Xoom was a new name for us in smartphones, but it shouldn’t be! Because we have “Media” badges, we often get accosted by staff that are trying to get us onto their booths. Usually we are not interested, but in this case, we were. Xoom is developing premium smartphones as well as phones with integrated pico-projectors. In fact, Xoom claims to have the exclusive licence for the European and US patents on smartphones including pico-projection and told us that the patents are the reason that companies such as Samsung and LG have not promoted smartphones with integrated projection in Europe and the US.
The company has two different display technologies, one based on Microvision imagers with laser light sources, while the second engine is based on DLP. The laser-based solution, which uses an engine design developed by Sony, is expected to be the future direction because of the lack of need for focus. We asked about brightness and Xoom sees 50 lumens as the minimum that should be offered in the market.
As well as the projection phones, Xoom has developed an interesting high end smartphone that has a Kevlar back panel and Gorilla Glass 4 to make it very robust – the chairman of the company threw the phone on the floor to prove the point! Although the technology makes the phone bulkier than the slimmest designs, the robustness means no need for a case. Compared to my Samsung Galaxy, the phone is thicker, but is slimmer than when mine is in its case.
Specifications are high, with 64GB of Flash as standard with dual SD card slots which can support up to 200GB each, for close to half a terabyte of data storage. The processor is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801. The first version has a 5″ FullHD IPS LCD, while the next version will have a 5.7″ display. Cameras are 21 MP on the front, 13MP on the back and other features include HD 3D sound and a “Fractal” antenna. Pricing is quoted as “competitive”.
In regional terms, Xoom is developing in the UAE first, with Dubai as the initial market. After MEA, the firm will push into Europe. It already has distribution in North Africa, Nigeria, South Africa and most of the Middle East.
The company plans an XTI tablet model later. It also has plans for further developments of the features of its phones, but if we told you, we’d have to kill you!
