Site-loading speed battle: Motorola Xoom vs. Apple iPad

The tablet wars will be in full swing in the next couple weeks. Last week, we witnessed the opening salvo with the release of Motorola's Xoom. The Xoom is arguably the first legitimate competitor to the first-generationApple iPad, so naturally we'd want to conduct as many tests directly comparing them as possible.

Testing
While we'll be running a number of Xoom and iPad tests over the next few weeks, we wanted to provide you with some quick, easy, but still useful tests right away. One of the simplest things to test is site-loading speed, a test many users can immediately relate to, especially if you're reading this sentence. I'm a much greater fan of real-world tests like this one, as opposed to synthetic benchmarks.

We used three different Web sites for the tests: CNET.com, CBSnews.com, and GiantBomb.com. Each tablet was connected to the same closed network with no other devices on it with the router about 5 feet away. We considered the beginning of the test to be the moment we pressed Enter to the time the blue progress bar on each tablet disappeared. We used the latest version of iOS for the iPad and the Xoom is, of course, of using Honeycomb, or Android OS 3.0.

Although, in the video you'll only see one iteration for each test, we actually ran each test several times; over those runs we got results consistent with what you'll see here. Also, we cleared each tablet's browser cache before each iteration of the tests were run.

Now, as much as we'd love for these tests to be completely relatable to everyone in every situation, that's nearly impossible. We tested these tablets under specific conditions in a "free" environment. The network was closed, but we can't account for noise from other networks interfering. This is a snapshot of performance in our testing environment and because of that, your results may vary.


The video
You'll notice in the video that CBSnews.com hangs for both tablets. This was something we saw consistently over several runs. To ensure accuracy, we timed each tablet individually. You can even time it yourself using the video if you'd like to make sure.

3D graphics

We used Dungeon Defender to test the performance of each tablet's 3D graphics. The Xoom has a native resolution of 1,280x800 pixels, whereas the iPad has a lower resolution at 1,024x768 pixels. This is likely the main reason for the difference in 3D game performance you'll see in the video.

We put the camera close to really illustrate the difference in quality between the two. Also in the video, we feature only one character, but we found that aliasing was a consistent problem for the iPad in this game; however, it's not something we likely would have been put off by if it wasn't sitting right next to the Xoom.

Although the Xoom delivered smoother characters, its colors were not as deep and rich as on the iPad.

Conclusion
Based on the results we got with the aforementioned caveats, the Motorola will likely have faster Wi-Fi surfing speed than the iPad. While not all tests showed a huge difference, the Xoom was consistently the faster tablet.

With Dungeon Defender, the Xoom's higher resolution shows that it has the potential to have smoother, less jaggy games; however, the washed-out color could be a problem for some.

We'll be posting more test results from this and (hopefully) other, as yet unreleased, tablets soon.

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Google's Android More Vulnerable Than iPhone- iPhone is Best

According to Trend Micro Inc., the world's largest corporate security software provider, devices running Google's Android mobile operating software are more vulnerable to hackers and viruses than are Apple's iPhone devices.

During a recent interview in Taipei, Trend Micro chairman Steve Chang told Businessweek about Android's potentially dangerous security flaw:

Android is open-source, which means the hacker can also understand the underlying architecture and source code We have to give credit to Apple, because they are very careful about it. Apple has a sandbox concept that isolates the platform, which prevents certain viruses that want to replicate themselves or decompose and recompose to avoid virus scanners.

Chang points out that Android's open-source software offers more of a free-for-all scenario. "Chang said he's betting Android users will start to buy more security software for mobile devices," writes Businessweek.

This news comes at a time when the Android OS's popularity is growing rapidly in the United States. Indeed, Nielsen figures from June 2010 through November 2010 show Android to be the leading mobile operating system among recent smartphone buyers.

Although Apple's app approval process is notoriously strict, Apple devices may still be vulnerable to malicious software and third-party hacks. For example, iPhones are prone to phishing attacks, which can dupe the user into handing over personal data.

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Good News: Microsoft unlocks Windows Phone 7 developers

REDMOND, Wash.--Microsoft is making a change to its policies for Windows Phone 7 that will allow applications to more easily run when the screen is turned off.

Until now, applications that wanted to run when the screen was locked had to get the user's explicit permission. Under new rules announced on Friday, programs can do so without permission--provided they first demonstrate to Microsoft that they only use a reasonable amount of battery life (allowing more than six hours of use for an app playing audio and more than 120 hours for a program that does not play audio). (Credit: Microsoft)

The move comes as the first Windows Phone 7 devices have gone on sale in Europe and Asia, with the first phones hitting the U.S. market on November 8.

The policy change is a matter of both convenience--audio apps, for example, make sense to play when the screen is off--as well as fairness. Many of Microsoft's own apps, including application downloading, e-mail syncing, and Zune playback and downloads are all allowed to happen in the background.

"This is an example of us continuing to listen to customers," Microsoft's Charlie Kindel said in an interview at Microsoft's Professional Developer Conference here. "We think it is a much better experience."

Some developers have complained that Microsoft allows only certain tasks to run in the background and also that its applications do things that third-party programs cannot. Background music playing is one such feature, while another is direct control of the camera for tasks beyond basic image capture. Microsoft has allowed, for example, hardware makers like LG to do an augmented reality app, but that is not something an ordinary developer can do using the available tools.

Kindel reiterated that Microsoft plans to add more controls and programming interfaces over time but has no plans to allow developers to write native applications. Third-party applications have to be written for either Silverlight or XNA development environments.

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