Alfred's musings

I've been slightly subdued in my praise for my Xoom thus far, but I think that was completely unwarranted. I have now grown to be so fond of it, that I'd really complain if I had to loose it! Let me just give you a few snippets of scenarios where it was exceptionally good: I recently had to spend a lot of time supporting someone in hospital, and it served as a brilliant single device that allowed me to work, play, relax and even entertain the patient. The one thing that surprised me, was how well it worked as a "radio" in the hospital room, for a bit of news and background music. (Granted - the hospital had a brilliant guest wifi network, which made all the difference.) Travelling... I don't go anywhere without it. I frequently take a MacBook or Chromebook too, but the Xoom fits nicely in the same sleeve as the laptop, and it much better to use on a flight. I've caught my elderly parents reading up on a topic of interest on wikipedia on the Xoom... despi...

I've just figured out how I could get more email on my Xoom. Let me explain... it's not that I'm not getting enough email... it's more that not enough email is cached offline for me to work on while on a flight. The key is to look for "labels" in the settings under the account you are syncing. There you'll find the ability to specify how long to keep sync for. Now, I'll have enough to keep me busy even on a flight to South Africa!

I've done two things to physically protect my zoom, and both feel like a bit of a compromise: a) I've added a screen protector and b) a folding case. For the screen protector, I bought something like the thin plastic stick-on screen protectors you get for other phones and devices. On my Nexus One and Nexus S, this worked very well. But with the 10.1" screen of the Xoom meant that fitting it was *much* harder. The alignment is harder to get perfect, and getting all the bubbles out was hard work. And then, despite meticulous cleaning, a dust particle or three still got stuck under the surface, some very visible. I'm not criticising the product I bought, but rather the trade-off. I might very well remove this from the screen soon, the remaining bubbles, dust and corners that curl up where it does not sit perfectly is too great a cost I think. The folding case is the original Motorola accessory, and it's OK. It's very rugged, so would probably save the Xoom ...

I got my Xoom primarily for a work-while-you-travel device... something to ensure I can be more productive on the road. It's living up to the expectation thus far mostly. (One gotcha is that I've got wifi only, and even if it had 3G, I'm frequently traveling abroad where I can't roam without paying a fortune.) But today I was struck by another benefit: This *second screen* next to my laptop is very handy. Especially for VC (through Google Talk Video) is awesome. The UI is good and the video & audio quality  is exceptional, even compared to using the Mac. Also - I find myself glancing at the tablet's home screen with next meeting & other such headline info... which is really valuable as a second screen. Loving it! And I shocked by Samsung Apple debacle . As some might consider it close to home, I will rather not comment!

I received my shiny new Motorola Xoom on Friday, and I'm loving it! For those uncertain what it is... it's a Android 3.x Tablet... think iPad 2-ish, but with less apples and more Googleberries. I'll try and post my experiences with this new device as it happens, so that you can get a sense of what it might be like. I came in to London to pick it up. It was green! I thought it might just have a green gel cover, but it's green. 2/3 of the back cover is metal and green. (I like it this way, and it reminded me of my first Audi A3 - which was paradise green... a bit glow-in-the-dark green-ish the Audi was!) The power supply is small, and the plug to the Xoom a round one, so I have to carry another (small) power supply on my travels. Then I got on the train back home, and tethered it to my Nexus S... and that worked like a charm. Easy to set up, and all worked perfectly. It's heavy-ish - it's really best to use if you can rest it against something. You don...