad 1's, unless you plan on doing a lot of video editing or video outputting via the new HDMI accessory, you may just want to wait until the iPad 3 or 2.5--it might be here sooner than you think.

But, to that comparison I was talking about. Lifehacker put up a great table today comparing all the major players. Take a look here and judge them for yourself.

Xoom your way to 4G LTE

Over the weekend, I spent some time at my local Verizon store and I played around with the Motorola Xoom slate tablet running Android. The Xoom is the first slate tablet being powered by Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) and you can upgrade it to 4G LTE (at no cost). I'm still using a Droid X on the 3G network and I also carry an Apple iPad. When I need to get online with my iPad, I simply switch on the 3G Mobile Hotspot feature on my Droid X and I'm able to get online very easily.

The Xoom will be one of the first "larger" slate tablets to offer 4G LTE connection speeds, so you can expect blazing Internet speeds on this device.

Have you tried the Xoom? If I didn't already have an iPad, I would seriously consider purchasing a Xoom. Then again, maybe I'll need to sell my iPad (or give it away) so that I can justify having a Xoom.

Motorola Xoom available 2/24--Final pricing released

Author: Riley Alexander, MD, MBA

The first "real" competitor to the iPad is released tomorrow (2/24) and offers up what is looking to be a very compelling product. One of the big question marks has been its pricing--something that really hampered competitors to the iPod early in its dominance. It is now official.

The low-end WiFi-only model is priced at $600 (right at the similar 32gb version of the WiFi-only iPad) and the 32gb 3g+WiFi model will start at $799 ($80 more than the 32 gb 3G iPad).

At first glance, these numbers seem to be pretty reasonable as the Xoom offers a lot of things the current iPad does not. It looks like the major price concerns are going to be for those really set on getting the 3G model and using it a lot. Verizon's data rates for the Xoom look very expensive--even compared to similar plans offered by AT&T for the iPad. $20 for 1gb would make me want to seek free WiFi in a bad way. At least the upgrade to 4G LTE will be free when Verizon supports it.

PC World compares slate tablets

PC World has a story titled, "Big Tablet Fight: Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 vs. HP TouchPad vs. Motorola Xoom vs. Apple iPad"

I'd like to share their chart that outlines some of the key specs that differentiate these slate tablets (click on the image to zoom in):

This probably isn't a fair comparison since we don't know what the iPad 2 will deliver, but I think it's fair to assume that the iPad 2 will have at least one camera (probably two) and a faster processor.

Slate 500, Xoom, TouchPad, PlayBook, or iPad?

We're seeing more slate tablet options this year. I have a number of people asking me, "which one should I get?"

• The HP Slate 500 running Windows 7?
• The Motorola Xoom running Android?
• The HP TouchPad running webOS?
• The BlackBerry PlayBook?
• Or, the Apple iPad?

Until we see the new iPad 2, we can't compare all the specs across these different devices. I've been using an iPad for a while and even though I really like the device, I think it could definitely use a faster processor. 1 GHz is fairly fast, but a dual-core processor is what's needed (and it's probably what we're going to see in the new iPad 2).

I'm definitely a fan of the 9 or 10" screen. Those devices with 7" screens (like the Samsung Galaxy Tab) are nice and pocketable, but they're not going to give you the level of productivity as slates that have a larger screen. This is especially true when you're using the on-screen keyboard for two-hand finger typing. On the other hand, if you're a huge fan of thumb typing, you'll have a better experience using a 7" tablet in portrait mode.

The Slate Tablet is Here to Stay

Author: Riley Alexander, MD, MBA

As the tech world's big event, CES, wraps up this weekend, one type of device seemed to be the center of attention: the tablet computer. From the big display of new Android Honeycomb tablets, to those with Windows 7 and even RIM's entry (which looks much more exciting than anything they've done with their phones in the past few years), it seems the iPad has finally turned this market a truly viable one. The real question for us on this blog is how long will it take the medical world to adopt these devices?

With every hospital system I've worked in running a bloated EMR on underpowered computers still chugging along on Windows XP (which turns 10 this year), the tablet seems like a perfect device for the physician. Long battery-life, instant-on capabilities, much greater portability and the stability of an app-driven OS offer distinct advantages over desktop and laptop stations within the hospital.

A listing and comparison of some of the more popular tablets has been posted on here previously and Engadget provided a very thorough round-up of all of the new entries from CES here. With details on the iPad 2 rumored to drop soon, this segment is poised to really take off in 2011. I know I will be looking forward to Apple to surprise with some killer new feature on it.

We can only hope that our hospitals will be full of these soon

Dr. Riley Alexander is a pathology resident at Indiana University School of Medicine, blog "addict" and avid follower of technology. His primary interests revolve around how technology, especially mobile, will create increased efficiency, enhanced physician education and better delivery of care in the medical field. Dr. Alexander is a graduate of Indiana University School of Medicine with a combined MD/MBA, in partnership with IU's Kelley School of Business. Due to this, he is also very interested in management, healthcare policy and non-clinical aspects of the medical field and enjoys exploring non-clinical opportunities for medical students, residents and physicians. He completed his undergraduate education at IU-Bloomington.

Motorola XOOM Android Smart Tablet

Motorola is coining the term "smart tablet" with their Xoom, Android slate tablet. I'm not sure that the phrase "smart tablet" will stick, but I don't know what else we should be calling these devices to distinguish them from traditional tablet PCs. Then again, maybe the term "tablet PC" will become broader and encompass devices like the Apple iPad and the new Motorola Xoom.