Hands-On With Android 3.1 Around the Motorola Xoom

Google announced Android 3.1 earlier today at I/O. Far more surprising compared to OS by itself (which was anticipated, really) was that it absolutely was rolling out to Verizon Xooms right now. Google failed to announce when it was hitting other gadgets beside Google Television, that will get it this summer time, along with the Galaxy Tab 10.1, that can get it within the subsequent couple of weeks.

As announced, the UI is significantly the identical. You can’t inform 3.0 from 3.1 visually. 1 with the only apparent differences is that the widgets could be resized. Formerly, widgets like e-mail and bookmarks had a preset dimension - now they can be stretched and morphed to better fit a user’s preferences. The home button also returns you for the earlier selected homescreen rather than the main center 1.



It seems several of 3.1's modifications are beneath the hood. The Xoom I’m utilizing is noticeably faster. The app screen loads almost instantly, as do many apps. I’m no more time searching at a black display screen whilst switching between apps, either. However the Quadrant benchmarking app disagrees. My 3.0.1 Xoom scored 1824 whilst the 3.1 scored 1580. The simple answer is maybe that Quadrant wants to get recompiled for 3.1.

3.1 also addressed a lot of issues with all the browser. It now supports HTML5 video clip, enhanced CSS 3D, as well as now becoming ready to help save pages for offline viewing. But I don’t really care about those functions. All I care about is the fact that it’s quicker, and pinch-to-zoom is as sleek as the iPad’s. Actually, the browser is often a star performer now.



Previously, 3.0 supported USB keyboards; USB mice are now supported also and work in single button mode. Scroll wheels are apparently supported as well but I have no method of testing that because the Xoom does not function a USB host.

Google Video clips was also 1 from the large announcements at I/O 2011, and comes preinstalled with 3.1 - it is just referred to as Videos, needless to say. The interface is sparse, with a two row interface. Up top are your rentals, with thumbnails occupying the bottom. You don’t actually rent something directly in the app - it’s actually far more of a management app. The thumbnails immediate you for the Android Market app. It’s from there you click to rent with most titles costing $3.99.

You'll find other small, h1stly trivial modifications in 3.1. The buttons now look a little various and you will find a couple of new baked-in wallpapers. It is a lot of tiny issues that include up to a much more pleasing experience. It actually feels more like a 3.0.x update than a entire new platform, but I’ll dig into the system and see if there's anything else new. Oh, and yeah, 3.1 n1theless does not carry microSD help to the Xoom.

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