Motorola's Xoom Falls Flat

I guess Xoom refers to the price.

Talk about disappointment... Motorola's Xoom tablet seemed like the first iPad competitor that would provide a worthy challenge to the market leader. The Xoom will have Android 3.0, the first version actually designed for tablets, plus some really powerful hardware: a dual-core processor, 1 GB of RAM, a front- and rear-facing camera, a good quality 10.1" screen and Nvidia graphics. The only thing left out of the CES announcement was the price, and now we see that in a Best Buy ad: $799.99.

Which might be reasonable, if the iPad didn't start at $499.

But, wait, it gets better. Apparently the Wi-Fi connectivity on the Xoom isn't enabled unless you buy at least 1 month of a data plan with Verizon. Now, this model is a 3G beast, so apparently Motorola and Verizon don't want you to shun the 3G feature until you've tried it out... for $25. Perhaps there will be a WiFi only version at some point, but it's yet to be seen.

Yes, the specs are beefier than the iPad. Of course, the iPad 2 seems likely to be introduced soon, and when that happens it'll probably be at the current iPad price points (while the old iPad gets even cheaper). Which will make the Xoom look really lame, at least pricewise. Which is something Apple loves to do.

Motorola, I know you've got bills to pay and all, but you could at least have introduced a WiFi only version of the Xoom at something approximating a low-end iPad price.All you've done with this is make the iPad look even more attractive; before its Android tablet competition was generally lower priced, and the iPad was more expensive.

Sigh. Well, sooner or later someone will introduce an Android tablet to compete with the iPad. I guess it's later. Not that I hate iPads, mind you, but when there's serious competition Apple will get more aggressive with pricing and features, and that benefits everyone.