Motorola XOOM – price, detailed specs and launch

The Motorola XOOM is probably one of the most anticipated Android tablets to be launched in the near future. Ever since its introduction at CES in Las Vegas last month, web pages, blogs and forums have been buzzing about what is thought to be the tablet to fight the iPad in that department as well as announcing a new era for Android tablets by bringing Android 3.0 Honeycomb, Google’s very own Android version for tablets.

Earlier today, Moto Dev posted detailed specs for this upcoming device in all 3 variants in which it will be available for users to purchase. The names for each model are as follows – the Motorola XOOM MZ600, Motorola XOOM MZ601, MZ603 and the XOOM MZ604. I will be getting into the detailed specs of all models and before you ask, the MZ601 and the MZ603 are the same spec wise, but I couldn’t tell you why they are named differently, so feel free to check out Moto Dev to see maybe you can find Waldo.

All variants of the upcoming Motorola XOOM tablet will come with Android 3.0 Honeycomb from launch and with 10.1 inch WXGA displays at a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels and at a generalized pixel density of 160 dpi. The difference between the models, which is the separating factor for the “3” models I mentioned earlier, is referring to the connectivity to a network. As such the Motorola XOOM MZ600 will come with EVDO Rev. A, while the XOOM MZ601 and the XOOM MZ603 will come with GPRS/ EDGE class 12, HSDPA 10.1 Mbps, HSUPA 5.76 Mbps speeds. The last of the line, the Motorola XOOM MZ604 will come with only WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n.

Every version of the Motorola XOOM will come with WiFi for that matter, Bluetooth class 2, version 2.1 + EDR and a USB 2.0 port as well as HDMI 1.4 output. All versions of this Android tablet will be equipped with a 5 megapixels (2592 x 1944 pixels) camera on the back, with auto-focus, dual LED and 8x digital zoom. The list of the detailed specs for the Motorola XOOM continues with the 2 megapixel ( 1600 x 1200 pixels) camera on the front for video chat. Video recording will be available with 720p HD resolution at 30 fps and video playback will go up to 1080p HD at 30 fps as well. Supported streaming formats for the tablet are AAC, AAC+, AMR-NB, H.263, H.264, MP3 and MPEG-4 and as for sounds goes the tablet will come with stereo loudspeakers.

So far I haven’t spotted any difference between the MZ601 and the MZ603 so feel free to correct me if you do find any differences. The XOOM specs for every model are the standard dual core 1 GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 processor, 1 GB of RAM memory and 32 GB of storage build in for all the models.

The Motorola XOOM will be priced at around $800 without any subscription at Verizon for the 3G version, which will be upgraded to 4G while the WiFi-only version will be going out for $600, which would be matching the 32 GB iPad but the Motorola XOOM with 3G is $70 more expensive than the Apple alternative. As for a secure launch date for the device, preordering will be starting today or tomorrow according to different sources, so most likely by the end of the month shipping will begin for the highly anticipated tablet. Until next time, make sure to look up those specs because I am getting annoyed by not spotting the difference.1

Watch tweets on: