Motorola officially announced on Wednesday that it is now upgrading its Xoom Wi-Fi tablets to the Ice Cream Sandwich version of Android, effective immediately. Version 4.0.3 will be an over-the-air software upgrade in stages for all current Xoom tablet owners.
The new operating system brings many user interface updates and new functionality such as:
- Updated browser with faster rendering
- Redesigned app launcher
- Richer resizable widgets
- More versatile imaging capabilities
- Data Manager to control your network data usage
- Type via voice capability
- People application – throughout the system, social groups, profiles, contacts are all linked together to create easy access and more integration in your communications
- Gallery app redesign
It makes sense for the Xoom to see Ice Cream Sandwich before other tablets on the market: The devices offers a “pure Google Experience” and was the tablet used to show off Android 3.0, also known as Honeycomb, at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show.
My own use of the Xoom with Honeycomb showed a tablet and operating system that were rushed to market; It took several months for key software and hardware features to arrive on the device. Even though I have concerns about the inconsistency of Android 4.0 on a tablet compared to phones, the overall Android experience should be much better on the Xoom with the updated software.
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