Motorola Xoom tablet were going to get updated to Android 4.0. Now, owners of the Google Experience version of the Motorola XOOM tablet (which is basically the Wi-Fi only variant) have received some word from Motorola that their tablet will be involved in a project.

This could be a heads-up for a minor bug-fix, or perhaps it could be something more. Consider that out of all XOOM owners, only those with the Wi-Fi only model get their updates directly from Google instead of from a carrier.

This could be a way for Google to test an Ice Cream Sandwich update on the tablet, and if everything goes as planned, widen the distribution so that the other Motorola XOOM owners get the Android 4.0 update.

The letter from Motorola asks members of the Motorola Feedback Network to take part in a project for the “Google Experience” Wi-Fi only version of the Motorola XOOM (in the U.S. only).

All details of the project are toremain confidential and Motorola says that it could be some time before those who sign up are contacted by the manufacturer.

Motorola has been known to send out these notices before conducted a “soak test” which this sounds like exactly. If everything goes smoothly, and the “project” is successful, all Motorola XOOM users will get to taste Ice Cream Sandwich.

Motorola has just announced that the official Android 3.2 Honeycomb upgrade for the XOOM is now available for download in Europe.

only the Wi-Fi version of the tablet can now be upgraded to Android 3.2.

Motorola XOOM owners who live in Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK can now download and install the upgrade after connecting the tablet to a Wi-Fi network.

Usually, a notification message for the update will be displayed on the screen as soon as the tablet is connected to a Wi-Fi network, but only for those devices that are currently using software versions 6.4.20 and 6.4.20.3.

Before downloading the upgrade users should make sure that the tablet’s battery is at least 50% charged; a back up is also recommended.

The new Android 3.2 Honeycomb software package will update XOOM tablets to software version 6.6.23 and will bring several new features and performance improvements.

In this regard, as soon as the update is installed users will be able to switch to double pixel mode for selected apps.

In addition, the tablet will now be bundled with the full version QuickOffice app, which provides support for Microsoft Office documents and PDF files.

The latest Android 3.2 update also brings more external keyboard layouts for Hebrew, Arabic, Russian, Spanish, Italian, Greek, Turkish and Polish.

Additional language support for Croatian, Hungarian and Romanian is included as well.

Other improvements offered with Android 3.2 Honeycomb update include:

Rotation Acceleration – Screen rotates faster when tablet is rotated:

Docking support – automatically detect when device is docked and launch an application or docking profile:

Enhanced VPN support:

Citrix client:

3LM enablers for remote management of the MOTOROLA XOOM devices in a corporate environment.

Users will also have access to MOTOPRINT, a printing app that allows users to print content from the Motorola XOOM to a printer over Wi-Fi.

Sony makes an attempt at a new product, it tries to capture the aura of both uniqueness and surprise in hardware, plastic and commercials.

So it has happened with the Sony tablet, which is not sold under the sub-branding “Vaio”, but under the trademark “Sony”.

If “Vaio” stands for notebooks, “Bravia” for televisions and “PlayStation” for gaming consoles, why is there no “Tabea” or “Bronko” for the new category of tablet PCs?.

The marketing as “Sony Tablet” could be seen as the high rank that the Japanese ascribe to the tablets.

But it’s more likely that the brand awareness “Sony” is to be directly radiated on the tablet. Later, when the tablet sales figures bear fruit and the products vary (screen sizes, application fields, etc.), an own brand might be created.

Sony is well advised with carefully entering the tablet market.

The early adopters among the customers, excluding those who are already iPad fans, have equipped themselves with an Optimus Pad, a Motorola Xoom or a Samsung Galaxy Tab. These iPad alternatives have been availablesince the fall of 2010.

The Sony S range now encounters a matured tablet market split up between Android and Apple iOS.

Web OS has disappeared from the market in the meantime. A deterrent example, that subsequently reinforced Sony’s decision for Android (here 3.1).

Had Sony developed its own tablet OS so late in the day, it would have quickly placed the S series on the sidelines.

We would like to present the Sony Tablet S and its hardware and software, and answer the question.

Is it just another Android tablet or a fresh alternative to the “established” tablets.

The 591 gram Sony S isn’t extraordinarily light in comparison to other tablets.

An iPad 2 (9.7 inch, 601 grams) is almost just as heavy, but has a lighter power adapter (95 grams rather than 139 grams).

The LG Optimus Pad V900 (8.9 inch, 623 grams) weighs a bit more.

TheSamsung Galaxy Tab 10.1v (10.1 inch, 574/65 grams) weighs slightly less and has an extremely light power adapter.

Motorola has exactly what you need/want. Packing a dual-core 1.0-GHz Texas Instruments OMAP4 processor, 7-inch (1024×600 resolution) display, and an insanely massive 4,260-mAh battery.

The Motorola ET1 Enterprise Tablet is being aimed at the business world.

The Android tablet’s specifications and features listed below will surely give you a reason to compare this “super-tablet” to some of the best, such as the iPad 2 and the Motorola XOOM.

Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread enhanced with “Enterprise functionality”

7.0-inch capacitive touchscreen (1024×600 resolution) with Corning Gorilla Glass

1.0-GHz dual-core Texas Instruments OMAP4 processor

1 GB of RAM, 4 GB internal storage, 4 GB microSD card preinstalled (expandable to 32 GB), 8-megapixel primary camera capable of 720p video capture, bar code scanning, and document capture secondary camera for video calls, USB ports, HDMI port, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR, Autonomous GPS, 4,260 mAh Li-on battery (removable), dust- and water-resistant (IP54 rating), physical dimensions: 130.5 mm x 224 mm x 25 mm, weight: 630 g.

According to Motorola, the Motorola ET1 Enterprise Tablet is a “sleek yet sturdy” Android device intended for “nonstop business,” particularly with the following features and benefits:

Enterprise-ready applications — The tablet comes preinstalled with a lot of apps useful for business and enterprise use.

Such as apps for shopping or product comparisons, merchandising planograms, manager electronic dashboards, mobile POS, and many others.

Multi-user login — The ET1 Enterprise Tablet features multi-user login that allows the device to be shared to several users while maintaining personalized experience for each user according to her/his roles or tasks.

The device can also track approved apps and usage, and can also be used to delegate tasks.

Security — Motorola assures “rock-solid security” on the ET1 Enterprise Tablet in order to keep confidential data private and secure on the device itself and on removable media used by the device.

Expandability — In addition to apps and inbuilt ports, the tablet can also interface with other modules and accessories that widen the tablet’s functions.

For instance, it can be used with scanner modules for retrieving product prices and details, and with docking cradles and other accessories.

Developer-friendly framework — Based on HTML5, the ET1 Enterprise Tablet’s application development framework makes it easy for developers to create and deploy applications.

That will work not just on the tablet but also on other Motorola devices and non-Motorola devices regardless of operating system.

Remote management — Motorola has also made remote management easy on the tablet.

Deployed tablets can be easily accessed and managed using Motorola’s Mobility Services Platform, which can also easily wipe or shut down lost or stolen ET1 Enterprise Tablets.

Motorola has not revealed official pricing for this enterprise tablet, but Sheldon Safir of Motorola Solutions has been quoted as mentioning that bulk purchases of the tablet can bring down per-unit cost to less than US$1,000.

Which implies that non-bulk pricing is actually more than that.

Skype 2.5 for Android brings video chatting capabilities to 14 new Android devices, bringing the total number of supported gadgets to 41.

Some of the new smartphone additions include theMotorola Droid Bionic, the LG Optimus 2x, Motorola Droid 3, the original Google Nexus One, and the Motorola Photon 4G.

The latest version of Skype for Android also mends some previous bugs and improves support for Bluetooth headsets, claims Skype.

Unfortunately, the updated app also comes with advertisements, though those with Skype subscriptions or account credit can avoid such annoyances.

The update also features new video enhancements, according to Skype, such as the ability to zoom with a double tap on the screen and switch between portrait and landscape modes during video calls.

The latter feature, however, will not be available on all devices, as Motorola’s Droid 3 and Bionic will only work in the landscape setting.

In addition, the upgrade also brings the video calling feature to Android tablets as well, including the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, the Motorola Xoom and the Acer Iconia.

The app is free to download via the Android Market. A full list of Android devices now compatible with Skype can be found on the company’s website.

Earlier this week Skype also issued an update for its iPhone and iPad apps that’s intended to reduce the shakiness of outgoing Skype video chat when using a rear facing camera, according to the company.

Hey, it’s Kevin Tofel with GigaOm and today I have taken delivery of a new review unit. This is the Acer Iconia Tab A500. It’s a Honeycomb Tablet. What’s different about this guy as opposed to some of the other tablets I have looked at … such as the Motorola Xoom and the T-Mobile G-Slate is that this is WiFi only. There is no mobile broadband, and there is no monthly data plan one has to pay to use the tablet.

This is also priced at $449, so this stands out as a lower cost option among the Honeycomb tablets. Let me give you a quick overview of this item. I open up the box here.

(He holds the tablet up for all viewing to see.)

It is a 10.1 inch display, 1280 x 800 resolution, 16 GB of RAM, (I’m sorry) of memory for you to store whatever you’d like on it. (Wait, did he mean, 16 GB of hard drive space?) It has an SD or Micro SD card slot which I will try to test out because on the Xoom, that did not work. The G-Slate didn’t have a slot, so I can’t expand the memory on that one.

First impression is that it feels pretty good. I like how it has rounded edges on the top here. It feels really nice in the hand actually. We have a 2 megapixel front facing video camera, but I’m not a fan of these cameras over on the side. As I hold the tablet landscape, my eyes have to look left at the camera. I feel like I can’t see what I’m looking at or the person I am talking to.

(Would it help, if he held it portrait-wise instead of landscape?)

It looks like a brushed metal on the edges, but I think it is plastic. On the top side, we’ve got the volume up and down. It appears there is a mute switch.

You have the little door that probably shows the micro SD slot. (Then, he shows it to you.)

On the right-hand side, we’ve got power port. It has a lovely FCC sticker, so you know you have a certified device. There are two USB ports here. One is micro USB, and one is a full-sized USB. To show you how thin this device is, it the USB slot is not smaller than the device itself.

Next to this is the reset button. There is a docking port there, not much else. On the left-hand side it is pretty clean. It has the HDMI out, so that you can watch pictures and HD videos on an HD TV monitor.

There is a headset jack and the power button. While powering up, let’s look at the backside where you have a 5 megapixel camera here. There is a single LED flash and then, speakers on the back, left and right.

It is powering up. I don’t even have it set up. It just arrived. (Now, that is refreshing to know that we really are getting a first-hand observation of the Google Honeycomb Tablet experience.

The screen responsiveness is pretty decent. It has an ? Integra 2 Dual Core processor in here. It should be as peppy as the other devices such as the Xoom and the G-Slate.

So, what’s in the box? Power cord, USB cable but no HDMI cables. Wish they did.

How does it compare to the iPad 2? The Google Tablet is thicker to interface connections not available with the iPad 2. The Acer tab is a little bit longer.

And … like everyone these days, I have a spare Micro SD card in my head, so I am just going to pop that in there. It clicked right in. Well, I have a lot of music on that card, so let me go into the apps and go to Music and see if it picks up? How do I get to my music?

Let me go into Settings and storage and see the 16 GB card. It didn’t immediately recognize the music available, but it did recognize my Micro SD card. I plan to share a second full review of this in the next couple days once I’ve played with this. So, we’ll be back with the Acer Iconia Tab A500 Google Honeycomb Tablet.

And … another first experience … uploaded from an Android phone from a shy family in Multan, Pakistan area.