PC World has opened UK pre-orders for the Wi-Fi-only Motorola Xoom, saying the Android tablet is expected to be released in the first week of April. The price: £499.99, with PC World the only UK shop to get the Wi-Fi version at launch.
That price tag may raise a few hackles among Xoom-craving Brits, mind. Earlier this week, PC World accidentally published a page for Xoom pre-orders, which had the price at £449.99. The retailer swiftly took the page down and announced that it was "a draft holding page", saying Motorola had not yet confirmed how much the Xoom would cost here in the UK.
Now it has, with the tablet costing £50 more than PC World had estimated. The 32GB Wi-Fi Xoom will thus be coming out a week after Apple's iPad 2 in the UK, with Apple's 3G-less 32GB model expected to cost £499. Almost a dead heat, then -- what's 99p between tablet friends, after all?
"If you order from us today you'll be the first in Europe to receive one," promises PC World on the Xoom's pre-order page. If you're looking for the 3G-enabled model, you'll have to head over to Best Buy and Carphone Warehouse, who announced last month that they'd be selling that variant of Moto's tablet.
One thing we're wondering: will Flash be available for the Xoom when it goes on sale here in the UK? In the US, it's not: Adobe confirmed last month that Flash Player 10.2 will be an over-the-air download for Motorola's device, which is already on sale Stateside.
A reminder of Xoom's key features in its battle against iPad 2 and other tablets: it runs Google's Android 3.0 Honeycomb OS, has a 10.1-inch screen, and weighs in at 730g. The 5-megapixel rear camera and 2-megapixel front cam out-muscle their iPad 2 equivalents, although expect to be using Skype or other videochat apps rather than Apple's FaceTime, obviously.
Xoom also has a built-in HDMI port and an SD-card slot, if you're looking for more differences from the iPad 2. What do you think of the 500-quid price tag though: will it give Xoom a fighting chance in 2011's battle of the tablets? Let us know with a comment.
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Comments 27
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Anonymous 3 March, 2011 12:02
Fail from Motorola. At the same price the ipad 2 will out-sell the Xoom easily. I for one am considering the cut-price ipad 1 which has become extremely affordable.
Anonymous 3 March, 2011 12:20
Pointles! Because i will still be getting the iPad 2 ;)
Anonymous 3 March, 2011 12:26
You may say it's the same price but to use the HDMI-out on the iPad 2 you have to buy an adapter... Not to mention all the stuff you have to pay for with Apple that's free on Google's Android.
Anonymous 3 March, 2011 13:30
Apple iPad 2 will out sell the Motorola Xoom without a shadow of a doubt. I will be more interested in the iPad 2 than the Xoom as they're the same price with the same memory. I was expecting the Apple iPad 2 to cost in excess of £449 but with Motorola going up against such a big company who has some expierence with this it would of been a lot smarter to have it £20-50 cheaper.
As I already own a Apple TV, iPhone 3GS 16GB and have an iMac 21" on the way the iPad would make more sense to me as it'll link up with all these products. However, if I didn't have these products and the Motorola Xoom, in time, offers Adobe Flash Player then I'd be very interested, it's the one thing that the Apple handheld products lack.
Anonymous 3 March, 2011 13:36
Can't any of these long established manufacturers come up with a new design rather than ripping off Apple's ipad design so closely? Bad on them and bad for innovation. My iPad is like my iMac and the Macs before them, a pleasure to use and a pleasure to look at. Not the same with the PCs that I had in my offices and labs, even though Apple kicked them up the ass over the years so they came up with coloured cases and Windoze (in various nasty flavours)! Try coming up with something different Motorola (and others). Even Android smacks of iOS.
Anonymous 3 March, 2011 13:37
But do I want a Motorola 'tablet'? No I don't. And that's part of the issue. You can call them Android tablets all you like but Android aren't making the tablet, they just do the software.
Maybe I'd like a Siemens tablet or a Sony tablet instead? If Android actually did a tablet maybe I'd feel different. Have some brand identity of the product overall.
Actually I'd quite like an iPad. I have an iphone 4, my friends at work have ipads and so I have been able to play with them already so know what I do (and yes don't) like about it. Does anyone I know have another tablet? No, they don't. Kindles yes, tablets no.
I can't try before I buy and although theres probably nothin wrong with the Xoom etc, it's not an iPad and it's not what I've already worked out I wanted.
I already use the app store, I already use itunes. People seem to think it's all some mac fanboy plague, but really they have done their marketing, they have rgeat word of mouth publicity and they give people what they seem to want.
Anonymous 3 March, 2011 13:53
HP Palm + web OS will kill you all!!! :))
Palm Pre
Anonymous 3 March, 2011 14:06
"Best" is such a subjective word, Apple will sell the most, they have the longest head start and they have the "Seen on TV" factor... Great specs don't make something the best... The best tablet for me is not going to be the best for everyone else... We all have different needs...
Number of Apps is also misleading unless every single one of them is brilliant... unless someone starts to innovate faster than Apple and bring something else to the table they'll have a hard time catching up sales wise...
Anonymous 3 March, 2011 14:06
At the end of the day Motorola have never made a decent phone, not one that can come close to the i phone. And I feel the same will happen in this area, apple are far to advanced for the total package to concider anything else. I was against apple and a big sony fan then I bought the i phone3, and to be fair would never go back to another brand. You have to look at what all products are compared against and it will always be apple be a PC, Laptop, phone of tablet. The answer is easy.
Anonymous 3 March, 2011 14:30
Basically, as of today, $499 equals to £306.19!!!! Basically, UK customers are RIPPED OFF of around £200 when they buy an iPad 2!!! It is NO different than stealing, only in this occasion it is done "legally"!!
Anonymous 3 March, 2011 16:59
Looking at the people above, they clearly know nothing about technology.
with one stating "I want ANDROID to make a tablet" yeah.
and another stating that motorola "never made a good phone" Atrix anyone?
also on the topic of "same price wars"
Look at how many more people are using android.
The iPad will outsell the Xoom, but will lose overall (LG Optimus Pad, HTC Flyer, Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 to name a few). and then it's got the Playbook (Which WILL run android apps) and the Touchpad. Apple are going to be eaten.
Anonymous 3 March, 2011 17:08
I agree about the pricing but its our c**p government and its import tax which rises the price as well as shipping etc
anonymous 3 March, 2011 19:29
$499 does not include sales tax in the U.S. Because it varies from one region to the next.
Anonymous 4 March, 2011 00:09
Apple to come out the traps the fastest but people will prefer the Motorola when there getting free apps.
anonymous 4 March, 2011 00:50
As said, it does seem like there are a lot of people taking very bias views. Im certain most people who say things along the lines of rip off of apple, and that they dont "supply a complete package" like apple cant have actually looked good and hard at history or present.
1)Tablets were Microsofts idea! Oh no... Apple ripped off an MS idea.
2)While android could be classed as similar to IOS it has a very different (and welcome) feel to it, the immense personalisation for example is just brilliant.
3)People believe that its somehow Apple making this tech, the hardware is not really apple at all, most is made by the companies that created Android! Retina display that Apple users love, made by LG as an example, then put together by Foxconn. So just because it has an Apple sticker on dont mean as much as you might be thinking.
Please, read more into these things and dont just assume that because its not Apple its not worth looking at.
I might myself consider The Xoom, though I might see what the other competitors can field (in price, the spec is already out on them). Ipad2 isnt for me, it really is no matter how you look at it a large Ipod touch, when compared to Honeycomb its OS seems to struggle, just look at how multitasking in Honeycomb is handled!!! Brilliant.
Anyway, no doubt ill upset someone on here but Ah well, if I open a closed mind im happy.
Take care!
Anonymous 4 March, 2011 09:22
Just a few facts:
1. Android sports an unprecedented depth of customisation and personalisation as well as a plethora of quality apps that are free, compared to the same functionality you can get on iOS that you will have to pay for. Not to mention how massively brilliant multi tasking is on Android.
2. Modern tablets were Microsoft's thing originally, their execution was just poor, hampered by a lack of ;creative thinking and the tech at the time; Apple is doing nothing original with the iPad, like most other things in their product line, all they did was make it pretty.
The whole tablet market as a whole has thus far unimpressed me, however i am considering the Xoom. As for the iPad 2, it's a solid evolution that brings in the much wanted features a lot of the unconvinced clamoured for. It's now at a technological par, and competitive with, the other tablets coming into the space. Their price will be the final cherry to make it attractive to customers.
There's no doubt this will enrage some fan boys somewhere, no matter how much you argue with them you can't change their mind because they are fanatics, it's pretty much like religion. To anyone planning on arguing with fanboys, there's better stuff to do with your time, just let them spout off.
Anonymous 4 March, 2011 11:53
Don't want to be a muppet so will stay away from the iPad. Seriously considering the Xoom altohough £500 is a rather hefty price...
So overall the price between the alternatives (HP, Playbook, Xoom, Samsung...) will be the decisive criteria are they all have similar specs.
Anonymous 4 March, 2011 14:08
why?
just another gadget empty your wallets and steal your time,but go ahead,keeps loads of people in work
slaguru666 4 March, 2011 14:39
As per normal with comments about Apple stuff we see lots of opinions expressed as facts. But by far my favourite has to be
"Apple is doing nothing original with the iPad, like most other things in their product line, all they did was make it pretty."
Wow, that's about as closed minded a statement I have seen today. Even if the iPad does nothing original, it do something right, or are all 15 million customers just being duped.
Maybe they need to be told that Android/WebOS/RIm are better, after all they have better specs, they are faster, sleek, easy, they multitask, they have more RAM, better resolution. Best not mention price, availability, 3rd party accessory support, retail outlet backup, system update frequency and balance, and even in some cases battery life.
Maybe the 15 million need to have more advertisements that show them as drones, just waiting for Motorola to come and liberate them with the Xoom, while having and army of non fanboys (god forbid you don't want to be hypocritical and just shout about how bad Apple is while stating how great Android is) tell us that Apple's marketing machine 'dictates and lies to us all'.
Could it be that those 15 million have not yet experienced the delight of the Android update lottery, with its will you - wont you get an update today, this week, this month, this year, ever.
Perhaps they might be swayed with the army of cheap Android clones that are waiting for the unsuspecting masses, because what you really want is a poorly built plastic tablet that might be running some off configuration of Android, with no market place access, terrible storage and desperate battery life.
I suppose now will come the isheep, fanboy comments, but I, as the 15million before me, and the 12 million to come in the next three months will do what we want and just get on with it.
For the record my anti Androidness comes after the battle I have had with my HTC Hero and my Samsung GS. After failed updates, lack of support and shocking build quality on the Samsung I now have a iPhone.
anonymous 4 March, 2011 19:36
Yeah, Just Pointing Out That It Costs More In The UK Because Of Something Called Tax. And Yeah This Thing Looks Ugly, Slow, Low Res, And Flash Support, Pff, Most Stuff Is In HTML 5, And If Not, Im Sure I can Live Without Adverts And Annoying Pop Ups, Because the iPad Doesnt Support Them xD!, The Web Experience Is MUCH Quicker Without Flash, And I Dont see How Its need Is So Popular, Its Not. Also, The iPad 2 Is The FASTEST Tablet PC Available On The Market. With What I Can See The Largest Database Of games/apps e.t.c And Looks Fantastic, And yet These Company's cant Even Beat The First Gen iPad? Really. Thats Just Laughable, Apple Have Done Really Well, And I Salute Them
Anonymous 6 March, 2011 03:27
The concept of Tablet was presented by Microsoft in 2001.
"Apple A4" is manufactured by Samsung. The processor was designed by ARM Holdings, plc. and the chip based on ARM Cortex-A8 (also many other mobile devices using this architecture, like N900).
Apps, Symbian and Pocket PC has installable applications years before iPhone release.
Tough Screen User Interface? If you have used Pocket PCs, Windows Mobile 2003 or any UIQ phones/PDAs, then you will know who was copying.
Ads blocking. If no ads on the page, how does these websites maintain their updates and operations without ads income? If Flash ads are blocked, then are you sure HTML+Javascript ads will not crash your devices?
Anonymous 6 March, 2011 04:51
Nick Knowles 4 March, 2011 00:50 said: 1)Tablets were Microsofts idea!
Nope: watch 2001: a Space Odyssey where video is streamed to a tablet.
Anonymous 6 March, 2011 20:08
Tablet? Microsoft didnt do anything first . Apple had the Newton a long time before anyone else.
The iPad is NOT a 'tablet'- its an iPad and the Xoom and others are simply copying it.
But its too late - the iPad is in businesses, hospitals, bicycle repair shops, restaurants, airliners - its beating the Kindle in selling books, it has over 350,000 apps that work for it, you can custom create your own apps with the SDK for your small or large business, the security is excellent, it never crashes, doesnt use Flash (no crashing and BS), is instant on, has up to 12 hours battery life.
No-one cares about the speed of the processor or how much ram its got because it works great and VERY fast anyway.
There is no competition.
Anonymous 15 March, 2011 21:38
I'm just wondering whether the game plan might have changed. If you head search for pc world xoom, you get taken to a link with details of the 3G version, which wasn't always the case. Do you think they might have decided to shelve the Wifi only version and go for a wifi and 3G version for £499, giving a competitive advantage on the iPad2?
anonymous 18 March, 2011 10:03
Mine is on the way to my door! I got it at buymotorolaxoom.com with the multimedia dock, leather case, and stylus :)) so happy!
Anonymous 2 April, 2011 11:51
I would prefer a motorola xoom over an Ipad 2. I think that as a device that it is better. However, I beleieve the Ipad 2 will have far more sales. You ask anyone if they've heard about Ipad 2 they will all say yes. You ask anyone have you heard of the motorola xoom or the motorola atrix they will say I'ver heard of Motorola but not the atrix or the xoom. The reason why apple will outsell the xoom is because of the advertising.
anonymous 4 April, 2011 12:06
Mine's on order from Currys (UK). I prefer substance over style. Hoping delivery will be this week!