Motorola XOOM vs Apple iPad 2

We recently compared the Motorola XOOM with the original iPad and the XOOM emerged victorious. Now with the iPad 2 just around the corner, we confirm its suspected specs against the mighty XOOM to see which tablet will reign supreme in 2011.

Display
The XOOM boasts a 10.1-inch display with a resolution of 1280x800 pixels and 16:9 aspect ratio support, which is ideal for watching videos and browsing the web.

Despite rumours a plenty of a 7-inch iPad, it’s looking increasing likely that it will be the same size as the original iPad at 9.7-inches – apparently, it needs to be for a proper tablet experience. 

That said, Apple is reported to be including its Retina display on the iPad 2 – or double the resolution. Either way it should be very impressive. Debate concerning this aspect of the iPad 2 has been rife with some experts claiming it’s impossible to get that kind of resolution on screen the size of the one on the iPad 2.

We’re not sure which way it’ll play out – but rest assured Apple will come to the tablet with something bigger, better and more impressive that the original iPad’s display.

So for this reason, we’re putting our money on the iPad 2 – so don’t disappoint us Apple.

Winner: iPad 2

Processor
The XOOM was the first tablet to include NVIDIA's Tegra 2 1GHz dual-core processor, which allows for faster multitasking and a super slick user experience, as well as 1080p video among other things. There’s also 1GB of RAM on board too, which will really ramp things up in the speed stakes.

Apple has managed to keep up with Motorola with regards to the processor in the iPad 2, as it is strongly suspected to feature a dual-core A9 processor, the same as used in the BlackBerry Playbook, and also 1GB of RAM – a massive step up from the 256MB featured in the original iPad.

Winner: Draw

Operating System
The XOOM is one of the first tablets to use the tablet-specific Android 3.0 operating system. This optimised system looks to include drag and drop homescreen management, Google eBooks, a new browser designed for larger screens and tablet optimised Gmail.

The iPad 2 will again be using the iOS platform with a few extra touches to update to 4.3. 

Reports suggest that new gestures will be used for getting back to the homescreen and for multitasking, and that FaceTime and PhotoBooth will be additions.

At present both operating systems are yet to be tested, so it would be difficult to pick a winner – the age old Android vs. iOS debate continues…

Winner: Draw

Applications
The Android Market is growing continuously, but still lags behind the App Store at this stage in terms of what is available – although there is a lot more free content on the Android Market.

The App Store from Apple constantly goes from strength to strength and this is something that is set to continue in 2011. For instance, iOS4.3 will see the addition of new a subscription based payment system that will make the platform even more attractive to publishers.

Rupert Murdoch is the first big name publisher to utilise this new system with the first iPad-only daily newspaper, The Daily.

Winner: iPad 2