Droid Xyboard on Verizon: release date, price, and more

It was 10 months ago, during the Super Bowl, that Motorola announced the original Xoom to the world. In a 60-second ad that spared no expense, Google and Motorola united to show us their bold new vision for tablets; Honeycomb was going to revolutionize Android and our lives with it, while the Xoom was to be the flagship cresting that wave of change. You know your history, so you're no doubt aware that those grand plans didn't come to fruition.

Motorola's approach with the Xoom 2 is, perhaps as a consequence of its experience with the Xoom, much more cautious, almost taciturn. The upgraded tablet has been put up for sale in the UK with nary a billboard or a late-night commercial to champion it, while its US promotion seems to have been handed off to Verizon, who's been allowed to deface it with the tacky moniker of Droid Xyboard. It wouldn't be unreasonable, therefore, to describe the Xoom 2 as the product of a company in a holding pattern. Moto clearly doesn't feel comfortable being an also-ran in the Android race, particularly not once Google becomes its parent company, but the time has apparently not been deemed correct to introduce the true successor to the extremely ambitious Xoom.

It's not the Galaxy Nexus availability announcement you've been hoping for, but Verizon is announcing that those new 8.2 and 10.1 Motorola Droid Xyboards will be available starting today on its website and Monday in brick and mortar stores. Of course, the big question is if anyone out there is really willing to plop down the cash: to recap, the 16GB 10.1 Xyboard is set at $529.99 and the 8.2 at $429.99. Both of those prices require you to sign a two-year contract, meaning you'll be committing to spend at least $30 a month for the next 24 months for LTE data. Verizon did confirm for us that it will be selling the tablets off contract: the 8.2 will go for $599.99 off-contract and the 16GB 10.1 for $699.99. It's, of course, more cash up front, but you'll be able to decide on if you need the data every month. We're hoping to review the set of LTE-equipped tablets soon, but if you've just been waiting and waiting on a fresh Motorola Android tablet you can buy it right now at the link below.

In better news, Verizon is promising that both tablets will be upgradeable to Android 4.0, though it isn't committing to a timeline on that. We've got the full specs of these two in our database, but just to recap both tablets have LTE modems, dual-core 1.2GHz processors, 1GB of RAM, 1280 x 800 Gorilla Glass displays, and 5-megapixel cameras. We're checking as we type with Motorola to see if it will be offering the Wi-Fi Xoom 2s here in the US, but for the moment, it looks like us Americans are stuck with some rather pricey new Motorola tablets. 

Verizon just casually announced that it'll be launching two "Xyboard Droid" tablets from Motorola later this month — the mention is tucked into a press release noting the one-year anniversary of the carrier's 4G LTE network. We're assuming these are the LTE variants of the 10-inch Xoom 2 and 8-inch Xoom 2 Media Edition Verizon showed to CNET last week, but it's particularly strange that Motorola hasn't yet said one word about these particular devices; Motorola and Verizon are typically in lockstep on product launches. It's also strange that the PR calls them "Xyboard Droid" devices, when every previous leak and mention has used the "Droid Xyboard" name. You know what would clear all this up? A proper product launch.

P.S. The PR also mentions the "anxiously awaited" Galaxy Nexus will be coming... soon. Thanks, Verizon.

Also shown in the document is a price cut for the original Xoom LTE, which should be dropping to $199.99 on contract from this Thursday. The price looks set to stick until at least March next year, so it's not just a Black Friday special, indicating that Verizon will be using the first-generation Xoom as an entry-level tablet.