Xoom Android 3.0 Walkthrough

[dmodert66]

Our Xoom Video (Spiderhole.net) (Mostly Android 3.0 talk, but some tidbits about the Xoon)

Note : There probably isn't much that you haven't already seen, but I figured I'd put it up anyway.

Part 1
Overall, just a fun presentation. Notable (in my opinion) below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orwttOEYV0I&feature=youtu.be&a
Tabed Browsing : 1:40
New Youtube Interface : 4:00

Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndv2DpplRBE
Storage : 0:39

Other items we discussed with David Briggs. Director of Program Management at Motorola (the gentleman giving the presentation @ Motorola Booth). This guy also headed up the Droid 1 team.

* Release in Feb (Note, this has been mentioned by many sites/videos including Engadget's interview with Google's Matias Duarte "Motorola said February" : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcuDQd8SejM ). A few sites are now saying Q2 (March/April), so take your pick.

* The tablet will be updated to 4G via Verizon Wireless store personnel (may take a day or 2, but final details are being ironed out with VZW).

* He did not show the actual UI running on the device because it wasn't quite ready yet (but Engadget did get a quick look when Moto reps weren't looking and said lots of apps weren't in yet which would explain this).

* He said the battery is very good. During his testing, he routinely gets a few days out of it using it often (but not straight). I think I read on the net it's rated at 8-10 hours (just going of memory).

As a side note, Mr Briggs was a very cool guy and talked to everyone at length even though his voice was practically gone. He was even patient with the guy in the video who asked 3 times why they where releasing it with Verizon (and not a retail Wifi only model)

One other nugget I saw yesterday while browsing the web. There will be a Wifi Only model fairly soon. This was confirmed to a site by a Moto South America rep.

Lastly (and this won't affect many people), I confirmed with Verizon that you can add a data only plan (for the Xoom) even if you already have 5 lines on your account (like I do). The VZW rep said if I walk into a store, someone will do it for me, but they may need to be creative (like create a sub account).

I can try to answer any questions that you guys may have, but there were a few things he wouldn't/couldn't talk about, so I may not have an answer for you. I will also add to the bullets above if I remember things I would consider important.

 

[drhill]

Thanks. I'm really curious about multi user support with this. I would be getting it for both my wife and I to replace our laptop. Well, move the laptop upstairs like a desktop at that point.

But I don't want our bookmarks, gmail, and google voice to be overlapping.

Has anyone heard any indication how multiple users are supported?

 

[macprv]

check this video guys, it shows how multitasking works (now we wont have to hold down home button to bring up recent apps), it also shows video chat on gtalk, some gaming, maps, browser, email, youtube, books, explanation of the home screens and more cool stuff

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwlhZcNWTfs

oh and i just realized that theres not menu button in the OS! cool!

 

[photon00]

Thought the last youtube clip posted by dmodert66 was very interesting. Can see Honeycomb and above paving the way for phones with a surface that is close to 100% screen with no buttons. Screens will be able to be significantly bigger without an increase in phone size.

 

[macprv]

Thought the last youtube clip posted by dmodert66 was very interesting. Can see Honeycomb and above paving the way for phones with a surface that is close to 100% screen with no buttons. Screens will be able to be significantly bigger without an increase in phone size.

and it would solve the problem with the random order of the buttons from device to device.. i mean its ridiculous

 

[Germwise]

I have a question about the gmail client. Will you need to be online read your emails or will it download them to the device a la ipad?


I think for us WIFI only users, that will ne a big deal. On my phone now I don't think I can access gmail unless I have a 3g connection

 

[Homan13PSU]

I have a question about the gmail client. Will you need to be online read your emails or will it download them to the device a la ipad?


I think for us WIFI only users, that will ne a big deal. On my phone now I don't think I can access gmail unless I have a 3g connection

GMail clients just provide a means for you to read your e-mail, regardless of the device. Whether you're on a computer, phone or tablet the client just shows you what is in your e-mail rather than downloading a message to your device, as GMail is entirely "cloud based", if you will.

 

[Don S]

I have a question about the gmail client. Will you need to be online read your emails or will it download them to the device a la ipad?


I think for us WIFI only users, that will ne a big deal. On my phone now I don't think I can access gmail unless I have a 3g connection

Not sure of your question. To get new e-mails, or to send an e-mail you of course would need a Network or WiFi connection.

To read existing, already downloaded Gmail e-mails you probably do not need to be connected, as most Android phones download and store your Gmail e-mail locally, then sync when a connection is available. I can read my already-downloaded Gmails without a connection on my Android phone.

 

[ckeegan]

Thanks. I'm really curious about multi user support with this. I would be getting it for both my wife and I to replace our laptop. Well, move the laptop upstairs like a desktop at that point.

But I don't want our bookmarks, gmail, and google voice to be overlapping.

Has anyone heard any indication how multiple users are supported?

The more I think about it, the more I would like the same thing. During the interview with Matias, he did say that there was more than what we saw with the walk-through. He also alluded to the fact that they are looking at this as a PC replacement, by saying he wants computers to suck less.

With that being said, it would be nice to have the capability of multiple user support, but it certainly wouldn't be a deal-breaker for me. After all, I don't use it on my laptop mainly because my wife would never log me off and log back in anyway. She would just pick it up and start using it.

 

[Don S]

The more I think about it, the more I would like the same thing. During the interview with Matias, he did say that there was more than what we saw with the walk-through. He also alluded to the fact that they are looking at this as a PC replacement, by saying he wants computers to suck less.

With that being said, it would be nice to have the capability of multiple user support, but it certainly wouldn't be a deal-breaker for me. After all, I don't use it on my laptop mainly because my wife would never log me off and log back in anyway. She would just pick it up and start using it.

That would be a nice option. Many things in Android are linked to the user's Google Account, so I suppose for multi-user support to be able to work, I would think each user would need a Google account, and then the OS would need to provide a way to switch between them easily. I don't really expect this functionality to be present, but it would be nice ..

 

[drhill]

That would be a nice option. Many things in Android are linked to the user's Google Account, so I suppose for multi-user support to be able to work, I would think each user would need a Google account, and then the OS would need to provide a way to switch between them easily. I don't really expect this functionality to be present, but it would be nice ..

It's probably a deal breaker for me. We both have a Droid X which we use for gmail and google voice a lot. On the laptop I have chrome installed with gmail and voice plugins which we use to send/reply to messages.

 

[Don S]

It's probably a deal breaker for me. We both have a Droid X which we use for gmail and google voice a lot. On the laptop I have chrome installed with gmail and voice plugins which we use to send/reply to messages.

Well I guess it would depend on what part of the Android user experience that you need duplicated (or split):

- If you need everything different, then I wouldn't bet on Honeycomb allowing for multi-user logins, although we really don't know that - or much else - for sure just yet.


- If it's just certain things you need duplicated, you might be able to work around them. For example:

* for 2 G-mail users on the tablet, then 1 of you could use the G-mail client, and the other could use the browser page G-mail version and login under the other user.
*If bookmarks and other things need splitting , using another browser in addition to the stock one might work (Opera, Firefox beta, XScope, Dolphin, etc). 1 browser has your stuff, the other hers, etc.
*Most essential Android apps have many substitutes as well (Twitter clients, e-mail clients, etc) that you could duplicate.


This is definitely not optimal of course, and is probably not a very elegant solution, but it might be workable depending on your needs..

 

[drhill]

WAF is the biggest thing, plus I'd rather not annoy myself with workaround either. We shall see. I remember reading something about Google recognizing a need for multiple users awhile back, but it was only a mention somewhere.

 

[Homan13PSU]

Weird question, but does the device operate in landscape and profile orientations? So far all we've seen is landscape, and the front facing camera is set up to operate when held in a landscape orientation. Just curious, and I know its odd, but I haven't seen screenshots of the screen on when in profile.

 

[Don S]

Weird question, but does the device operate in landscape and profile orientations? So far all we've seen is landscape, and the front facing camera is set up to operate when held in a landscape orientation. Just curious, and I know its odd, but I haven't seen screenshots of the screen on when in profile.

It does. Engadget caught a few pics in portrait mode. Here is one.

 

[Homan13PSU]

Awesome, thanks for the pic.

It does. Engadget caught a few pics in portrait mode. Here is one.

 

[jcash3]

I am really excited about this! I have been waiting for a non Apple tablet that would be worth the money! It looks like honeycomb is going to be amazing. Lets hope that it releases at the end of february!

 

[bucketheadmn]

I am really excited about this! I have been waiting for a non Apple tablet that would be worth the money! It looks like honeycomb is going to be amazing. Lets hope that it releases at the end of february!

I hope that the Xoom lives up to the expectations that everyone has attached to it. There is a lot riding on Android 3.0 and the Xoom in order for people to consider Android a serious competitor to the iPad as it is right now.

Like you I have been waiting and hope that the Xoom proves to be the device that I am waiting for, although the ASUS Transformer looks like it could be as well.

 

[reiththestud]

If they do integrate multiple users I'd imagine it'd be along the same lines of Chrome OS. In Chrome OS, you have a barebones laptop with minimal storage and you log in using your google account. Your profile and settings are then whisked to the device from the cloud for a quick login. I'd imagine they would end up porting that concept over to a multi-user tablet.

 

[Don S]

If they do integrate multiple users I'd imagine it'd be along the same lines of Chrome OS. In Chrome OS, you have a barebones laptop with minimal storage and you log in using your google account. Your profile and settings are then whisked to the device from the cloud for a quick login. I'd imagine they would end up porting that concept over to a multi-user tablet.

That's a good point, in that they have some experience in multi-user OS, albeit very recent, limited experience. The difference though is that Chrome OS apps are not stored locally on the PC, they are in the cloud. With Android - even 3.0 I suspect - the apps are still downloaded to the device and stored locally. I don't think this makes multi-user design impossible, but it probably makes it a bit harder to work in and elegant fashion. I am still hoping for it as well and will be glad it it finds it way into 3.0, I am just not overly optimistic about Honeycomb providing it.

 

[SQurel23]

Hands on With the Motorola XOOM Tablet With Video | ZDNet

Here's a short, but exciting video that actually shows the UI in use (not just a video of the UI).

Enjoy!

 

[p8ntballah21]

Nice Find! So far it looks promising, but still looking forward to see all that Honeycomb has to offer.

 

[ctxx24]

Nice thanks....first i have seen it actual running.... it didnt seem to wana rotate at the end of the video lol or was that just me

 

[p8ntballah21]

Nice thanks....first i have seen it actual running.... it didnt seem to wana rotate at the end of the video lol or was that just me

I saw that too

 

[reiththestud]

Nice thanks....first i have seen it actual running.... it didnt seem to wana rotate at the end of the video lol or was that just me

During the first part it seemed to rotate very smoothly, almost iPad like. Hopefully that means Gootorola have put some effort into smoothing the UI. As for the end, they might have had some sort of orientation lock enabled on the homescreen. Just a guess.

Side note, considering we never even saw the ui in action at CES, I'm impressed.