Tablet computers are not a new phenomenon since they have been in existence for about 20 years. They recorded very low sales until Apple hit the market with the iPad in April 2010. The iPad became popular within a short time thereby turning tablet computers into a key product category. This might have been attributed to its close resemblance to Apple’s iPhone which had already gained popularity. The two products ran on the same operating system.
These types of computers are crucial when it comes to electronic simplicity. They are very convenient in terms of portability, with a few in-built controls and save for flat touch screen interface; tablet computers are beautiful and user-friendly.
Competition ensued not long after iPad hit the market; before then, Google had launched an open-source operating system for smart phones known as Android which made it easy for the upgrade of tablet computers. This came in the wake of Apple having upgraded the iPad’s iOS operating system. The first version intended for use was Android 3.0 operating system which was also dubbed “Honeycomb” and Motorola released the first Android tablet named Xoom in February 2011.
Android tablets, just like the iPad, have a touch-screen interface, making it easy for the user to activate icons by simply tapping a finger on them. A swiping gesture of the user’s hands moves objects around and gets screens scrolled. Apple and various Android manufacturers provide an online marketplace where (programs) mobile apps can be bought and directly downloaded on the device. Android tablets are more or less the same as iPads such that a user who is not well acquainted with the two can easily confuse one for the other at a casual glance.
So there arises a difficult question: Which is one is the most suitable? iPads are made by Apple only and in two versions – iPad and the iPad 2. However, any company capable of manufacturing hardware that can sustain Google’s operating system can produce an Android tablet and obviously, there are some companies that are capable of producing the best. In fact, a number of companies tend to disguise their inferior quality Android tablets. One can easily make out the difference between the iPad and other representative Android tablets.
By the time Xoom was introduced into the market, it was evident that Motorola was out to outpace the specs on the iPad. This led to the shipping of a dual main processor which allowed the software to double its speed to equal that one of the iPad. Also, inclusive was a 5-mega pixel camera which was installed facing in front and a 2-mega pixel camera facing the opposite side (backward) in order to enable video chatting for the user.
Indeed, this was an exciting achievement especially for those who had been let down by the failure of Apple to include a camera in its pioneer iPad. Xoom came with a 10.1-inch screen, slightly bigger than the one on the iPad and the display (1280×800) provided quite a high level of graphics resolution.
