Xoom

Software
May 11, 2011
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Android 3.1 (Honeycomb) update coming to Motorola XOOM ‘within the next several weeks’

By on May 11, 2011 at 11:49 AM.

Android 3.1 (Honeycomb) update coming to Motorola XOOM ‘within the next several weeks’

Motorola on Wednesday announced that the Android 3.1 Honeycomb update revealed by Google on Tuesday at its Google I/O 2011 conference will become available on the Motorola XOOM “within the next several weeks.” Google announced that the Verizon Wireless’ XOOM would be the first device to get the update, but there was some confusion surrounding when the new Honeycomb build might become available to devices. Motorola has now clarified that Android 3.1 will become available in the next few weeks and it will be delivered as an over the air (OTA) update. Forthcoming key additions in Android 3.1, as highlighted by Motorola, include support for the new Android movie rental service, full support for Adobe Flash Player 10.2, resizable home screen widgets, USB-connected peripheral support, expanded Bluetooth accessory support and simplified photo sharing between the XOOM and PCs. Hit the break for the full press release. More →

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Breaking
April 28, 2011
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Motorola Mobility ships 250,000 XOOM tablets in Q1; $3B in net revenues

By on April 28, 2011 at 4:28 PM.

Motorola Mobility ships 250,000 XOOM tablets in Q1; $3B in net revenues

In the company’s first-quarter earnings disclosure, Motorola Mobility finally put a number on XOOM tablet shipments: 250,000. “The Company shipped a total of 9.3 million mobile devices, including 4.1 million smartphones and more than 250,000 Motorola XOOM tablets,” reads the report. “In the first quarter of 2010, the Company shipped 8.5 million mobile devices, including 2.3 million smartphones.” Motorola Mobility also posted $3 billion in net revenues, up 22% year-over-year, with mobile device revenues of $2.1 billion, up 30% year-over-year. The company did post a GAAP net loss of $0.27 per share, however, which was down from a $0.72 share loss in the first-quarter of 2010. Motorola’s complete earnings statement is after the break. More →

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mobile
April 27, 2011
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Motorola willing to unlock future bootloaders… with carrier approval

By on April 27, 2011 at 3:50 PM.

Motorola willing to unlock future bootloaders… with carrier approval

“It is our intention to enable the unlockable/relockable bootloader currently found on Motorola XOOM across our portfolio of devices starting in late 2011, where carriers and operators will allow it.” Those were the words of Motorola in response to a very persistent customer. Irwin Proud, an Australian national, purchased a Motorola Atrix 4G during a recent trip to the United States. Proud acquired the handset hoping that Motorola would follow through on its promise to provide an unlocked-bootloader solution for developers — a promise that has yet to be fulfilled. One letter, a handful of emails, and an online petition later, the company responded to Proud’s request for more developer-friendly boot firmware, and it seems as though some users — pending carrier approval — may be getting their wish later this year. Hit the jump to see Motorola’s full response. More →

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Tablets
April 26, 2011
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More analyst estimates suggest terrible Motorola XOOM sales

By on April 26, 2011 at 11:31 AM.

More analyst estimates suggest terrible Motorola XOOM sales

Global Equities analyst Trip Chowdry on Monday became the latest analyst to take a shot at Motorola’s XOOM tablet, though Chowdry’s figures appear a bit suspect. The analyst claims Motorola Mobility manufactured between 500,000 and 800,000 XOOM tablets thus far, and he estimates that the company has only sold between 5% and 15% of those tablets. Chowdry thinks that Motorola may have sold as few as 25,000 units or as many as 120,000 XOOM tablets to date. Yes, a range that large is absurd — some might even call it an egregious disservice to Global Equities’ clients — but if Chowdry’s numbers are at all accurate, this could spell trouble for Motorola. While we argued that recent XOOM sales estimates didn’t render the XOOM a flop, if Motorola did in fact build nearly a million tablets and sell less than 100,000 units, “flop” might become an accurate descriptor. Of course if the XOOM was in fact selling at such a slow rate, Motorola would have likely cut its orders and slowed production, again leading us again to wonder if Chowdry spilled coffee on his notes before typing up these recent estimates. We should know more on Thursday when Motorola Mobility reports its earnings for the last quarter, though we’re not sure the company will disclose a breakdown of device sales. More →

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mobile
April 15, 2011
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Daily Android activations surpass 350,000 mark

By on April 15, 2011 at 8:30 AM.

Daily Android activations surpass 350,000 mark

In case you haven’t heard, Android is kind of a big deal. Some research firms say it’s already the world’s top smartphone operating system, having recently passed Symbian’s quarterly sales pace for the first time, and just about every firm on the planet is predicting that Android’s market share will continue to grow for the foreseeable future. And it’s not just hot air — Google on Thursday during its first-quarter earnings call revealed that daily Android activations have surpassed the 350,000 mark. That adds up to nearly 2.5 million Android activations each week and about 10.5 million activations each month. Google said in December of last year that it was activating 300,000 Android devices each day, and if it can maintain its current pace there’s no question it will achieve global market dominance for years to come.

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Exclusive
April 12, 2011
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Sprint getting Wi-Fi Motorola XOOM followed by WiMAX variant

By on April 12, 2011 at 6:00 PM.

Sprint getting Wi-Fi Motorola XOOM followed by WiMAX variant

This is just bizarre. We’ve independently confirmed that Sprint will be first selling the Wi-Fi version of the Motorola XOOM. That’s correct — the carrier will indeed be getting a Motorola XOOM with support for Sprint’s 4G WiMAX network — however, it won’t be for an unspecified amount of time. No word on whether this is due to technical issues related to Android Honeycomb or possibly an exclusive arrangement with Motorola and Verizon Wireless.

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Exclusive
April 11, 2011
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Confirmed: Sprint getting Motorola XOOM with WiMAX

By on April 11, 2011 at 7:11 PM.

Confirmed: Sprint getting Motorola XOOM with WiMAX

We exclusively reported Sprint would be getting an identical version of the Motorola XOOM sans LTE and adding a WiMAX radio, and we now have received a second confirmation — cases for the Motorola XOOM just started showing up at Sprint stores nationwide. No word on availability of the Motorola XOOM, but we’d anticipate it peeking it’s head up pretty soon.

Thanks, Adam! More →

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Opinions
April 6, 2011
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The Motorola XOOM is most certainly not a flop

By on April 6, 2011 at 3:30 PM.

The Motorola XOOM is most certainly not a flop

The Motorola XOOM is a flop, several blogs proclaimed today on news that Deutsche Bank analysts estimate that Motorola Mobility has only sold 100,000 XOOM tablets so far. Only? In an unproven market that is barely a year old, we’re looking at a brand new device that is selling at a rate of 75,000 units per month. We’re looking at a brand new device with a brand new operating system that is the first version of Android to address the tablet market. We’re looking at a brand new device that has likely pulled in more that $70 million in hardware sales. We’re looking at a brand new device that will also be responsible for millions of dollars each month in revenue for carriers and developers. But it’s a flop? More →

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Tablets
April 6, 2011
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Only 100,000 Motorola XOOM tablets sold so far, Deutsche Bank claims

By on April 6, 2011 at 10:46 AM.

Only 100,000 Motorola XOOM tablets sold so far, Deutsche Bank claims

Motorola Mobility has sold 100,000 Motorola XOOM units through the tablet’s first two months of availability, Deutsche Bank analysts claim. The firm arrived at the 100,000 figure by using the Android developer site to see how many people are currently using the Honeycomb OS. Dow Jones’ Shara Tibken notes in her wire report that Apple’s original iPad sold 300,000 units on its first day of availability alone, rendering sales of the XOOM less than impressive. Comparing XOOM sales to iPad sales makes for good chatter of course, but a sell rate of 50,000 units per month is certainly respectable for the Honeycomb tablet. Deutsche Bank states that the current estimated sales pace is in line with its estimates of 50,000 units in the first quarter and 150,000 in the second quarter of 2011. Motorola has not revealed official sales figures for the XOOM.

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mobile
April 5, 2011
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Motorola XOOM and ATRIX 4G sales are ‘disappointing,’ analyst claims

By on April 5, 2011 at 4:17 PM.

Motorola XOOM and ATRIX 4G sales are ‘disappointing,’ analyst claims

Another analyst has cut revenue estimates for Motorola Mobility, again citing poor sales of the company’s key products as the driving force behind the downward revision. Pacific Crest analyst James Faucette on Tuesday revised his full-year 2011 revenue estimates downward from $13.7 billion to $12.25 billion. Further emphasizing his position on Motorola, he revised his full-year 2012 revenue estimates down from $15.34 billion to $13.62 billion as well. “Based on our checks, we believe overall sell-through trends for of the Xoom and Atrix have been disappointing,” Faucette said in a note to investors. “In particular, we believe Atrix’s lower-than-forecast volumes are a result of the $49 iPhone 3GS and the HTC Inspire, which kept Atrix sales well below forecast in spite of the marketing focus put on the Atrix by AT&T.” Faucette’s note follows a similar note from RBC Capital Markets analyst Mark Sue last Friday, in which he cut Motorola sales estimates for both the first and second quarters of 2011.

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Business
April 1, 2011
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RBC cuts Motorola forecast citing competition, poor XOOM sales

By on April 1, 2011 at 2:50 PM.

RBC cuts Motorola forecast citing competition, poor XOOM sales

RBC Capital Markets analyst Mark Sue on Friday cut his price target for Motorola Mobility stock to $33 from his previous target of $38. Sue also lowered his first and second-quarter sales and revenue forecasts, citing increased competition and slow sales of Motorola’s XOOM tablet. Motorola anticipated a rough first quarter when it reported fourth-quarter and full-year 2010 earnings in January, but Sue now believes earlier estimates were still high. He notes increased competition from devices like the HTC ThunderBolt at key carrier partner Verizon Wireless in revising his first-quarter device sales estimate down to 9.2 million units from 9.9 million. Sue also shaved $100 million from his first-quarter revenue forecast, which now sits at $3 billion. In the second quarter, Sue now sees Motorola selling 10.5 million devices, which includes only 300,000 Motorola XOOM tablets — down from his earlier estimate of 400,000 XOOMs and 10.9 million total devices. Motorola anticipates a net loss of between $26 and $62 million in the first quarter of 2011.

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Tablets
March 22, 2011
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Motorola will stop building XOOM tablets after June, report claims [updated]

By on March 22, 2011 at 5:35 PM.

Motorola will stop building XOOM tablets after June, report claims [updated]

According to an unconfirmed report, Motorola is set to curtail production of its XOOM tablet beginning in April and production will cease after June. Industry watcher DigiTimes cites anonymous sources from within component suppliers in claiming that XOOM production in the first quarter of 2011 met forecasts of between 700,000 and 800,000 units. Motorola’s manufacturing partners are expected to ship between 400,000 and 500,000 units in March, and then April production will drop to 300,000 tablets. May’s production will reportedly dip further still and DigiTimes claims Motorola will stop building the XOOM at the end of June. The cause of the alleged drop in production is unclear, though the website’s sources speculate that Motorola may be uncertain about its position in the tablet market and will therefore slow production. They also speculate that Motorola may instead launch a new version of its XOOM tablet, which is the more likely scenario considering Motorola Mobility CEO Sanjay Jha’s previous comments with regard to the tablet market. Total XOOM shipments in 2011 are expected to be 3-5 million units, the report states.

UPDATE: Following the publication of this post, Motorola supplied BGR with a comment via email. The company states that DigiTimes’ report is not accurate, and Motorola will continue to manufacture the Motorola XOOM.

More →

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Exclusive
March 18, 2011
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Sprint’s CTIA announcements: HTC EVO 3D, HTC EVO View 4G, Motorola XOOM, much more

By on March 18, 2011 at 8:08 PM.

Sprint’s CTIA announcements: HTC EVO 3D, HTC EVO View 4G, Motorola XOOM, much more

We have just been informed of most of Sprint’s planned announcements at CTIA this year. There have been mumblings surrounding the two headline devices, but we finally have the information to share with you. To start things off, the HTC EVO 3D most certainly will be part of the announcement, and it’s going to be a pretty feature-packed handset. We’re talking about a 4.3-inch qHD 960 x 450-pixel Autostereoscopic 3D display, 4GB of RAM, 1GB ROM, 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm 8660 Snapdragon CPU, dual rear 5-megapixel cameras with dedicated camera button, 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, and 1730mAh battery. That’s not all, though. The HTC EVO 3D will run Android Gingerbread 2.3 with HTC Sense UI and it will also output 1080p video via HDMI and output 720p 3D content as well. There will also be a Blockbuster 3D on demand app as well as YouTube 3D. Check out the rest of our exclusive report after the break! More →

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