If there’s one thing the guys at XDA developers can’t resist, it’s making an already great device even better. The Motorola Xoom has been hacked to give it calling and SMS capabilities along with a browser tweak.
XDA developer sangreal06 has released a hack package that allows you to send SMSs from your Motorola Xoom. All you do is download an SMS client from Android Market and start sending and receiving messages. The calling facility still needs some work as you can place a call but not talk to the person on the other side. There are some problems with the sound function but they’ll be resolved quickly enough, I should think.
The third feature brings the desktop feature of websites defaulting in the browser. All this involved was a bug patch in a UA string. The fourth plus is a bonus – get CRT animation with Gingerbread flavor to add zing to your Xoom.
The .apk files are available for all the features combined or only the browser patch. Get the details and the download from here.
On a side note, don’t let news of disappointing Motorola Xoom sales get you down. Yes, sales have been slow but AT&T and Verizon are not showing signs of any distress on that count. According to Verizon, sales and customer response have been pleasing. And AT&T is pretty happy too, even with sluggish Motorola Atrix 4G sales.
It might be a little premature to call Motorola Xoom sales a failure. After all, the first Xoom tab was the highest version – 32GB with Wi-Fi+3G. If anything, sales comparison should be made with the equivalent iPad 2 version that costs $729.00. Sales may start looking good with the Wi-Fi only Motorola Xoom entering global markets at a lower price point of $600.
There’s hope that sales will pick up after the slow start. Opening with the launch of the highest model in the Motorola Xoom lineup may have stopped customers from purchasing the Android tab before. They may think differently now.
What do you think? Does the Motorola Xoom Wi-Fi only sound like a good bet?
[via phandroid, android community]
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
It’s dead, Jim.
Xoom rhymes with doom for a reason.
Overpriced, shipped with non-functional SD, Flash doesn’t work that well (or even have a production release), send back to the factory for 4G, and buggy Android 3.0.
Yes. It’s dead, Jim. It never really was alive.
Flash is working, sd slot is working, I have seen no issuzes with 3.0.