GAMESTOP STARTS SELLING ANDROID TABLETS PRE-LOADED WITH 7 GAMES

GameStop recently began carrying several Android Honeycomb tablets pre-loaded with seven free games. It was originally rumored that the game retailer would begin selling its own custom Honeycomb tablet, although it appears that is no longer the case. GameStop currently lists the Acer Iconia, Acer Iconia Tab A500, ASUS Eee Pad Transformer, Motorola XOOM, ViewSonic VPAD7 and Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 in stock with prices starting at $300. The seven free games include Dead Space, Madden NFL, Monster Madness, Sonic CD, Re-Load, Riptide GP and Cordy. GameStop is also bundling a special tablet-friendly own-brand Bluetooth controller with its slates for an additional $39. The devices are currently only available in 200 of GameStop’s stores, although you can also purchase one directly from the company’s website.

MOTOROLA SLOW IN RETURNING LTE UPGRADED XOOMS

Consider yourself lucky if you sent off your Motorola Xoom for the 4G LTE upgrade and got it back in about a week, as promised. It seems that Motorola Mobility is now having some trouble holding up their end of the bargain on the quick turnaround. In a note to eager, empty-handed slate faithful, the company informed those waiting that it's experiencing delays and will let customers know when their device finally ships. No comments from Motorola on the cause for the delay or how much long it will take.

VERIZON BEGINS FREE 4G LTE UPGRADE FOR MOTORLA XOOM

Motorola XOOM owners who want to take advantage of the promised 4G LTE upgrade can finally begin to do so beginning Thursday. Once a customer signs up to receive the upgrade, Verizon Wireless will send the shipping instructions along with a box. The option is free and Verizon Wireless said changes to data plans are not required. Verizon also advises that XOOM owners back up their devices before sending them in for the upgrade. The process is expected to take six business days. Verizon Wireless also announced on Wednesday that it will begin to sell the Motorola XOOM with 4G LTE pre-installed for $499.99 starting October 13th.

LEAK: XOOM 4G UPGRADE COMING IN SEPTEMBER

To say we've been patiently waiting for the Xoom's promised 4G upgrade would certainly be an understatement. It looks like those of you counting on blistering speeds this summer are flat out of luck, as the LTE overhaul apparently won't begin until fall. Droid-Life's got a snap of a seemingly official Verizon memo, which alleges that the FCC-espied gratis upgrade will apparently land sometime in September. Also mentioned are links to Big Red's website on how to backup and package one's slate for its eventual voyage back to Moto's mothership. Hop on over to the source to see the full communiqué, and peep the more coverage links if you enjoy being prepared entirely too far in advance.

LEAK: MOTOROLA ALREADY BUILDING XOOM REPLACEMENT WITH ICE CREAM SANDWICH AND HI-RES SCREEN

Motorola has already built and is testing prototypes of the XOOM’s successor, Fudzilla said on Thursday. The device is reportedly much thinner than the XOOM and packs a 10-inch display with a 4:3 aspect ratio and an impressive 2048 x 1536-pixel resolution. While known specs are currently slim, the new tablet apparently runs Android 4.0 “Ice Cream Sandwich” and it’s possible that it will be powered by NVIDIA’s brand new quad-core Kal-El processor. Fudzilla said it’s possible Motorola will launch the tablet sometime this year, but it remains unclear if this will be the previously leaked XOOM 2 or possibly another XOOM tablet.

WIFI XOOM RECEIVING ANDROID 3.2 UPDATE

Motorola began issuing the Android 3.2 (Honeycomb) update to Wi-Fi XOOM owners on Tuesday. The patch reportedly adds support for the tablet’s SD card slot and also features a new screen zooming feature that will allow users to resize mobile applications so that they fit the screen appropriately. Android 3.2 will also add support for smaller tablets with 7-inch screens, many of which currently run older versions of Android such as Gingerbread.

ANDROID TABLET MAKERS DISAPPOINTED WITH SALES, SHIFTING BACK TO CELL PHONES

Cell phone makers that have entered the emerging consumer tablet market over the past year are now backing off according to a report from DigiTimes on Friday. Thus far only Samsung has been able to make a real dent in Apple’s stronghold on this new market, capturing a 10% share with its Galaxy Tab Android-powered tablet.

Samsung’s triumph was due mainly to the Galaxy Tab’s widespread distribution, and other entrants into the market have not been able to capture the same success. While 250,000 XOOM tablets shipped in two months and 500,000 PlayBooks shipped last quarter are respectable figures, it’s hard to call those products a success when Apple has sold 25 million iPads in just 14 months. As a result, companies that planned to attack the tablet market aggressively may now be pulling back some of that investment to focus on another new market: supersized smartphones. Android phones with displays sized between four and five inches have become increasingly popular since the launch of Sprint’s HTC EVO 4G, and it looks like handset makers may be better served to focus on that space while the market figures out whether or not if even wants consumer tablets.

LEAK: VERIZON VIDEO SHOWS UNKNOWN TABLET, POSSIBLY XOOM 2

The guys over at Droid-Life spotted a VZW ad starring a mysterious new Honeycomb tablet, which to our ninja-trained eyes looks to exhibit many of the design elements of Motorola's Xoom. It could, of course, be just about anything, given that Verizon yanked the video almost as soon as the above screengrab was lifted, but the rear of this 10(ish)-inch tablet looks very much like a Xoom designed to be used in portrait orientation. We know Moto has a Xoom 2 cooking in the oven and it's not unreasonable to surmise that Verizon is putting together the finishing touches on a promo campaign for it.

NVIDIA CEO SMACKS ANDROID TABLET SALES AROUND

It won't have escaped your attention that just about every Honeycomb tablet shipping in the first half of this year features, or will feature, NVIDIA's Tegra 2 hardware. Unfortunately for NVIDIA, reception for the Android 3.0 slates has been a little underwhelming, and the company's Chief Eloquence Officer, Jen-Hsun Huang, has had a few words to say about it.

He sees the relative paucity of tablet-optimized Android apps as a weakness, while also expressing the belief that cheaper WiFi-only models should've been the standard shipping config rather than fully fledged 3G / 4G variants as Motorola has been pushing with the Xoom. All in all, his is a very sane and accurate analysis, but Mr. Huang loves to look to the future as much as he enjoys talking about the present, and in his opinion all these major downsides have already been "largely addressed" by "a new wave" of Android tablets. He doesn't specify the devices that constitute said wave, but his emphasis on thinness and lightness leads us to believe he's talking up Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 and 8.9 models

LEAKED: SPRINT GETTING MOTOROLA XOOM WITH WiMAX

BGR has confirmed Sprint will be getting Motorola's Android 3 (Honeycomb) tablet, Xoom, with a WiMax radio instead of LTE. No word on availability of the Motorola XOOM, but we’d anticipate it peeking it’s head up pretty soon as cases have started arriving in the Sprint stores.

RUMOR: MOTOROLA TO STOP BUILDING XOOM TABLET AFTER JUNE

According to an unconfirmed report, Motorola is set to curtail production of its XOOM tablet beginning in April and production will cease after June. Industry watcher DigiTimescites anonymous sources from within component suppliers in claiming that XOOM production in the first quarter of 2011 met forecasts of between 700,000 and 800,000 units.

Motorola’s manufacturing partners are expected to ship between 400,000 and 500,000 units in March, and then April production will drop to 300,000 tablets. May’s production will reportedly dip further still and DigiTimes claims Motorola will stop building the XOOM at the end of June.

The cause of the alleged drop in production is unclear, though the website’s sources speculate that Motorola may be uncertain about its position in the tablet market and will therefore slow production. They also speculate that Motorola may instead launch a new version of its XOOM tablet, which is the more likely scenario considering Motorola Mobility CEO Sanjay Jha’s previous comments with regard to the tablet market.

Motorola responded to the rumor stating that it is false and the XOOM tablet will continue to be manufactured after June. But, it is the same XOOM that is on sale now or a different tablet with the same name?

MOTOROLA XOOM UPDATE HITS, BRINGS FLASH 10.2 SUPPORT

Motorola’s corporate Twitter account sent out a tweet announcing that the Motorola XOOM will be receiveing an OTA software upgrade starting late Friday.

Improvements for daylight savings time and support for the upcoming Adobe Flash 10.2 release are expected. The OTA will hit XOOM tablets later on in the evening and your device can be updated over 3G or Wi-Fi.

SAM'S CLUB TO SELL WiFi XOOM FOR $539

Want a Motorola Xoom tablet running Android 3.0 Honeycomb? Don't want to pay $600 from Verizon? Well get your Sam's Club card out and head on over to the big box "wholesaler". For only $539, Sam's Club will set you up with a WiFi only Motorola Xoom according to DroidLife. The displays, including signage are ready to go and should be appearing soon.

Of course some of the photos at DroidLifehave some issues. In one, the new tablet is running "Android 2.0 Homeycomb".

MOTOROLA SUED FOR XOOM TRADEMARK INFRINGEMENT

Online payment company Xoom Corporation has just filed a trademark suit against Motorola in the Northern District of California, asking the court for a permanent injunction but also for a “temporary restraining order and/or preliminary injunction.”

They won’t get it — there’s just no way to stop the launch juggernaut of Xoom — but it’s an interesting suit because Xoom does not appear to be in the wrong, or trolling. They’ve owned the Xoom trademark since 2003. Moreover, Motorola had to have been aware of their trademark, since they also own and maintain Xoom.com.

Xoom is alleging that Motorola’s trademark infringement is “willful and intentional,” and it certainly seems hard to believe that it isn’t. Presumably, Motorola feels that the trademark is only protected in markets that have nothing to do with tablets… or otherwise felt that they could afford to fight this lawsuit when it came.

Either way, it’s a weird little case, since — at the very least — Motorola would have known about Xoom trying to buy the brand name. Will Motorola have to rebrand Xoom? That depends ultimately on two things: whether or not the courts rule in Xoom Corporation’s favor, and whether or not the Xoom is popular enough to be more than a flash-in-the-pan.

MOTOROLA XOOM NOW AVAILABLE

After a lot of hoopla the day has finally arrived. The world’s first Honeycomb (Android 3.0) tablet has officially hit the streets and is ready for purchase. You can run to your local retailer and pick yourself up a shiny, new XOOM for $599 with a signed two-year contract or $799 contract free

XOOM TO HAVE 'UNLOCKABLE/RELOCKABLE' BOOTLOADER

Motorola definitely hasn’t won over the hearts and minds of the most hardcore Android tinkerers — thanks in large part to the company’s locked-down hardware and software. But Moto is showing signs of life. In a recent tweet, Motorola quipped that:

The XOOM will have an unlockable/relockable bootloader that will enable developers to access hardware for development

Not a bad starting point, and certainly a great way to get developers excited about the world’s first Android 3.0 tablet.

MOTOROLA XOOM TO SHIP WITHOUT FLASH SUPPORT

Verizon's webpage dedicated to the Xoom has just gone up an eagle-eyed reader has already spotted a disquieting bit of small print: "Adobe Flash expected Spring 2011." You don't sit around expecting what you already have, so that leads us to conclude that the Xoom, the mighty iPad-slaying, Honeycomb-bringing, world-changing tablet... won't have Flash at launch. The version of Adobe's rich media player it's waiting for is most probably 10.2 for mobile devices, scheduled to arrive in the coming weeks.

PRE-ORDER YOUR XOOM NOW FOR THURSDAY DELIVERY

No more stunt prices, no more premature web appearances, this (we hope) is finally Best Buy's fully official listing for the Motorola Xoom. It brings no great surprises to those who've been tracking the tablet's progress to retail shelves, offering first dibs to buyers willing to make the effort and pre-order one in store today, with full availability coming on Thursday, February 24th. The $800 3G-equipped model is accompanied on Best Buy's site by a $40 portfolio case, a $50 basic charging dock, a $130 stereo speaker dock, and a $70 Bluetooth keyboard, but there's no sighting of the cheaper WiFi-only Xoom. There was some suspicion that the $600 SKU would launch a little later on and that is indeed what appears to be happening. One final note of caution: even if you're intending to use the Xoom as a pure WiFi-only device, remember that you'll be required to activate data with Verizon for at least a month first

RUMOR: GOOGLE MUSIC LAUNCHING WITH HONEYCOMB AND XOOM

Google may finally launch its long-rumored music service side-by-side with Honeycomb, Motorola Mobility CEO Sanjay Jha has hinted. Jha was speaking at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona when he said that Android would be getting a music service sooner than later, and that it would likely launch on the upcoming Motorola Xoom tablet.

"If you look at Google Mobile services today, there's a video service, there's a music service," Jha was quoted saying in The Guardian. "That is, there will be a music service." Later on, Jha spoke about the Xoom—which will be the first to launch with the tablet-friendly Android 3.0 (Honeycomb)—and added that the OS "adds video services and music services."

Rumors about Google's music service go back to last year. The service has long been expected to be heavily based on streaming music from the cloud—liberating users from the typical computer-syncing model that iTunes users have come to know and loathe. More recent rumors, however, have pinned Google's offering as a combination of digital track downloads plus a "digital locker" streaming service.

Insiders said in September that Google was hoping to offer the streaming service to user for $25 per year, which would give them online access to their music library via desktops and mobile devices. Users would also be able to create playlists to share with others—friends would be able to listen to each track all the way through one time, then would be limited to 30-second previews after that until they buy the song(s) themselves. [Ars Technica]

MOTOROLA CEO DEFENDS XOOM'S SKY-HIGH PRICE TAG

At Mobile World Congress on Wednesday, Motorola Mobility chief executive Sanjay Jha came to the defense of the company’s decision to price its first Android tablet at $800. The Motorola XOOM will be a flagship Android tablet when it launches in the near future, and Motorola has slapped on a flagship price tag. With 3G connectivity, the 32GB XOOM will be $70 more expensive than an Apple iPad with the same amount of storage. “We felt that our ability to deliver 50Mbps would justify the $799 price point,” Jha told reporters at Mobile World Congress. “It is 32GB with 3G and a free upgrade to 4G. Being competitive with iPad is important. We feel that from the hardware and capabilities we deliver, we are at least competitive and in a number of ways better.” Of note, the 3G XOOM will reportedly also require users to purchase at least one month of cellular data service in order to unlock Wi-Fi connectivity — ostensibly adding another $30 onto the price of the XOOM and making it a full $100 more expensive than the comparable iPad model. The Wi-Fi-only XOOM will be priced in line with the comparable iPad model at $600.