Motorola XOOM disadvantages

Motorola

Motorola XOOM disadvantages

By Moonlight → الخميس، 30 يونيو 2011

Introduction

Phones far and wide wanted to be the iPhone killer and you know what – tablets are no different. The iPad needs to get used to living with a bounty on its head. And always be ready for the likes of the Motorola XOOM.

But the XOOM is no ordinary competitor. We’re talking the first Honeycomb tablet, a cornerstone for Android. It’s Motorola’s first tablet too. If they play their cards right, it could be a big money earner for a company in trouble, so we know Moto gave it their best.

The XOOM has a 10.1” screen of 1280 x 800 pixels resolution, Google’s latest Android OS (after the update rolls out in full), purpose made for tablet use, and a powerful Tegra 2 1GHz dual-core chipset with 1GB RAM. Barely a few lines into the spec sheet and we already like the sound of it.

The Motorola XOOM has more to offer than that. The Verizon US version will be getting a (delayed) LTE update, while dual-band Wi-Fi (2.4GHz and 5GHz) sounds sweet too.

But we won’t go on and on about the specs of the XOOM. Here go the highlights followed – as usual – by what we didn’t like.

Key features

·         10.1” capacitive touchscreen of 1280 x 800 pixel resolution; multi-touch

·         730g of weight

·         Dual-band (2.4GHz and 5GHz) Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n connectivity; Wi-Fi hotspot

·         Optional 3G connectivity (data only) – HSPA or 1xEV-DO (LTE via upgrade)

·         GPS with A-GPS support on all models

·         1GHz NVIDIA Tegra 2 AP20H Dual Core processor

·         1GB RAM

·         Android 3.0 Honeycomb, upgradable to 3.1

·         16/32/64GB of onboard storage

·         microSD card slot (up to 32GB)

·         Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR

·         Accelerometer, compass and three-axis gyro-sensor; barometer sensor

·         5MP auto-focus camera with dual-LED flash

·         720p video recording at 30fps

·         2MP secondary video call camera

·         HD TV-Out via microHDMI port

·         microUSB with host functionality

·         Flash-enabled web browser

·         10 hours video playback, 3.3 days of music playback

Main disadvantages

·         Seems quite laggy despite the 1GHz dual-core CPU

·         Screen is very reflective, hard to use outdoors

·         Quite a porker at 730 grams

·         No kickstand – it cannot be stood up on a table without a dock 

·         Non-replaceable battery

·         Can’t charge off USB

·         LTE-enabling update not out yet for the Verizon version

·         Still waiting for an update to enable microSD slot as well

·         No document editor pre-installed, not even a viewer

We’re really curious to try out the tablet minded version of Android – the one we’ve tested before was clunky to use and clearly not intended for big screens. And we’ve had a positive experience with the Tegra 2 platform. It’ll be interesting to see how it performs inside a tablet.

And let’s just say that seeing a standard microHDMI port was a pleasant surprise – no need of an adapter to get the TV-Out working. The competition doesn’t even have a standard microUSB port so thumbs up for Motorola and keeping to standards.

The XOOM we’re about to get started with is the 3G-enabled variety with 32GB of inbuilt storage. And yes, it’s got Honeycomb inside – the version of Android meant for tablets. We can hardly wait. Jump to the next page and try to keep up

Motorola MILESTONE disadvantages

Motorola

Motorola MILESTONE disadvantages

By Moonlight →

Introduction

Android devices come from all walks of life but rarely do they carry as much baggage as the MILESTONE. Motorola seem to be betting the farm with the MILESTONE and the warm reception it’s getting must leave them breathing a sigh of relief. Catching the Android wave may’ve seemed like the last available move but a device like the MILESTONE makes turning the tide much more likely.

So, Motorola are back with a bang and the MILESTONE is one of the best spec’d phones to ever run Android. The Google Nexus One is supposed to instill fear in nearly every touchscreen device out there but the Moto Droid must be positioned well enough by now to withstand the attack.

Key features

• Quad-band GSM and dual-band 3G support
• 10.2 Mbps HSDPA and 5.76 Mbps HSUPA support
• 3.7" 16M-color capacitive touchscreen of WVGA (480x 854 pixel) resolution
• Android OS v2.0 with kinetic scrolling and pinch zooming
• Slimmest side slider with full QWERTY keyboard yet
• Great build quality
• ARM Cortex A8 600MHz CPU, PowerVR SGX graphics accelerator; 256 MB of RAM
• 5 MP autofocus camera with dual-LED flash and geo-tagging
• D1 (720 x 480 pixels) video recording @ 24fps
• Wi-Fi and GPS with A-GPS
• 133MB storage, microSD slot, bundled 8GB card
• Accelerometer and proximity sensor
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
• microUSB port (charging) and stereo Bluetooth v2.1

Main disadvantages

• No DivX and XviD video playback
• No smart and voice dialing
• Somewhat clumsy camera interface and limited camera features
• No free GPS navigation solution
• No Flash support for the web browser
• No FM radio

There’s hardly anything missing on the Motorola MILESTONE spec sheet so we should be ready for an exciting ride. The test-drive got us impressed: at the end of our preview we felt positive about the MILESTONE prospects. So now, the Moto DROID has a full review ahead to build on that good impression.

Considering the rate of its sales, the handset is doing well from a user point of view too. Yet, a short-lived success is just not good enough for Motorola: the company doesn’t have the resources to come up with an equally talented successor as quick as some of the competitors. So, the MILESTONE needs to stick around the top of the sales charts for at least a few months to give Motorola some breathing space.

The Motorola DEXT by the way did reasonably well in scouting out the territory but it now falls upon the MILESTONE to carry the offensive through. Proper backup is still to come so it will have to fight all by itself.

We’ll follow in its footsteps and – as the tradition goes – we continue with the hardware and ergonomics right after the jump.

Motorola MILESTONE 2 disadvantages

Motorola

Motorola MILESTONE 2 disadvantages

By Moonlight → الأربعاء، 29 يونيو 2011

Introduction

The MILESTONE 2 has a single mission – to reclaim the top spot in Android messengers for Motorola. It has the pedigree and the personality, and with the right upgrades, it seems a lock to become the next all-in-one messenger of choice.

Who can blame Motorola? They liked it at the top of the Android food chain and want to relive the good times. Less in a mood to experiment, they know exactly where they’re going and the MILESTONE 2 might well be the phone to get them there.

The MILESTONE 2 has the right measure of metal on the outside and beefed up internals – both hardware and software. There are a few omissions too but not too close to being deal breakers. Here they all are, in a summarized form.

Key features

·         Quad-band GSM and dual-band 3G with HSDPA and HSUPA support 

·         3.7" 16M-color capacitive touchscreen with WVGA (480x 854 pixels) resolution

·         Scratch-resistant Gorilla glass

·         One of the slimmest QWERTY side sliders

·         TI OMAP3630 1GHz CPU, PowerVR SGX530 graphics accelerator; 512MB of RAM 

·         Android OS v2.2; MOTOBLUR UI 1.5 with SNS integration

·         Web browser with Adobe Flash 10.1 support

·         5 MP autofocus camera with dual-LED flash; face detection, geo-tagging 

·         720p HD video recording @ 30fps 

·         Wi-Fi b/g/n; Wi-Fi hotspot functionality; DLNA

·         GPS with A-GPS; Digital compass

·         8GB storage; microSD slot with 8GB card preinstalled

·         Accelerometer and proximity sensor, in-pocket detection with auto lock

·         Standard 3.5 mm audio jack 

·         microUSB port (charging) and stereo Bluetooth v2.1 

·         Smart and voice dialing

·         Office document editor

·         Active noise cancellation with a dedicated mic

·         DivX/XviD video support

Main disadvantages

·         The internal 8GB of storage is for apps only

·         Side sliding mechanism is not spring-assisted

·         DivX and XviD playback has its issues

·         Non hot-swappable microSD card slot

·         No FM radio 

There’s little missing on the Motorola MILESTONE 2 spec sheet. In actual fact, many of the phone features seem to have a special added quality – Gorilla Glass for the display, 720p video for the 5MP camera, Wi-Fi hotspot for the fast 3G, DLNA for the Wi-Fi connectivity, Flash for the web browser and so on.

Still, the main focus of the MILESTONE 2 is text-based communication – from the humble SMS, through email, to Facebook, Twitter and MySpace messaging there’s little that this messenger droid won’t do.

The Universal inbox is the tool to handle all this. It doesn’t really matter where each message is coming from – they all end up in the same place with a handy reply button to send back a reply on the corresponding network.

We’ll rummage through the box for starters and look at the Motorola MILESTONE 2 from all sides with a due inspection of the screen and keyboard. We’ll look at the rest of the hardware and the software too, but first things first.

Motorola Flipout disadvantages

Motorola

Motorola Flipout disadvantages

By Moonlight →

Introduction

Motorola is banking heavily on QWERTY droids. The Motorola Flipout does look a bit of a shocker but fits squarely into the lineup. It’s tiny, yet offers better features than the Backflip, and social networking is its element.

The first thing to notice about the Flipout is just how small it is – a square 67mm on its side but no compromises were made when it comes to features. There’s a five row QWERTY keyboard (most big side-sliders have just 3 or 4 rows), a faster CPU than the Backflip and double the RAM.

Rather than ramble on with specs, here’s the list of pros and cons.

Key features

·         Exceptionally compact QWERTY messenger

·         Quad-band GSM and quad-band 3G support (7.2 Mbps HSDPA; 2Mbps HSUPA)

·         2.8" 256K-color 320x240 pixel capacitive touchscreen; multitouch support

·         Android OS v2.1 with MOTOBLUR UI v1.5

·         Excellent social networking integration

·         Five-row QWERTY keyboard

·         TI OMAP 3410 600MHz processor; 512 MB of RAM

·         3 MP camera with geotagging

·         CIF (352 x 288 pixel) video recording @ 30fps

·         Wi-Fi b/g/n; stereo Bluetooth v2.1

·         GPS chip, A-GPS

·         microSD slot, bundled with a 2GB card

·         Accelerometer, proximity and ambient light sensors

·         Standard 3.5 mm audio jack

·         microUSB port (charging)

·         CrystalTalk PLUS noise-cancellation with a dedicated microphone 

·         Office document viewer 

·         Flash support in the web browser

·         XviD support (but no DivX)

Main disadvantages

·         Poor display quality

·         QVGA resolution limits the choice of apps

·         Unacceptable camera issues from a retail test unit

·         Uncomfortable grip for taking pictures

·         17mm thick is a bit much

·         No smart and voice dialing

·         microSD slot under the battery cover

·         No secondary video-call camera

The Motorola Flipout uses the latest MOTOBLUR UI and after playing with it for a while, we could barely find a place where the stock Android features didn’t receive some sort of SNS integration.

The phonebook wipes out any difference between phone contacts and online contacts. Even the music player does SNS: TuneWiki integration, Top 50 generated from Facebook and Twitter “blips” (you can send your own) and location-aware features too.

A really cool feature of the music player is that it will automatically find the lyrics of the song playing and keeps them in sync like a karaoke machine.

The Motorola Flipout will be quick to find an audience. It offers great audio and some of the most impressive social networking we’ve seen in a package so small, it can make even the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 mini pro jealous.

It’s got a bigger screen than the X10 mini pro too – unlikely to impress owners of 4.3” monsters – but it’s actually the same size and resolution as the HTC Tattoo.

In a nutshell, the Motorola Flipout has impressive internals, so it’s the hardware that can make or break it – jump to the next page to see what we thought of it