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My Xoom

I love my Motorola Xoom. Since I got it a few weeks ago I have read ten books in the Kindle app, and made it almost all the way through Angry Birds. I have had fun with the voice recognition app, and played a little chess.

Yes, I could have bought a Kindle, or a Kobo, but I love multi-function devices. This is the device that I remember seeing on Star Trek, or reading about in Sci-Fi books. With an Internet connection I have the world at my finger tips, literally. I did buy a silicone sleeve to protect it, and allow for a slightly better grip; the case is a tad slipper. Though it is heavier than an iPad 2, or a Blackberry playbook, I don’t find it too heavy when reading for hours on end. So far the battery has been great, lasting a full day easily enough.

I could have gone with an iPad or iPad 2 as I really appreciate what Apple has done but I find the proprietary nature unfriendly, and their approach to DRM draconian. I only just broke down and accepted an iPod nano for my birthday (I returned the last one and bought an Xbox instead). Nope, give me the much more open Android operating system. I did contemplate the Playbook which uses QNX, a Unix variant. The geek in me really enjoys having a shell available….that would be the command line for the less geeky.

The only thing I find lacking is hand writing recognition. There are a few apps to be found that do hand writing recognition however the reviews are terrible and there is no trial period for the software. I would really like hand writing recognition because that is my preferred method of starting a project. I write and sketch out my ideas then refine and edit them. Right now I do that on a pad of paper with pen then have to transcribe the work to the appropriate application. Cut and paste from a source document would be so much better.

So, if you like a larger format screen and the lack of draconian control then the Xoom is the tablet for you.

Posted on 2011-06-12 at 22:15 in Beginnings   |  RSS feed |   Reply   |   Trackback URL

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3 Comments to “My Xoom”

    
  1. Brett Legree
    2011-06-27 at 05:11

    Hi Rob,

    It was a pleasure to meet you the other day at the BBQ (and yes, the “Quebec steak” was excellent – I told my kids about it, and guess what we’ll be having soon…)

    You had mentioned an app for Android that would work similar to the BlackBerry Bridge – do you recall what it was?

    Thanks – I ask because, having seen your Xoom in action, I think I must get a tablet soon myself – and if I can somehow link it to my work BlackBerry, that would be great.

    -Brett

    Reply
    • Robert Fayle
      2011-06-27 at 09:10

      Hi Brett,
      It was great to meet you too.
      The app that seems to get the best reviews for tethering the blackberry to the Xoom is PDANet. Search for “PDANet blackberry” on your Blackberry browser as they aren’t part of the app world. I haven’t tried it as I am rarely out of wifi range of some sort.
      Regards,
      Rob

      Reply
  2. Brett Legree
    2011-06-27 at 12:44

    Hi Rob,

    Thanks for getting back to me – I’ll have a look for that app and see if it works for my purposes – although, I’ve been asked to write a proposal to set up a pilot program for tablets (probably PlayBooks) in our small office here, so it may be more for my own personal use than anything else.

    I just wish that RIM would get the Android App Player out soon – that would make the PlayBook a great solution for me.

    Thanks again and I look forward to more from you.

    -Brett

    Reply
    

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