The Motorola Xoom

After a long period of study, I purchased a Motorola Xoom in mid December of 2011. I purchased the Wifi only model (the MZ604). I am particularly interested in the GPS receiver which is included in the Wifi only model. I purchased a recertified model from NewEgg at a good price. The Xoom 2 is due out any time, probably in early 2012, so this is an ideal time to grab the original model while they are being cleared out.

The Xoom 2 offers a slightly faster processer (1.2 instead of a 1.0 clock speed), and is a little thinner and lighter. I don't feel that any of these features are things I absolutely must have and pay top dollar for.

Here are some specs and details:

10.1 inch 1280 by 800 display (compare to iPad 9.7 inch 1024x768)
Nvidia Tegra 2 processor (dual core ARMv7 Cortex A9, w/ GeForce GPU)
1G RAM
32G of Flash, with micro SD card (32G uSD costs $40 or so)
2MP camera in the front (for use in teleconferencing I guess).
5MP camera in the back (can do 720p30 video) Dual LED lighting.

Xoom Hardware

See the Wikipedia article on the Xoom. The 3G version was released 2/24/2011 and the WiFi version was released 3/27/2011. It originally shipped with Android 3.0 Honeycomb. As of late 2011, versions in the US are running Android 3.2 Honeycomb. The 3.2 version is necessary to support the SIM card slot (micro SDHC). There are expectations that Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) will have an official version that runs on the Xoom.

See also the Motorola Spec Sheet on the WiFi Xoom They list product codes MZ604 and MZ606, mine is a MZ604. Apparently the 606 is sold in China with identical hardware to the 604.

The Screen is 1280 by 800 (which is a 16:9 aspect ratio). The screen is a 10.1 inch display, and supports video playback to 1080p at 30 Hz.

The iFixit site took a Xoom apart, saving me the bother of voiding my warrantee. It is held together with 57 T5 and T7 Torx screws, No proprietary fasteners. It contains a magnesium frame. One nice detail is that the LCD display and the protective glass are not bonded together (should you need to replace one or the other). They took apart a 3G unit without GPS (it had the Verizon Logo on it), but amazingly it seems to contain GPS hardware. Some chips inside include:

A Broadcom BCM4329 Wifi chip (also bluetooth and FM tuner).
A Broadcom BCM4750 aGPS chip.
A AKM 8975 electronic compass from chipworks.
A Qualcomm MDM6600 - HSPA+ to 14.4 Mbps.
Nvidia Tegra T2 dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 CPU and ultra-low power GeForce GPU.
An Atmel mXT1386 touchscreen controller.

The Xoom also has a built in microphone, as well as a combination headphone and microphone jack. This jack is called a TRRS jack and uses a 4 conductor 3.5mm plug for microphone/cell phone headsets. Conductors give left, right, microphone, and ground connection. However there seem to be two ways to wire this connector. Apparently headsets wired to work with Apple equipment will not work with the Xoom (the MIC and ground pins get switched on the different versions of the "standard".
For details see:

Tips

Battery life is said to be fantastic, a big selling point for me, but I am told to "be sure and calibrate the battery", whatever that means. It comes with an unlocked boot loader, making it easy to root and change roms, should I want to do that. Many people have reported doing this and then running the processor at 1.5 GHz, which is something I would want to carefully study before doing. The micro SD slot requires care when inserting the card so the card doesn't slip and drop inside the unit, where it rattles around and is very difficult to remove, take care. The 3.2 kernel is required to support the SD card slot, it calls the slot EXTERNAL1, and the internal flash SDCARD, which some people find confusing. Some people install a hacked version of G Voice for Xoom and are able to make phone calls via WiFi (dial out only). Search for "Google Voice Wifi Xoom Phone Calls" - this may also allow you to receive text messages. Something called "Tiamat" is a popular alternative "ROM" if you root the device.

My Xoom

It arrived shortly before Christmas of 2011. I was a recertified unit, but as of early 2013 I can report absolutely no problems; it has worked like a champ. I thought there was a problem where the charge LED was not coming on, but it turns out that is a feature, it only comes on when the unit is turned off. This is to avoid having a bright light in your eyes while you look at the screen. I am not sure what version of Android it shipped with, because it announced an upgrade was available and I installed it almost immediately. The update was "HTK75D" and gave me Android 3.2.1 - it seems fine.

Feedback? Questions? Drop me a line!

Gtopo / tom@mmto.org