Sleek, shiny, and circular. Apple’s design for their new headquarters fits the company’s aesthetics perfectly. And with a 1,000-seat auditorium, Steve Jobs will have a prime setting for his spectacular presentations.  Aiming to be environmentally friendly, the 175-acre Apple Campus 2 will heavily feature shrubbery and plants around the building with a park at the center. The proliferation of glass walls will also help promote natural light. Did I mention that the plan incorporates an on-site power plant as well?

While the plan is still pending approval by the Cupertino City Council, keep in mind that Jobs is the city’s biggest taxpayer. Even if he doesn’t get everything outlined in the current plan, he will probably come close. For more details and photos, visit this site.

As of February 24, 2011, Motorola has officially started a tablet war by releasing the first true competitor of the iPad, the Xoom. Powered by Google’s new version of its Android operating system, Honeycomb, the Xoom also bests the iPad in several different categories.
First, the Xoom has a 5 mega pixel rear facing camera with dual LED flash and a 2 mega pixel front facing camera; the first generation iPad has none. Secondly, the Xoom has video capabilities as well. It records video at 720p and plays back video at 1080p. Finally, the Xoom boasts a HD screen resolution of 1280×800 as opposed to the first generation iPad’s screen resolution of 1024×768 and a larger screen than the IPad’s 9.7 inch display. However, the Xoom, like the iPad, comes with its own set of hindrances.
The two biggest being the price of the Xoom and the quasi-requirement of cellphone contract to ensure internet connectivity. The base price of a Xoom without a cell phone contract is $800 (60% more than a 1st generation iPad). Of course, if you decide to purchase the 2 year data plan with Verizon, the price of the Xoom lowers to $599.99. However when you factor in the cost of your new 2 year data plan, which can range from $20 to $100 per month, the “savings” dwindles. USB ports still remain absent on both the Xoom and the iPad.
Despite the obvious pro’s and con’s of the Xoom or the iPad. Motorola has genuinely given us the first real contender in the looming tablet war. Stay tuned, Apple is set announce the release date for the iPad Version 2.0 sometime in March.