Though there have been tablets running Android on the market since last year, the Motorola Xoom, debuted today at CES in Las Vegas for the very first time, represents the first real Android tablet sanctioned by Google, running an operating system designed explicitly for tablets. Forget the Samsung Galaxy Tab, forget it completely. This is Google's first attempt to take on the iPad, and it's a worthy one.


The Motorola XOOM addresses some of these issues by shipping with Android 3.0 "Honeycomb" - an operating system that has been designed to support tablets from the ground up. This means that the XOOM should be easier to use and will allow tablet-aware programs to do much more with the device.. while retaining compatibility with a vast array of existing Android applications.

It's a smooth black on black with a rubberized rear. It has two cameras, one in front for videoconferencing, one in back for shooting. Battery life is about 10 hours for video, which should put it in the same company as the iPad. Meanwhile, its 1280x800 display is 16:10, which means it uses almost the entire screen when playing a movie.



The most obvious feature is the large 10.1" 1280 x 800 pixel display, but inside is a dual-core 1GHz processor which should provide plenty of processing power for the most demanding applications. On the back is a 5 megapixel camera (although it's a rather large device for snapshots), and on the front is a 2 megapixel camera for video calling. You can mount the XOOM on a stand which will make video calling much easier.

The look from the demo videos told me two things, however: First, this is not a blown-up Android phone experience, like the Galaxy Tab. This is a whole new environment. Second, there's a lot of Chrome DNA in here, too. I believe the Chrome tabbed browsing experience will be a key part of the Honeycomb life.