Now what you see below is the teaser clip they’ve released, but it is basically just a few different clips from previously released commercial by Samsung knocking the iPhone 4S and the crowds waiting in line to get something they already have. It looks like different cuts from their previous ad spots and we have all those linked to below for your viewing pleasure.

While these commercials were originally showing off the Galaxy S II it appears they’ll use part of them to show the world the “next big thing” and that it is already here — that being the Samsung Galaxy Note and its 5.3″ Super AMOLED HD display of course. What better stage to feature a huge 90 second commercial then the Super Bowl when millions and millions of people will be watching. You have to hand it to Samsung for daring to attack Apple, and spend all that cash for the big day. Last year a 30 second ad cost around $3 million on FOX so we have a feeling they’ve spent at least $10 million + for this years ad spot.

Will a long commercial make you buy the Samsung Galaxy Note, or will it just be the perfect moment to grab another beer before the next big play by the Giants defense?

Unfortunately, the list of initial supported devices leaves something to be desired. HTC customers can use the Desire, Desire S, Desire HD, Incredible S and the Sensation, while Samsung owners only get the Galaxy S and Galaxy S II. Even limiting themselves to the top two Android OEMs, that’s a depressingly small number of phones, and Samsung’s family of Galaxy Tabs (where a video app would be most welcome) seem to be left out in the cold. Sky said nothing about expanding support to more phones or tablets, or adding more manufacturers.

That said, it’s encouraging to see more and more media producers awaken to the reality of the mobile landscape. Time Warner could take a lesson – their Android app is still limited to remote control functions, while iOS users get the full Monty of video channels. Limited device support will be a pain, and echoes the woes of Netflix’s early Android app, but rest assured someone out there will make a modded universal version sooner rather than later.

Appropriately, HTC Hub broke the news and brought the YouTube video to the attention of the Internet. The three-minute spy video doesn’t show much – it appears to be the Ville in an office somewhere, probably being tested before a carrier announcement, almost certainly in Europe. While it’s claimed that the hardware on display is a prototype, it looks pretty complete as-is, even including the HTS SENSE tag on the back battery cover. Speaking of which, the skin running on Android appears to be Sense UI 4.0. That implies (but doesn’t guarantee) that the phone is running Ice Cream Sandwich. The software menu states that both Sense 4 and Android 4.0.1 are running. Interestingly, the model on display uses the three Ice Cream Sandwich navigation buttons, but they’re capacitive buttons below the screen.

Check it out for yourself below – unfirtunately, 360p is the best we’re going to get for the moment.

The HTC Ville’s rumored specs are as follows: a dual-core 1.5Ghz processor powers a 4.3-inch screen running at qHD resolution. That’s not mind-boggling by any means, though the Ville is expected to use an AMOLED display panel. The Ville is expected to be the thinnest HTC device to date at just 8.4mm 0 for refference, that’s almost exactly in between a DROID RAZR and DROID RAZR MAXX. Not bad for a company known for rather bulky designs. The Ville is expected to have a formal unveiling at Mobile World Congress in late february, along with the new quad-core flagship, the HTC Edge.

Ports are one thing but a build by CyanogenMod makes this even better. The folks from Netbooknews took it for a spin and while it’s not quite complete or fully stable, it looks great so far. This appears to be Android 4.0.1 Ice Cream Sandwich and not 4.0.3 but I’m sure that will come in due time.

Obviously the Galaxy Tab is a bit old and only sports a 7″ 1024 x 600 resolution display and a single-core 1.0 GHz processor but things seem to be chugging along great. If the Nexus S can run it fine, the Galaxy Tab should too even with the larger screen.

According to the awesome folks over at the XDA thread just about everything works so far, although it still needs a little bit of work. WiFi, Bluetooth, touch, and everything else seems great although they still have a few issues to work out with the camera and overall performance.

It’s a great start for CM9 that is for sure. Hit the XDA link above to get started yourself.

Device Specifications and Information

Device Info

Device Name : Galaxy Tab

Manufactuer : Samsung

Carrier : AT&T T-Mobile

Announced Date : September 02, 2010

Release Date : October 14, 2010

Also Known As :

Display

• Screen Size : 7.00 Inch
• Resolution : 1024x600
• Screen Type : TFT

Dimension & Weight

• Height : 7.48 Inch
• Width : 4.74 Inch
• Depth : 0.47 Inch
• Weight : 380 Grams

Battery & Power

Battery Type:
• Lithium Ion

• Battery Capacity : 4000 mAh
• Talk Time : NA
• Stand By Time : 650 hours

Software

Android OS:
• 3.0.x

Audio Playback:
• AAC
• AAC+
• AMR
• MID
• MP3
• WAV
• WMA

Video Playback:
• h.263
• h.264 / AVC
• MPEG-4 (MP4)

Messaging:
• SMS

Hardware

CPU : Cortex A8

CPU Clock Speed : 1000 Mhz

Core : 1

Ram : 512 MB

Internal Storage : 32.768 GB

Front Facing Camera :

Camera Resolution : 3 MP

External Storage:
• MicroSD
• MicroSDHC

Camera Features:
• Auto focus
• Flash

Sensors:
• Accelerometer
• Ambient light
• Proximity

QWERTY :

Cellular Network

Network Technology:
• GSM

GSM Band:
• 850
• 900
• 1800
• 1900

Device Connectivity

Wi-Fi:
• 802.11b
• 802.11g
• 802.11n

Bluetooth:
• Bluetooth 3.0

Location Features:
• Compass
• GPS
• Cellular location
• Wi-Fi location

FM Radio :

NFC :

I’m a fan of these commercials personally but some might think they poke fun a little too much, or are obnoxious. Maybe it’s because they are brutally honest. Either way they are worth a quick look so we have them right here for you. The first video introduces an iPhone user than is then suckered into Android by a cute blonde flirting her way into his heart. While the ad is good, do don’t need those tactics in real life because Android does all the work for us with it’s awesome features.

Is it just me or does the guy act like a 13 year old that has never talked to a girl before? Just saying.

Then the next new video by Samsung is much shorter — and basically just a follow-up to past “barista” commercials like the original we all loved (linked to below). In this new video the barista talks to his Galaxy S II empowered friends about the speeds of 4G.

So what do you guys think? Were these as good as the originals from last year, or a bit too casual this time around? I know over the holidays I had a few family members loving my Galaxy Nexus and trying to trade me.

The window is small – only about 1.5 inches diagonal on the Galaxy Nexus – and allows you to drag it around the screen just like a Windows, OS X or Linux program. This in turn allows you access app controls that are temporarily “beneath” the video player, making nearly full control of almost any app possible while still keeping your video going. It can even play multiple videos at time, thanks to its widget-style player windows. It works on just about anything, including (usefully) tablets.

The video windows are resizeable, and a series of multi-touch gestures that allow dragging and navigation controls. This might not seem overly useful, but consider tutorial videos or newsreels where the actual video isn’t totally essential, and you can see the utility that the developer had in mind. It is a paid app, going for $1.49 at the time of writing. Reviews are almost universally positive at the moment – just don’t use it with Navigation like one of the provided screenshots.

[via Reddit]

The teaser video seriously doesn’t reveal much other than some sort of universal infrared or other powered remote control system — being demoed on a Sony Ericsson Xperia handset shown in the image above. This appears to be a very simple application that will power on and control things like TV’s, music players, an old gramophone and more but they show it off in a different light then you’d expect. Check out the video so you can be as confused as I am.

You can see they aim the Xperia handset towards each device making us believe this is a Infrared type system but it really could be anything. The user interface appears to only be a “dot” on the screen for simple on/off toggle or switching these devices on but that is about all it reveals. According to the splash at the end this “new entertainment” will be announced on February 21st — a day before the Sony PS Vita. IR isn’t too popular on US handsets but many of Sony’s other markets have the feature so we aren’t fully sure what to expect — but will be sure to follow along for more details.

[via SlashGear]

The capacitive buttons are also working, together with the back buttons, and it’s now possible to mount an SD card. Audio is functional – though the HDMI output only delivers video, not sound, at present – and the various sensors (including the digital compass) work.

However a sleep bug remains, preventing the Adam tablet to come out of sleep mode unless a tweak is made to the WiFi settings, and the tablet’s rotating camera is also non-functional. USB isn’t working – either for mass-storage, flash drives or other purposes – and 3G won’t work either. The light sensor remains obstinate, and HQ-quality YouTube videos don’t access hardware acceleration.

Notion Ink has also decided to play a lower profile in the media, perhaps stung by negative feedback to the original Adam after its launch. The company promises a news update on the next-gen hardware next week.

You can download the ICS alpha here.

Both have NFC, HDMI outputs capable of 1080p Full HD video, and 12-megapixel main cameras that can record Full HD too. Front-facing 1.3-megapixel cameras are used for video calls and vanity shots, and there’s the usual WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS along with Sony’s Timescape interface.

Sony Xperia ion hands-on:

Sony also revealed some compact NFC tags, which can be used to launch apps or to instantly switch the Xperia handsets into different preset modes; you could have one on your nightstand, for instance, and automatically toggle the smartphone into silent mode before bed. The Xperia ion will arrive on AT&T sometime in Q2, while the Xperia S will arrive in the same quarter on various carriers. No pricing as yet.

More information in our full Xperia ion hands-on and Xperia S hands-on over at SlashGear.

Full details on the Google Maps game haven’t been revealed, but it looks like the floorplan data is used to track users as they move around and collect points. We’ve seen location-based gaming before, but Google’s heft and the huge number of Android devices in the wild could mean it finally takes hold in the mainstream.

As for the current Google Maps app, that also has new battery improvements that reduce power consumption for Latitude users, while the Transit Navigation beta can now use vehicle speed to figure out positioning if the GPS fix is lost. There are also more public transport route options shown by default.

Google Maps is a free download for Android devices.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

The ASUS MeMO 171 features a 7″ 1280 x 800 IPS display with great viewing angles and exceptionally great colors and brightness. Unlike it’s recently unveiled brother this model doesn’t have the quad-core, instead it will be offered with the Qualcomm 1.2 GHz dual-core processor and 1 GB of RAM.

Again, this 7″ tablet isn’t as thin as the popular Transformer Prime but they’ve packed all that power into a smaller package so that is one thing to consider. The MeMO 171 has micro-USB, micro-HDMI and even micro-SD for extra storage. For those unfamiliar it also has a stylus hiding in the bezel below that doubles as a great handle while using in landscape mode. Around back is a 5 megapixel camera and they’ve tossed a 1.2 MP front for video calling.

ASUS has added an integrated MeMic bluetooth headset for superior audio quality and hands-free calling — yes hands-free calling. Currently only slated for a Europe debut this tablet features GSM radios and was actually rocking a T-Mobile SIM (as seen below). According to ASUS they have no immediate plans to bring this to the US but that could change at any moment. They also state it will be upgraded to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich “soon”. Enjoy the hands-on video and pictures below.

Panoramic photos are always fun to do, especially if you are in NYC or Vegas and with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich Google has made it easier than ever. I remember trying to align the pictures with my old Sony Ericsson to get a good panoramic picture but those days are long gone. The simple and elegant video demonstration below shows just how awesome it really is — not to mention gives you a look at the equally beautiful Galaxy Nexus.

Not only does the camera and ICS have this, but they’ve also incorporated a stock time-lapse feature into the camera that is equally impressive and works amazingly well. Just go into the camera, choose video, hit menu and find the time-lapse feature to get started.

I’ll be sure and take a few awesome panoramic pictures with my Galaxy Nexus during CES next week and share a few with our readers. Stay tuned for all the news you can handle over the next week.

Device Specifications and Information

Device Info

Device Name : GALAXY Nexus

Manufactuer : Samsung

Carrier : Verizon

Announced Date : October 18, 2011

Release Date : December 15, 2011

Also Known As : Nexus Prime

Display

• Screen Size : 4.65 Inch
• Resolution : 1280x720
• Screen Type : Super AMOLED

Dimension & Weight

• Height : 5.33 Inch
• Width : 2.67 Inch
• Depth : 0.35 Inch
• Weight : 135 Grams

Battery & Power

Battery Type:
• Lithium Ion

• Battery Capacity : 1750 mAh
• Talk Time : NA
• Stand By Time : NA

Software

Android OS:
• 4.0.x

Audio Playback:
• AAC
• AAC+
• AMR
• MID
• MP3
• WAV
• WMA

Video Playback:
• h.263
• h.264 / AVC
• MPEG-4 (MP4)

Messaging:
• SMS
• MMS

Hardware

CPU : OMAP 4460

CPU Clock Speed : 1200 Mhz

Core : 2

Ram : 1000 MB

Internal Storage : 32 GB

Front Facing Camera :

Camera Resolution : 5 MP

Camera Features:
• Auto focus
• Flash
• 1080p Video Recording

Sensors:
• Accelerometer
• Ambient light
• Proximity

QWERTY :

Cellular Network

Network Technology:
• GSM
• CDMA

GSM Band:
• 850
• 900
• 1800
• 1900

Device Connectivity

Wi-Fi:
• 802.11b
• 802.11g
• 802.11n

Bluetooth:
• Bluetooth 3.0

Location Features:
• Compass
• GPS
• Cellular location
• Wi-Fi location

FM Radio :

NFC :

In case you didn’t know, the Thrive might not be the thinnest or remotely close to being the prettiest tablet around — but it does have a slew of ports and options making it a viable option for those heavy with multimedia and gaming. Here at Android Community we use its full array of USB and HDMI ports to stream games like Riptide GP and Shadowgun to our HDTV and then use the Logitech game controller for an even better gaming experience. Hands-on demonstrations can be seen in the timeline of links below.

The deal is for a refurbished model, but for $279 you’ll get a 10.1″ Android 3.2 Honeycomb tablet with an NVIDIA dual-core Tegra 2 processor speeding along at 1.0 GHz, 1GB of RAM, a pair of cameras and like mentioned above — all the ports one would ever need. With WiFi and an SD slot you’ll never have to worry about running out of internal storage either. Check out our review linked to below and then hurry and make up your mind as this deal wont last for long. Woot deals are “daily” so it will only be available for a short time.

Woot.com

Device Specifications and Information

Device Info

Device Name : Thrive

Manufactuer : Toshiba

Carrier : NA

Announced Date : June 01, 2010

Release Date : July 01, 2011

Also Known As :

Display

• Screen Size : 10.1 Inch
• Resolution : 1280x800
• Screen Type : IPS LCD

Dimension & Weight

• Height : 10.75 Inch
• Width : 6.97 Inch
• Depth : 0.62 Inch
• Weight : 725 Grams

Battery & Power

Battery Type:
• Lithium Ion

• Battery Capacity : 2030 mAh
• Talk Time : NA
• Stand By Time : 11 hours

Software

Android OS:
• 3.1.x

Audio Playback:
• AAC
• AAC+
• AMR
• MID
• MP3
• WAV

Video Playback:
• h.263
• h.264 / AVC
• MPEG-4 (MP4)

Hardware

CPU : Tegra 2

CPU Clock Speed : 1000 Mhz

Core : 2

Ram : 1024 MB

Internal Storage : 32 GB

Front Facing Camera :

Camera Resolution : 5 MP

External Storage:
• SD

Camera Features:
• Auto focus
• 720p Video Recording

Sensors:
• Accelerometer
• Ambient light
• Proximity

QWERTY :

Cellular Network

Network Technology:
• GSM

GSM Band:
• 850
• 900
• 1800
• 1900

Device Connectivity

Wi-Fi:
• 802.11b
• 802.11g
• 802.11n

Bluetooth:
• Bluetooth 3.0

Location Features:
• Compass
• GPS
• Wi-Fi location

FM Radio :

NFC :

No more searching for a USB cable or removing the micro-SD card to add pictures or videos from your Android device to the computer. You can do everything completely hassle and wire-free using SugarSync. Once you download and get all the settings and set up finished the rest is completely automatic and requires no action from the user.

SugarSync is calling this a “zero-step” process for getting pictures and video on your computer. When you capture video it will detect and upload the video to the cloud (in the background) then transfer your movies right to your PC. SugarSync knows that tiered mobile plans are also an issue and will not sync videos over 3G/4G and instead will wait for a WiFi connection to start the process — with no interaction from the user. Even if you have pictures set to sync over 3G it knows to wait for WiFi with large video files.

I’ve used this a bit in the past but Google+ was doing most of this for me, but not video. And now with AutoSync for video I’ll be using this plenty in the future. I have a feeling this could come in handy for those special or urgent moments. For those looking for an extremely quick, easy, and hassle-free way to get all their content right to their PC look no further than SugarSync — update available now. Check out AirDroid too if you haven’t already.

SugarSync Market Link

At this time we don’t have a lot of details regarding the root method other than they are using their new Nachoroot tool to gain and secure the exploit. Whoever thinks up these names should work for Motorola and get some better ideas out than the XOOM.

Justin Case from TeamAndIRC hasn’t yet released more details or when the root method will be released but we should be seeing it any day now. The chance that they are holding out til after the Android 4.0 update coming January 12th is a possibility now that ASUS has confirmed its date. We are assuming they’ll want to wait on releasing the root method so ASUS can’t patch it — just in case (get it?). Here is a little video released showing the Prime rooted and fully working. We can expect to hear more details and see a release soon so stay tuned.

Device Specifications and Information

Device Info

Device Name : Transformer Prime

Manufactuer : Asus

Carrier : NA

Announced Date : November 09, 2011

Release Date : TBA

Also Known As : Transformer 2

Display

• Screen Size : 10.10 Inch
• Resolution : 1280x800
• Screen Type : IPS+

Dimension & Weight

• Height : 10.35 Inch
• Width : 7.12 Inch
• Depth : .33 Inch
• Weight : 586 Grams

Battery & Power

Battery Type:
• Lithium Polymer

• Battery Capacity : 6579 mAh
• Talk Time : NA
• Stand By Time : NA

Software

Android OS:
• 3.2.x

Audio Playback:
• AAC
• AAC+
• MP3
• WMA

Video Playback:
• h.263
• h.264 / AVC
• MPEG-4 (MP4)

Hardware

CPU : Tegra 3

CPU Clock Speed : 1400 Mhz

Core : 4

Ram : 1024 MB

Internal Storage : 64 GB

Front Facing Camera :

Camera Resolution : 8 MP

External Storage:
• MicroSD
• MicroSDHC

Camera Features:
• Auto focus
• Flash
• 1080p Video Recording

Sensors:
• Accelerometer
• Ambient light

QWERTY :

Cellular Network

Device Connectivity

Wi-Fi:
• 802.11b
• 802.11g
• 802.11n

Bluetooth:
• Bluetooth 3.0

Location Features:
• Compass
• GPS
• Wi-Fi location

FM Radio :

NFC :

[via Twitter, via Droid-Life]

This is actually a pretty great added bonus for Xperia owners and I can imagine a few people are happy to hear the news. Sadly there is a small catch and this isn’t available for everyone. This deal or freebie actually only applies to France, Germany, Spain, Italy, the UK and Australia. We could see more added later but for now that is all we get. Hopefully Sony will open this up for all their users.

The image above shows the dates and more information but basically if you purchase or own an Xperia device from November 1st to January 31st 2012 you are eligible for this deal. We aren’t sure if this has been available since the first of November or if Sony is just offering this to a wider audience of buyers. Sony’s Music Unlimited is a great service and getting 90 days free will give many a first hand look at what their missing — although things like Spotify are a great alternative too. Head down to Sony Ericsson to get started if this applies to you and your Xperia.

[via Phandroid]

For more details on MOTO ACTV feel free to start by looking over our hands-on video and our complete ACTV Guide from the timeline links below. Motorola states the update will become available December 21st but so far we aren’t seeing it live on the MOTO ACTV forums yet. Either way this device just got even more useful not to mention battery saving features that will help it last through an entire marathon.

The new update that should be available starting sometime today will bring plenty of new features and some of those include: 3 new battery modes with normal, extended, and Marathon mode that will last for around 8 hours. They’ve also added stopwatch — a feature I’m amazed wasn’t in the device at launch, and a suite of different timepiece faces to change the look of your clocks. Again the update is scheduled to hit today but our review device isn’t showing anything but most likely this will be a download right from the MOTO ACTV forums linked to below.

For those rocking out with an ACTV let us know how the update goes and what clock face is your favorite.

Device Specifications and Information

Device Info

Device Name : MOTOACTV

Manufactuer : Motorola

Carrier : NA

Announced Date : October 18, 2011

Release Date : TBA

Also Known As :

Display

• Screen Size : 1.6 Inch
• Resolution :
• Screen Type : NA

Dimension & Weight

• Height : 1.81 Inch
• Width : 1.81 Inch
• Depth : .378 Inch
• Weight : 35 Grams

Battery & Power

Battery Type:
• Lithium Ion

• Battery Capacity : mAh
• Talk Time : NA
• Stand By Time : NA

Software

Audio Playback:
• AAC+
• AMR
• MP3
• WAV
• WMA

Hardware

CPU :

CPU Clock Speed : 600 Mhz

Core : 1

Ram : NA

Internal Storage : 16.00 GB

Front Facing Camera :

Camera Resolution : NA

Sensors:
• Accelerometer
• Ambient light

QWERTY :

Cellular Network

Device Connectivity

Wi-Fi:
• 802.11b
• 802.11g
• 802.11n

Bluetooth:
• Bluetooth 3.0

Location Features:
• Compass
• GPS

FM Radio :

NFC :

[via MOTO ACTV Forums]

OK maybe I’ll comment a little bit. First off I’d love to have that Galaxy Nexus desk dock shown in the video — not to mention having Santa calling me. The XOOM with Ice Cream Sandwich would be awesome. It’s already been compiled by developers but an official update is probably coming soon. The best part is they wish us specifically, (Android Community) a Happy Holidays. Fun!

I’m still watching this hoping to see a glimpse or hint at something fun like a Nexus Tablet (shown behind the tablet singers) but sadly I’m having no such luck. This just appears to be a fun holiday filled video from our friends at building 44 — Google HQ. Did anyone notice the Galaxy Tab 10.1 behind the Santa Loot window? Maybe you’ll get one this Christmas.

What does everyone want for Christmas this year? If you could have one Android device what would you choose?

Yesterday Google teased everyone that something was coming for Android fans today and while many were starting to speculate on an update for the Nexus One to Ice Cream Sandwich (dreaming) or maybe some sort of Nexus Tablet instead we have this video/game. While it’s nothing major I’m still quite excited and after I finish sharing the news with all my fellow followers and readers I’ll be sure to get back into my ninja suit and beat the game myself.

Yes, the unboxing turns into an 8bit Atari-style video game that is completely awesome. Basically you need to head down to YouTube immediately and play it by clicking here. Make sure to come back to Android Community though and see all of our coverage of the Galaxy Nexus and past unboxing videos from the timeline neatly laid out below.

Enjoy Ninjas!

Update: The Nexus Ninja Unboxing game is also available from the Android Market by clicking here.

Device Specifications and Information

Device Info

Device Name : GALAXY Nexus 4G [Verizon]

Manufactuer : Samsung

Carrier : Verizon

Announced Date : December 14, 2011

Release Date : December 15, 2011

Also Known As : Nexus Prime

Display

• Screen Size : 4.65 Inch
• Resolution : 1280x720
• Screen Type : Super AMOLED

Dimension & Weight

• Height : 5.33 Inch
• Width : 2.67 Inch
• Depth : 0.37 Inch
• Weight : 150 Grams

Battery & Power

Battery Type:
• Lithium Ion

• Battery Capacity : 1850 mAh
• Talk Time : NA
• Stand By Time : 150 hours

Software

Android OS:
• 4.0.x

Audio Playback:
• AAC
• AAC+
• AMR
• MID
• MP3
• WAV
• WMA

Video Playback:
• h.264 / AVC

Messaging:
• SMS
• MMS

Hardware

CPU : OMAP 4460

CPU Clock Speed : 1200 Mhz

Core : 2

Ram : 1000 MB

Internal Storage : 32 GB

Front Facing Camera :

Camera Resolution : 5 MP

Camera Features:
• Auto focus
• Flash
• 1080p Video Recording

Sensors:
• Accelerometer
• Ambient light
• Proximity

QWERTY :

Cellular Network

Network Technology:
• CDMA

CDMA Band:
• 900
• 1900

Device Connectivity

Wi-Fi:
• 802.11b
• 802.11g
• 802.11n

Bluetooth:
• Bluetooth 3.0

Location Features:
• Compass
• GPS
• Cellular location
• Wi-Fi location

FM Radio :

NFC :

[via +Android]

We have an unboxing video and some hands-on with a few accessories from Motorola below but for now we’ll focus on this portable slate, its goofy name, and the hardware under the hood.

Hardware
The original Xoom was the first Honeycomb tablet and first with a dual-core NVIDIA processor — not counting that awful FroYo powered Viewsonic G-Tablet. The hardware was nice but compared to the iPad it was a bit on the heavy/thicker side and wasn’t the easiest to hold for long periods. The DROID XYBOARDS have completely took a new direction. They are thin, lightweight, and powerful but other than those key points this is still a XOOM if you ask me.

The new XYBOARD 8.2 feels great, has an eye-pleasing matte finish that is surprisingly easy to hold coming in at 216 x 139.8 x 8.99 mm and 390g — although it wont win any beauty contests. Sadly the power button is still on the rear. I hate flipping it over to make sure I hit the right button — or guessing and hitting the volume instead. Sadly this is one thing I’d really like to change but the sleek design didn’t make it extremely easy.

The specs are pretty similar but a few things have changed. Here we have an 8.2″ device with the same 1280 x 800 HD resolution. The processor has been swapped out to a faster dual-core 1.2 GHz SOC with 1GB of RAM, 32GB internal storage, 4G LTE, and a pair of cameras. The display is IPS and is a vast improvement over the first-gen XOOM so that is a plus. We have no SD slot but it does offer micro-USB (for charging) and I’m glad there isn’t a proprietary cable for that. It also sports an infrared port and can be used as a large universal remote when your not streaming content out the micro-HDMI.

Sadly it seems Motorola and Verizon rushed to market with these to meet this holiday sales time and this tablet is right on the edge of two important things. A quad-core processor and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. For someone that needs an excellent tablet with 4G connectivity right now though — this is great but its reign wont last long.

DROID XYBOARD 8.2 hands-on and unboxing

Software
The software is everything we’ve come to expect from Android 3.2 Honeycomb. Most tablets I’ve docked points if they have Gingerbread and while it’s too early to do the same with tablets and Ice Cream Sandwich, I just wish they’d have waited and released with the ice cold treat on board instead. What we do have though, is a larger DROID as Motorola has included their Blur UI changes that are present on all DROID phones. The changes to Honeycomb were extremely light and more to just match their other devices because it’s pretty minimal and performance is still excellent.

Being a DROID branded device it does have plenty of Verizon bloatware but you should be expecting that so I wont comment further there. We do have some worthwhile apps pre-loaded like Evernote and the awesome Madden 2012 NFL game. Not to mention Blockbuster, Amazon Kindle, and Netflix. Android 3.2 Honeycomb was more stable and smooth here than many in the past — including the original Xoom and the benchmarks below seem to back that up. I found zero slowdown from the changes by Motorola so that shouldn’t concern a potential buyer.

Benchmarks
As usual we like to run a few benchmarks to see how everything is performing and handling its day to day tasks and the XYBOARD 8.2 actually blew other tablets out of the water — not counting that quad-core Prime although we did get a higher Quadrant with this little guy. Rocking a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor and a 1280 x 800 resolution I wasn’t expecting much but I scored over 3100 in Quadrant (more than most tablets) and Vellamo was at the top of the charts. More info is in the full gallery below.

Camera
Motorola’s equipped these slates with a decent 5.0 megapixel camera on the rear with LED flash. Sadly just like many Motorola devices in the past while the UI is neat the shutter speed is extra slow and makes for a difficult time snapping a photo. Once I was able to hold still long enough for the awful autofocus and shutter speed I got a few decent shots. I’d rather use my smartphones camera but this will do if absolutely needed. Here’s a sample with more down below.

Battery Life
The XYBOARD 8.2″ is powered by a 3,980 mAh battery and is small enough that can be charged by a simple micro-USB cable. Charging from a computer or phone charger was extremely slow but the included charger did the job well. Using the tablet for some heavy Madden 2012 gaming followed by some benchmarks I found the need for a wall socket after around 6 hours which was pretty decent for the battery size. Other larger tablets pack a bigger punch so this seemed about average to me. Standby battery was excellent however — and using it off and on briefly without and major gaming sessions it’s been on for over 3 days with a single charge.

Accessories
Verizon and Motorola are offering a smart cover similar to the iPad 2 but the design was quite terrible and I couldn’t get it to work well enough to even warrant a photo. They do however offer an HD Dock for $59.99 from Verizon.com that works quite well and is universal to other Motorola devices — shown in the video sample below along with the wireless keyboard.

Wrap-Up & Value
Now value is determined more by the user and his/her needs. If you’d like a great WiFi tablet this is not for you. If you’re needing a 3G/4G capable tablet that also manages to be extremely portable and powerful this would probably be my first choice. With tethering and hotspots I’d rather get a cheaper WiFi model myself but that option isn’t available for everyone. Pricing start at $429.99 for the 16GB 8.2-inch version, all the way up to $729.99 for the 64GB 10.1-inch version — all with new 2-year contracts of course. They may be released as the XOOM 2 later with Wi-Fi only but for now Verizon is your only way into one of these tablets and sadly they are way too expensive.

Yes the new XYBOARD tablets are worthy successors to the original. They have amazing build quality, decent battery life and excellent performance but I can’t help it but want something more for the price. The unique design is nice and they do get a few added points for that. All in all I’ve enjoyed this tablet and been taking it everywhere with me all week but the price and handcuffs that come along with it have me thinking twice about a purchase. Everything you’d like to know about these tablets is available from our timeline, followed by the photo gallery and full specs below.

Device Specifications and Information

Device Info

Device Name : DROID XYBOARD 8.2

Manufactuer : Motorola

Carrier : Verizon

Announced Date : November 03, 2011

Release Date : December 09, 2011

Also Known As : XOOM 2 ME

Display

• Screen Size : 8.2 Inch
• Resolution : 1280x720
• Screen Type : NA

Dimension & Weight

• Height : 8.5 Inch
• Width : 5.47 Inch
• Depth : 0.35 Inch
• Weight : 386 Grams

Battery & Power

• Battery Capacity : mAh
• Talk Time : NA
• Stand By Time : NA

Software

Android OS:
• 3.2.x

Audio Playback:
• AAC
• AAC+
• AMR
• MP3
• WMA

Video Playback:
• h.264 / AVC
• MPEG-4 (MP4)

Hardware

CPU :

CPU Clock Speed : 1200 Mhz

Core : 2

Ram : 1024 MB

Internal Storage : 16 GB

Front Facing Camera :

Camera Resolution : 5 MP

Camera Features:
• Auto focus
• Flash

Sensors:
• Accelerometer
• Ambient light

QWERTY :

Cellular Network

Device Connectivity

Wi-Fi:
• 802.11b
• 802.11g
• 802.11n

Bluetooth:
• Bluetooth 2.0

Location Features:
• Compass
• GPS

FM Radio :

NFC :