Am I missing where the Xoom discussion is at?

[rgn2001]

The pricing on the Xoom is a huge mistake by Moto/Verizon. I am on the side of Android and Moto, but it is a mistake for sure. They are justifying it by comparing it to the current IPad and about a month that will be out the window. The price of the Xoom will most likely drop as soon as the IPad 2 comes out. They are trying to bank on early adopters as there is no way those who are still on the fence will run out and buy the xoom for $100 more for WIFI Only. For those that live in 4G areas, they may be willing to pay the premium for that one along with all the extra costs of 4G service.

If you want to compete against the Apple Zombies you have to give them more and at a better price or at least the same price or you have no chance. On the other hand, Moto probably realizes that they won't be able to stop the IPad train, but they do have a lot of Android phones out there and those users might want a tablet to compliment their phone. It seems as though most people will go IPhone/IPad, Android Phone/Android Tablet, Blackberry Phone/Playbook, Etc. Only hardcores will have a different phone OS then their tablet. With Android Market and Itunes it makes it easier for the casual user to stay on the same OS.

To me Moto's strategy is probably to get Tablets in the hands of as many Droid users so that will strengthen their cause as those users go to by a new phone next year and so on. To me there is still a war for all the soon to be first smartphone users. Those users probably won't make their decision based on tablets because they are behind the curve anyways so why would they jump in on a tablet. Moto first and foremost wants to get the phone in your hand then convince you down the road to buy their tablet.

In closing Moto is really marketing this tablet to the existing Droid users and not Iphone users so much. If people switch then great, but they are not banking on it.

[FAUguy]

For me, I always said that I won't pay to be a beta tester. That's why I never bought first generation Apple products or the original Android phones. The more I read about the Xoom, the more I think that I'll be paying quite a premium to be a beta tester.

The more I use the XOOM, the more I feel that it wasn't ready for prime-time yet.
The Browser has had lockups several times, other apps just freeze for no reason. Honeycomb still looks to be a work-in-process, almost like Windows Visa was before Windows 7 came out.
At this point, I wouldn't pay the high price for the XOOM, but would get a Netbook instead.

[wnrussell]

I'm happy with mine, but there is no question there are many apps not ready for Honeycomb. It wasn't ready for release either with no MMC driver or LTE config.

[sk33]

I'll just get an Ipad 2 and get the Xoom 2 or equivalent when it comes out and they've gotten their **** together.

[FAUguy]

I'm happy with mine, but there is no question there are many apps not ready for Honeycomb. It wasn't ready for release either with no MMC driver or LTE config.

Can you speak to how far out an update will be sent to allow use of the MMC?
It would also be nice if there was a one-step root app, like z4root, for the Xoom.

[kbman]

My guess is it will need to be based on the psneuter exploit and not rageinthecage like z4root.

SuperOneClick is available and should work to root the Xoom. It uses adb shell on PC and cant be run on the phone itself but works for all newer devices like Atrix and newer unreleased builds for other Droid devices.

[Steveanderson13]

Speaking of, i just saw headlines about xoom if rooted not being eligible to upgrade to 4g. Any sense, kbman?

[Trey1475]

Personally, I think the Xoom OS is a hell of alot better than the IPAD OS. Yeah there aren't many apps that are natively designed to work on a tablet... But that will soon change in a few months... They were saying the same thing once when I purchased my motorola Droid... Besides... Some of the apps that were design to work on smartphones runs great on the tablet also. Some do not but I just un-install the ones that are unstable...

The browser is light years ahead of the ipad. Yeah Flash doesnt currently work on it yet... But thats not Google's or motorola's fault. Adobe decided to hold off on releasing flash for HoneyComb. They are saying it will be released within the next couple of weeks which is way better than never being released on Apple. The only thing that doesn't make sense is the fact that the micro sd card doesnt work out of the box... Also the LTE chip thing seems like a hassle.

Im still looking out for Apple's press release tomorrow and that will dictate whether I will return this for an ipad2 but more than like I will keep it and watch it grow to its full potential.


Ohhh another thing I noticed... My xoom isnt able to play some video/audio formats my Motorola Droid can play... Im sure this will be address in a future update but..... Just an observation.

[FAUguy]

My guess is it will need to be based on the psneuter exploit and not rageinthecage like z4root.

SuperOneClick is available and should work to root the Xoom. It uses adb shell on PC and cant be run on the phone itself but works for all newer devices like Atrix and newer unreleased builds for other Droid devices.

Ive tried it for a while tonight and it keeps freezing when it get to "Waiting for device".
I tried he tips about unplugging the cable back and forth and toggling the USB Debug box, but still can't get it to work.

[wnrussell]

Can you speak to how far out an update will be sent to allow use of the MMC?
It would also be nice if there was a one-step root app, like z4root, for the Xoom.

Wish I had a clue on the MMC driver; it almost seems like having a card was an afterthought. The xoomroot.zip root file is pretty simple to use and I wouldn't doubt kbman on SuperOneClick working. However, there is more to rooting as you must unlock the bootloader first using the fastboot oem unlock proc. I don't see how any rooting script would bypass the fastboot warnings.

1. Download xoomroot.zip and unzip it
2. Place the files in your SDK tools folder
3. adb reboot bootloader
4. fastboot oem unlock (be sure fastboot binary is in your path)
5. Accept the legal notice then wait for reboot (this will wipe your data)
6. adb reboot bootloader
7. fastboot flash boot rootboot.img
8. fastboot reboot (wait for reboot)
9. adb remount
10. adb push su /system/bin
11. adb shell ln –s /system/bin/su /system/xbin/su
12. adb shell chmod 4755 /system/bin/su
13. Download Superuser app from Market

Also, the 10.2 Flash Player is on the float now and seems to work pretty well.

Finally, you can't LOCK your device unless it is on authorized firmware. This is an issue particularly for those sending their units in for the LTE upgrade. Motorola has announced that the flash file will be publicly available, but hasn't done it yet.

[bsweetness]

Speaking of, i just saw headlines about xoom if rooted not being eligible to upgrade to 4g. Any sense, kbman?

Of course it makes sense. Rooting voids your warranty. If you've voided your warranty, there's no reason why Motorola would perform such an upgrade free of charge. Just unroot your device before sending it it.

[Winston25]

On the SD card slot, it is an unannounced bonus in your future. You know, once Google adds it to Honeycomb...

(and yes, the unit was designed from the beginning to have one)

[wnrussell]

Of course it makes sense. Rooting voids your warranty. If you've voided your warranty, there's no reason why Motorola would perform such an upgrade free of charge. Just unroot your device before sending it it.

Really, the warranty should have nothing to do with getting the hardware you already paid for. This is a developer tablet, and the instructions on the unlock say "You may obtain copies of such [authorized image] software from http://developer.motorola.com "

Has anyone been able to unlock and root their Xoom, un-root and lock again?

I don't know anybody who has yet. You can't do it without the software they haven't released yet.

[kingoanklebreak]

Well after looking at the iPad 2 I can say with confidence that unless they lower the price on this thing it's dead. They were dumb for pricing it so high in the first place. Apple really has their stuff together. I think Apple is way too closed down and prefer Android to iOS hands down but I almost want an iPad 2.

[sk33]

I'm getting the ipad 2. I'll come back to Android tablets when they've had another year or two to figure it out.

And I'm saying this as somebody who held out on getting an ipad because I was sure Moto/Google would get it right.