By Claire Reilly
Less than one year after Motorola launched its original Xoom tablet, the telecommunications manufacturer has announced the arrival of the creatively-titled Motorola Xoom 2.
As with its predecessor, the Xoom 2 will be initially launched on Telstra, and will be available from today for RRP $720 outright – $120 less than the launch price of the first Xoom, which came to market in May 2011.
Speaking about the new device, which is being billed by Motorola as a “faster, slimmer and lighter” tablet than the Xoom, was managing director of Motorola Mobility, ANZ and South Pacific, Timo Brouwer.
“Our first award-winning tablet, the Motorola Xoom, was a great achievement for Motorola,” said Brouwer. “We’ve built on that success to create Motorola Xoom 2, an outstanding, super-powerful device that meets the needs of today’s always-on generation at an extremely competitive price point.
“Motorola Xoom 2 is the ultimate device for home, work and play, and comes packed with apps like Motoprint and MotoCast, which you won’t find on any other Android-powered tablet.”
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Running on a dual-core 1.2GHz processor and the Android 3.2 Honeycomb operating system (compared to 1 GHz and Android 3.0 on the original Xoom), the Xoom 2 features a 10.1-inch widescreen HD display with scratch-resistant Corning Gorilla Glass, as well as HDMI and Bluetooth connectivity. Curiously the 2 megapixel front-facing camera of the first Xoom has been downgraded to 1.3 megapixels in this model.
The included MotoCast app allows users to stream media content (such as photos, videos and documents) to a computer without the use of additional cords or apps, while the Motoprint feature enables wireless printing from key apps.
Motorola boasts that the Xoom 2 is 100 grams lighter than the first Xoom, while it also features a splashguard coating so it “can withstand poolside use, spilled drinks or dashes out to the car in the rain”.
Telstra Mobile director, Andrew Volard, was also effusive in his praise of the new tablet, which will be made available on a variety of plans, including the Telstra $29, $39, $49 and $89 Data + Tablet plans.
“Motorola Xoom 2 is even faster, slimmer and lighter than the original,” said Volard. “It’s a great travel companion that brings together a vibrant high-definition touch screen, made-for-tablet apps like Gmail and YouTube and home screens that are easy to personalise with apps, shortcuts and widgets.
“It slips easily into a bag or a satchel and its distinct angular corners make it a pleasure to hold – even for extended periods. Teamed with Australia’s largest national mobile network, Motorola Xoom 2 is the perfect tool for viewing, creating and sharing content in more places.”
Motorola clearly knows what consumers want: the Xoom 2 can be used to watch Arrested Development.
