Motorola

In the days before Facetime, Gtalk, and even Skype, video conferencing was a complex and expensive task. Only businesses and governments had video conference facilities which often was in a special room with hidden electronics and where food and drink were not allowed. If you had the need for a video conference systems, one of the companies you had on your list to speak with and get a quote from was Polycom (founded in 1990).

If Skype and Facetime and a number of other good, and often free, video call services do not provide quite enough telepresence features for your mobile devices, this announcement from Motorola and Polycom may interest you.

Polycom and Motorola Team to Extend MobileTelepresence to Motorola XOOM

The Polycom Telepresence m500 Android app for the recently released Motorola Xoom tablet claims to provide HD personal telepresence and deliver improved enterprise collaboration and productivity by enabling users to easily connect and share content virtually anywhere via one-to-one or group video experiences.

So, what is it that this app actually does? The press release does not provide any function list or use case for it. So, we’ll have to wait until it is released later this year (second half of 2011) to find out.

Join Baratunde Thurston (left), The Onion’s Director of Digital and author of How to Be Black, for an entertaining look at creative social media campaigns in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting February 16. Other speakers include Morin Oluwole (Facebook), Tim Devane (bitly), and SocialTimes' writer Devon Glenn.   Register now.

Motorola launched its highly anticipated and very the first Android OS 3.0 tablet on February 24. There was speculation that Google’s first version of Android specifically designed for use on tablet combined with Motorola’s recent winning design history might create an iPad killer. Of course, this was two weeks before the iPad 2 was released. Combine this with a number of oddities like the need to activate Verizon 3G service to use WiFi and missing features and the story becomes less positive.

DigiTimes reports that Motorola’s unit order are set to drop starting in April.

Motorola Xoom monthly orders to drop in 2Q11

Here’s what DigiTimes reports as Motorola’s Xoom unit orders.

February: 200,000
March: 400,000 to 500,000
April :300,000
May: < 300,000

Desipite this DigiTimes notes that the supply chain expects 3 to 5 million Xoom units will be shipped in 2011. Assuming unit shipments do not rise in the second half of 2011, it looks more like 3.4 million units or less to me: 9 months * 300,000 units + 500,000 (March) + 200,000 (February).

This is a healthy number of units (assuming all are sold)

Motorola’s Android OS 3.0 powered Xoom tablet may be the most siginificant iPad competitor currently available. The appearance of a WiFi-only model free of mobile phone contract activitation will only helps its cause. WiFi-only tablets definitely have their place. By the time my segment of the iPad 2 waiting line reached the Apple Store last week Friday evening, all the 32GB and 64GB iPad 2 models were sold out. The store clearly underestimated the demand for the WiFi-only model.

The official Motorola press release provides some information about the WiFi-only Xoom model’s availability.

Motorola Mobility Brings MOTOROLA XOOMâ„¢ Wi-Fi to United States

The WiFi-only Xoom will be available in the U.S. starting March 27 which falls on a Sunday. Sunday seems like an unusual day to launch a product in terms of news coverage. However, it does mean that many people will have time to wander over to retail store to take a look at it. The Xoom will be available from a number of large U.S. chains: Amazon.com, Best Buy, Costco, RadioShack, Sam’s Club (select locations), Staples and Walmart. The 32GB WiFi-only Xoom will be available for $599. This is the same price as Apple’s WiFi-only iPad 2 32GB model. Some retailers bundle accessories with the device which may make the $599 price a bit more enticing.

I really thought hard about buying a Motorola Xoom just to have an Android OS 3.0 based tablet to play with. But, ultimately, the price ($800 without a contract) and the need to activate 3G just to turn on WiFi convinced me otherwise. A good friend of mine, however, bought a Xoom from Best Buy the first day it was available. So, I’ll get a chance to play with one soon. In the meantime, Ars Technica has a great detailed review with lots of photos.

Ars reviews the Motorola Xoom

So, what is Ars’ Ryan Paul’s overall assessment of the Xoom? He says that the Xoom has great technical specifications but many of the features are not yet turned on. These features will become available as updates to the system are delivered in the coming months.

It sounds like waiting for the Xoom to get its updates is my best course of action right now. In the meantime, I’m planning to get an iPad 2 later this week. How about you?

Infoworld reports that Motorola Mobility bought a small company to deal with Android security shortfalls.

Motorola’s big plans to fix Android’s security woes

There are a couple of interesting side notes either directly stated in this article or implied by this news.

1. The article notes: Android devices can’t be managed to meet business-class security needs like a BlackBerry or iPhone can. There are a couple of interesting points raised in this single sentence:
1.1. Apple’s iPhone is considered, at least by the article’s author, to be a business-class device that is on par with the BlackBerry.
1.2.There is no mention of Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7. Its predecesor, Windows Mobile at one time defined much of what we think of as a business class phone. Ironically, the author notes: he management infrastructure created would be similar to that available on Research in Motion’s BlackBerry platform, on Microsoft’s now-defunct Windows Mobile platform, and on Apple’s iOS 4 platform.
2. Motorola plans to provide APIs for their Android security software
2.1. Although other vendors can work with their API, it is not clear that they will
2.2. What happens if Google itself provides what they should have done earlier: A unified and standard way to deal with business class security holes?

This effort, while needed, may end up fragmenting Android even more. Up to now, Google has been fragmenting Android all by themselves so far. They may soon get help in this effort.

FYI: Samsung’s Galaxy Tab is no longer to cool Android tablet. That title has shifted to the first Honeycomb (Android OS 3.0) tablet: The Motorola Xoom. Here’s what iFixit found when they took it part.

Motorola Xoom Teardown

- The Xoom works with Verizon’s 3G wireless data network. Verizon’s CDMA voice network does not use a SIM card as GSM networks do (AT&T & T-Mobile in the U.S.). However, the XOOM has a dummy SIM card ready to be replaced when Verizon provides its 4G (LTE) upgrade.

- There is no need for a special prying tool to take the tablet apart.

- The Xoom’s front and rear cables connect to the motherboard by separate cables. This should make replacing a failed camera a single component replacement.

- The Xoom’s antennas are wrapped along the outer edge of the case.

- Repairing the Xoom involves taking out a lot of screws (there are a total of 57). However, iFixit still gives it an 8 (out of 10) rating for repairability.

There’s good news and bad news for Motorola Android device fans. First the bad news:

Motorola puts the hammer down to Atrix 4G modders (ZDNet)

The very cool Moto Atrix 4G phone’s bootloader will be locked tight making it very difficult for hackers (in the good “modding” sense) to modify its firmware.

On the other hand, the Motorola XOOM tablet based on Android OS 3.0 will have an unlockable bootloader.

Motorola XOOM will have an unlockable bootloader (Liliputing)

Unlocking the bootloader and modifying the Xoom’s firmware probably voids Motorola’s warranty. But, at least Moto has provided that option to let people make their own choice on whether or not to experiment with a tablet that cost them $800 ($600 with 2-year Verizon contract).

The Motorola Xoom Android OS 3.0 tablet is available for pre-order from Best Buy now and should be delivered later this week. I’m not buying the $800 3G model since I don’t want yet another monthly fee. I’m waiting for the WiFi-only model to appear (soon I hope). If you ordered your Xoom and am eagerly awaiting its delivery, there is one small missing feature you should be aware of according to PC World.

Hard Sell: Motorola’s $800 Xoom Tablet, No Flash Support

Personally, I think this is a non-issue since the mobile world has appeared to not care much about Adobe Flash on mobile platforms like phones and tablets. Xoom’s biggest problem is its big price, not the lack of Adobe Flash. At $800 the 32GB Xoom costs $70 more than the 32GB iPad 3G model. The lack of a lower end WiFi only price anchor is going to be a problem for this tablet despite its attractive hardware specifications.

Business Insider says that the $800 price for a Motorola Xoom 3G model is official and correct.

OFFICIAL: Motorola’s Xoom Tablet Will Cost $600 For WiFi, $800 For 3G

It also notes that the WiFi-only Xoom will be a somewhat more affordable $600. Despite the Xoom’s hardware advantages over the WiFi-only iPad, it will still get compared to the low-end (16GB) iPad’s $500 starting price. It will also have to compete with the iPad’s rich and huge app library. So, while the Xoom’s value many justify its price, there is a different equation running through the heads of consumers.

Then, there’s this item in the Wall Street Journal.

Motorola Executive Defends Tablet Price Tag

Motorola’s Sanjay Jha apparently took on the task to defend the Xoom’s pricing at this weeks Mobile World Congress. But, here’s the thing that comes to my admitedly average consumer mind: If you have to defend your price, it is too high.

Video courtesy of Popscivideo

When I saw Popular Science tweet that their March issue had a Augmented Reality (AR) cover, I tapped the link to find out what was going on. It turned out to have a mobile angle since the AR example was of the Motorola Xoom Android tablet. Unfortunately, the web page with an demo of the AR experience does not work with Chrome OS on a Mac. It told me to try it with the Safari browser. Unfortunately, under Safari I was told it needed Adobe Shockwave. Wait, Shockwave? How retro! And, oh yes, it turns out that Shockwave for the Mac requires Safari run in 32-bit mode. At this point I lost interest in the effort and turned to the canned YouTube video demo (see above).