New Gadget 2011

If you own a Motorola Xoom tablet then congratulations, Google and Motorola are rolling out Android3.2 to you first it seems.

The main feature update that makes getting 3.2 worthwhile is a new screen compatibility mode. This mode tries to solve the problem of running apps that are not optimized for the larger tablet displays, and were only designed with smartphones in mind.

Developers can set their apps to take advantage of the compatiblity mode with a couple of settings changes, or they can work on their app some more and put in larger display support. The second is the nicer of the two options for end users, but some developers won’t want to revisit older apps so Google decided a workaround was necessary.

If you don’t own a Xoom there are some other features that may be desirable that make the upgrade to 3.2 worthwhile. The first is improved support for 7-inch tablets with the second being Qualcomm processor support that now includes chips other than those by Nvidia.

With the Xoom now getting Android 3.2 it shouldn’t be long before it is rolled out to other tablets. But for the moment, it looks like Xoom owners are the lucky ones. It’s also a tablet that got a little more attractive recently to prospective buyers due to a price drop bringing it inline with the iPad. Motorola should certainly be seeing a sales spike this week because of it.