It may be starting to feel like every bit of news surrounding the pricing of the Motorola Xoom tablet is simply restating the same thing in a variety of different, but each update has brought with it subtle changes to what we know. First there was a prematurely posted Best Buy pre-order page listing an outlandish (and thankfully untrue) price of $1,199 for the device. Then Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha confirmed the $799 price tag for GSM/CDMA radio-equipped models (for Verizon Wireless network data plans) and the $600 price for Wi-Fi-only. Then Best Buy’s actual pre-order page went live, listing a February 24 release for the $799 model only.
You got all that, right?
Now Verizon has issued a formal press release detailing the Xoom pricing and hopefully setting things straight once and for all. Though it’s worth noting that there’s still no follow-up on Jha’s mention of a Wi-Fi-only model. Customers will still be able to buy the wireless radio-equipped model at $799.99 with no contract requirements other than a minimum one month data activation. Alternatively, buyers can knock the price down to $599.99 if they’re willing to sign off on a two-year, $20 per month commitment to a 1GB data plan. The press release also notes that subscribers will be able to upgrade to Verizon’s soon-to-launch 4G LTE network at no charge in “the second quarter of 2011.”
And there you have it. The Xoom is officially, formally priced. Does it offer enough to sway you away from your iPad, or make you consider it for purchase instead of the Apple device? Does go-anywhere wireless even matter to you, or are you going to wait instead for the previously announced Wi-Fi-only model?
