The world awaits with eager anticipation the release of the next generation of Apple’s beloved tablet PC, the iPad 2.

Unveiled on March 2, the iPad 2 features many improvements over its previous version. However, it remains to be seen if these improvements will be enough to keep Apple’s share of the tablet PC market intact. The first iPad was a booming success with global sales reaching 14.8 million in 2010. The original iPad was so successful that it cornered 75 percent of the tablet PC market.

The iPad’s commercial success, has attracted a lot of competitors on the tablet PC market. With a lot of companies joining the tablet bandwagon and building their own iPad killer version, many are eager to see how the iPad 2 are going to compete against an improved competitor.

We made a review, a head to head comparison between Motorola Xoom that are considered to be the strongest competitor and iPad 2.

1. Processor

The iPad 2 is fitted with Apple’s dual-core 1GHz A5 chip, a marked improvement from the previous iPad. The A5 chip is reported to clock ten times the graphical performance of the older tablet. As of this writing, there is no report yet on RAM size but 512MB is quite a possibility.

Motorola Xoom is equipped with a 1GHz dual-core Tegra 2 CPU. At 1GB of RAM, this chip along with the Android 3.0 OS affords the Xoom to multi-task effortlessly.

Advantage – Xoom

2. Display

The iPad 2 has the same 9.7-inch backlit-LED IPS display that are similar to iPad 1, it’s fantastic because it’s the best in it’s class.

The Xoom has a standard 10.1-inch TFT display. Excellent for watching movies and browsing but does not offer the types of viewing angles like the one in iPad.

Advantage -Apple iPad 2

3. Camera

One of the biggest drawbacks of the older iPad was the lack of a camera. Apple has responded by incorporating not one but 2 cameras in the iPad 2. The iPad 2′s dual cameras are a 0.7-megapixel main camera with 720P movie capture capability, and a secondary VGA camera that works fine if you want to use it for video calls.

In this category, Xoom has an upper hand. With an impressive 5-megapixel main camera and are equipped with dual-LED flash and autofocus and a secondary 2-megapixel camera for video conferencing, the Xoom is definitely the winner here.

Advantage – Motorola Xoom

4. Design and Build

On the design category, Apple will not disappoint you. The look and feel of the iPad 2 is simply fantastic. The iPad 2 may be 33 percent thinner and 15 percent lighter than the original iPad, however the tablet are still build with top of the line materials.

The iPad 2 has the same solid feel but is now more comfortable to handle because of its slimmer dimensions.

The Motorola Xoom is just as well constructed. The chassis is solid. It does however feel bulkier and heavier than the slim-built iPad 2.

It is safe to say Apple tablet win this round.

Advantage – Apple iPad 2

5. Operating System

The new iOs 4.3 are equipped for the iPad 2, it serve you with a better web application performance and browser.

The Motorola Xoom comes with the Android 3.0 “Honeycomb” OS which boosts multi-tasking capabilities and has made it more user-friendly.

We feel Xoom have the advantage because of the Honeycomb OS. The iOs 4.3 feels like its just a minor tune-up for Apple.

Advantage – Motorola Xoom

6. Connectivity

The Apple iPad 2 comes with Wi-Fi a,b,g & n, and Bluetooth 2.1 capabilities with A2DP and EDR. It als has HDMI-output. However, it lacks a MicroSD slot, card reader and has no USB port.

The Motorola Xoom has the same capabilities as the iPad 2′s but none of its shortcomings. The Xoom has MicroSD support, Micro USB port, HDMI-out, Wi-Fi a,b,g & n (dual-band) and Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP and EDR.

Advantage – Motorola Xoom

7. Price

This is where it gets interesting. The Apple iPad 2 has an introductory price of 9 for its base Wi-Fi unit.

The Motorola Xoom’s introductory price is 9 for its Wi-Fi only base unit.
The iPad 2 price is one that many did not expect especially its competitors.

Advantage: Apple iPad 2

Verdict: Out of 7 categories, the Motorola Xoom bested the Apple iPad 2 in 4. Function and feature wise the Xoom is the better tablet. However, because of Apple’s excellent pricing strategy, we would not be surprised that the iPad 2 will remain to be the best seller in tablet PC market (yet again).