This week, Verizon Wireless and Motorola released the XOOM Android tablet.  In my opinion, this is the first Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) tablet that will give the iPad a run for it’s money.  It has a 10.1″ screen, NVIDIA Tegra 2 1GHz dual-core processor, 1GB RAM, 32GB on-board storage, 5MP back cam with flash, 2MP front cam, HDMI, 720P video recording and playback, and a ton of other features (full specs).  As far as I can tell, Motorola and Verizon have not altered the operating system in any way.  There are no V-Cast or MotoBLUR apps preinstalled.  Google has updated the core apps for tablet consumptions; Gmail, Calendar, Browser, Camera, Gallery, Music.  They’ve even included Movie Studio, which allows you to splice, trim, fade, title, score and add photos to your recorded videos.

Keep an eye out for my full review, coming soon.

Development

• Android Developers Blog: Final Android 3.0 Platform and Updated SDK Tools
• Android Developers Blog: Best Practices for Honeycomb and Tablets
• Source code for Aria, Desire Z, Desire HD, and myTouch 4G available now
• Ruby on Rails: Scaling Your App for Rapid Growth
• Motorola XOOM bootloader can be unlocked
• JavaScript array “extras” in detail

The Web

• Official Google Blog: Slice and dice your recipe search results

Apps, Apps and Additional Apps

• Minecraft’s Addicting Sandbox Gameplay Coming to Android Later this Year
• Graphic.ly Brings Comics & Graphic Novels to Android
• Twitter for BlackBerry 1.1 Beta Pushes Mentions, Geotags

Carrier News

• Motorola leaned on Verizon for 28% of revenue in 2010
• Verizon Drops 10,000 Calls During Snow Storm in Washington

Device Central

• Samsung Epic 4G [Froyo] Update Arrives, Manually Install Now and Skip the Wait for OTA
• Verizon Officially Taps XOOM with $599.99 Price Tag, February 24th Release
• Nexus One, Nexus S begin receiving Android 2.3.3 over the air
• Samsung Captivate Froyo update: COME AND GET IT!

Friday Infographic

• Facebook vs. Twitter