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For the Motorola Xoom tablet, it’s better late than never.
Verizon Wireless said it would begin selling the 4G LTE version of the tablet starting tomorrow. The product will sell for $499.99 with a two-year contract. Existing Xoom customers can enter their contact info at this site can get information on how to send the Xoom to Motorola for the upgrade. Customers are expected to get the Xoom back back in roughly six business days.
The 4G capability comes more than seven months after the Xoom tablet originally hit the market, initially as a 3G-only device. The tablet, which was the first to use the tablet-specific Honeycomb version of Android, was supposed to be the first worthy competitor to Apple’s iPad.
Instead, the Xoom received a mixed critical response and couldn’t sell many devices until it cut its price,which was at a premium to the iPad. It’s one of many tablets that have struggled to establish a foothold in a market dominated by Apple.
It’s unclear whether the 4G upgrade will make much of a difference now. Particularly after Amazon unveiled a $199 tablet that disrupts what consumers think they need to pay for a tablet. Motorola is reportedly introducing a sequel as well.
Verizon Wireless customers won’t have to switch their data plans with the upgrade. The plans range between $30 and 2 gigabytes of data a month to $80 for 10 gigabytes.
Corrected at 4:53 p.m. PT: to note that customers can not go to Verizon stores to get their 4G upgrade.
