Verizon has finally offered up some pricing details on the 3G version of Motorola&'s highly anticipated Xoom Android tablet.
The carrier will offer the 3G Xoom for $600 with a two-year data contract when it launches on June 24, Engadget reports. It will still be available at Best Buy stores for $800 without a contract, as we&'ve previously reported. Motorola has also previously stated that a WiFi-only version of the Xoom will sell for $600, though it&'s unclear when that will be available.
Verizon&'s pricing is a significant discount for the 3G-equipped Xoom, although the $20 a month data contract, which includes a mere 1 gigabyte of data, isn&'t much of a deal. Verizon also said that the Xoom will be upgradeable to its LTE 4G network in the second quarter for free. That&'s certainly good to hear, but I think the paltry 1GB data cap will feel even more restrictive once the tablet is unleashed on Verizon&'s 4G network.
The Xoom features 32 gigabytes of storage and is comparable to Apple&'s 32GB 3G iPad, which retails for $729. The iPad doesn&'t require a data contract though, which may be a major selling point to some.
The Xoom offers more features than the current iPad, including front and rear cameras and a higher resolution screen. At the Consumer Electronics Show last month, we also saw a demo of the Xoom running Googlea4‚¬a4„s tablet-friendly Android 3.0, which I thought blew the iPada4‚¬a4„s iOS out of the water. Of course, the iPad 2 will be announced soon, which could put Apple back on equal footing.
The Xoom tablet unfortunately won&'t have Adobe Flash support at launch, as Motorola is apparently waiting for the next version of the software, Flash 10.2, to be available.
Previous Story: Mobile payments company Paydiant picks up $7.6M
Print Email Twitter Facebook Google Buzz LinkedIn Digg StumbleUpon Reddit Delicious Google More&8230'
Companies: motorola, Verizon, Verizon Wireless
Companies: motorola, Verizon, Verizon Wireless
Devindra Hardawar is VentureBeat's lead mobile writer and East Coast correspondent. He studied philosophy at Amherst College, worked in IT support for several years, and has been writing about technology since 2004. He now lives in Brooklyn, New York. You can reach him at devindra@venturebeat.com (all story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com), and on Twitter at @Devindra.
Have news to share Launching a startup Email: tips@venturebeat.com
VentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters. Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.
Discuss Add this link to... Bury
Comments