Motorola Xoom™: Companion

Understanding Network Icons

The status bar that runs across the bottom of your screen shows the Xoom's Status icons, many of which you already explored. If you aren't sure about any icon you see there though, you can simply tap it to learn more. You may learn that an icon with an M on it means you have new email, or that the battery is almost drained when the icon turns red. In Figure 1-15, you can see the battery is currently plugged in and charging.

One of the most important Status icons to understand is the Network icon. If you see the bars shown in Figure 1-15, it means you're connected to a network. You learned how to locate and connect to a Wi-Fi network in the previous section. You can tap the Network icon to verify the network you're connected to. If there's no Wi-Fi network available, and if you've signed up for cellular service through Verizon, and if you have the cellular data feature enabled on your Xoom, when you're away from a Wi-Fi network, your cellular data network will automatically be enabled and will take over the job of obtaining Internet access.

FIGURE 1-15 The Network icon denotes the type of network you're connected to.

Thus, if you don't see the Wi-Fi icon on the status bar, but instead see 3G, 4G, 1X, 2X, or some other icon, it means you're connected to Verizon's cellular network. This is important to note because you have to pay for cellular data service, ...