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With Android 3.2.2, Motorola Xyboard 'Xoom 2' gets better

The Motorola Xyboard experience just got a whole lot better with an Android 3.2.2 update. Perhaps Motorola shouldn't have released the Xyboard at all prior to 3.2.2.

Brooke Crothers Former CNET contributor
Brooke Crothers writes about mobile computer systems, including laptops, tablets, smartphones: how they define the computing experience and the hardware that makes them tick. He has served as an editor at large at CNET News and a contributing reporter to The New York Times' Bits and Technology sections. His interest in things small began when living in Tokyo in a very small apartment for a very long time.
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Brooke Crothers
2 min read
My Motorola 10.1-inch Xyboard.
My Motorola 10.1-inch Xyboard. Brooke Crothers

The Motorola Xyboard got a much-needed update, improving the experience substantially for me.

Last week, I wrote how Motorola's 10.1-inch tablet (aka, Xoom 2) was driving me up a wall. In short, the stock browser--where I spend most of my time--was sluggish when refreshing pages, and simple tasks, like inputting text into a search box, could be glacial (among other issues).

After speaking with Motorola about this on Monday, they told me that an update was imminent. In fact, it had already arrived. Within an hour after hanging up, I had updated the Xyboard to Android 3.2.2 from 3.2.

That fixed the browser issues I'd been having over the last couple of months. The stock browser is now consistently fast and doesn't have any major shortcomings that I can see.

That said, here's the problem. Maybe Motorola had compelling reasons for releasing the Xyboard when it did (December) with Android 3.2. But, from a user perspective, Motorola would have been better served to wait and release it with 3.2.2. The out-of-the-box experience should be stable for a Gen 2 product like the Xyboard.

Anyway, for now, the Xyboard is my main tablet, replacing the iPad 2 (which had been my daily companion for about 10 months). Not that it's better than the iPad (it's not) but because I want to dip my toes into the Android tablet waters.

As I said last week, I like the Xyboard's design. It is thin, light, and easy to hold. Other upsides include a nice screen, very capable voice-controlled search, and LTE 4G, which can be outrageously fast when you're in a 4G sweet spot.

And here's hoping that Motorola tablets get better and better under Google's ownership.