We've been going back and forth on the Motorola XOOM's launch date and pricing just about ever since it was announced, but thanks to another Best Buy leak, it seems that we can finally settle on all of the tablet's release info. As you can see up above, a leaked Best Buy ad has confirmed that the XOOM will be arriving on February 24th for $799.99. There's also some data plan pricing to be had, with customers given options ranging from $20/month for 1GB of data up to $80/month for 10GB.
One other interesting bit of XOOM-related info has been spotted in the BBY ad, and it's already causing a bit of an uproar. Right below the image of the XOOM, you can see a sentence that says "To activate WiFi functionality on this device, a minimum of one month data subscription is required." That's caused some to speculate that Verizon may be planning to lock WiFi on the XOOM until after at least one month of data use, but some Best Buy Mobile employees have chimed in, saying that the sentence simply means that the XOOM must be activated on Big Red's network before you can walk out of the store.
There's no doubt that the XOOM is a pretty powerful device, and the fact that it'll be the first tablet to market with Honeycomb in tow will make it even more desirable. That said, I'm a little concerned about the $800 price tag and how it might impact sales. We've heard that there could be a WiFi-only XOOM on the horizon, so hopefully Moto can push that device out for around $500, which will be much more palatable for more non-techie customers and those of us not interested in using Verizon's network for data. So now that we've got pretty solid launch info and have seen the full Super Bowl ad, how do you all feel about the XOOM and its ability to compete with the other tablets on the market?
Via Engadget (1), (2)