Can Apple's iPad 2 Beat Motorola Xoom?

Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled iPad's new avatar, the iPad 2, an evolution rather than a revolution -- slimmer, lighter and faster.

CNET reported that Jobs made no bones about the success of its tablet strategy and with much chutzpah claimed: We sold almost 15 million iPads in 2010. And remember that's just nine months. That's April through September. That's more than every tablet PC ever sold. The tablet PC crashed and burned. The modern tablet PC is the iPad.

Motorola had a brief period of glory. While the Android 3.0 enthusiasts were still waxing eloquent about the powerful tablet Xoom, Apple is here to put an end to it. Does Apple iPad 2 have all features it takes to the Android champion?

OS

iPad 2 runs on the latest version of Apple's OS iOS 4.3 while Motorola Xoom runs on the latest edition of Android the Gingerbread or Android 3.0 specifically crafted for tablets. The iOS 4.3 brings a faster Safari browser experience, enhancements to AirPlay and new iTunes Home Sharing feature which Engadet reported enables users to play content stored in desktop over WiFi. While the Android 3.0 core strength is that it offers great multi-tasking for apps.

Display:

Apple has maintained the same display size as its earlier iPad at 9.7-inch which Apple CEO Steve Jobs has often called the optimium form factor for a tablet. iPad 2 has a screen resolution of 1024x768. On this front, Xoom beats iPad 2, with a 10.1-inch screen and 1280x800 screen resolution.

Size and Weight:

Apple has dramatically reduced the weight of the iPad 2 and is touted to be 33 percent thinner and 15 percent lighter than the older iPad. It weighs 1.3 pounds and is 0.34 inches thin while the Xoom with its 10.1-inch frame weighs 1.6 pounds and is 0.5 inch thin. iPad 2 scores on this front making it a much more suitable option in the eReader category. By shedding pounds it can now offer stiff competition to Kindle and Nook as well.

Processor:

iPad 2 sports a new A5 dual-core 1GHz processor which is capable of taking on the Nvidia Tegra 2 dual-core chip that Xoom sports. In fact Engadget described its experience with iPad 2 as being insanely fast.

Memory:

iPad 2 comes in three memory variants 16 GB, 32 GB and 64 GB while Motorola Xoom comes in only 32GB format. Xoom sports 1 GB in RAM and while Apple has not revealed its RAM specification but it is blazingly fast.

Camera:

Apple has added two cameras in iPad 2 to take on Xoom's rear-facing 5 MP cameras and 2MP front-facing camera. Apple has not revealed the specifications of the camera but has confirmed that the front-facing camera is a VGA camera which will bring FaceTime and PhotoBooth features for users. Also both iPad 2 and Motorola Xoom offer 720p video capture and 720p native video playback support.

Sensors:

iPad 2 offers Accelerometer, Gyroscope and Ambient light sensors for developers while Xoom is loaded with sensor as it sports an Accelerometer, Magnetometer, Ambient light sensor, Gyroscope and Barometer.

Apple iPad 2 may have just scored over Motorola Xoom with its new slim and light form. However, it also scores with its pricing as it starts with $499 for a 16GB WiFi model and goes all the way to $829 for a 64GB WiFi +3G model. Motorola Xoom comes at $799 without a contract and at $599 with a two-year contract. The closest model to Xoom, the iPad 2 with 32 GB internal memory and Wi-Fi and 3G costs $729.

iPad 2 will be available from March 11 and its newly introduced apps for iPad 2, iMovie and GarageBand will be available on March 11 for $4.99 each.

Here is a comparison between iPad 2 and Motorola Xoom: