Verizon pushes update to Motorola Xoom

Verizon Wireless announced today that a new software update is available for its Motorola Xoom tablet. The biggest wins from the HTJ85 update are microSD card support and a screen scaling compatibility mode, but users should appreciate the smaller features as well.

With a microSD card you'll now be able to use the file manager to view files stored on the card and write content to the card through a PC or Mac connection. Considering that file managers aren't consistent across all Android devices, we're glad to see more user accessibility here.

The new screen-scaling option will let you switch to double pixels mode for selected applications and then save the settings you prefer.

Other additions (PDF) include adaptive streaming support for movies (the bit rate will adjust according to your bandwidth), stability improvements to the movie rental experience, automatic screen resizing with an HDMI connection, enhancements to Exchange ActiveSync and security, and a new feature for password recovery.

The update will go out over the air during the next few days, but you can initiate the download yourself in the Settings menu. Verizon's online instructions (PDF) will tell you how.