Motorola Xoom, which has '4G Tablet' as its USP, is still not a 4G tablet, but this might change soon. As suggested at the time of its
launch, Motorola is expected to recall the tablets for the upgrade and it looks like that the process is already underway. There is an email doing rounds, which suggests that Motorola is probably really going to fulfill its promise.
If the email is genuine, then it would also dispel the rumors about 4G compatibility issues with Tegra 2. In last couple of days, Motorola CEO Jha had been heard vaguely holding Nvidia responsible for the delay in making Xoom 4G. Anyhow, even if the company has now started 4G upgradation process, it still has lost the battle. Samsung is offering its Galaxy Tab 10.1 for pre-sale orders, starting this week. The tablet is 4G capable and runs the same Tegra 2 chipset.
The delay in 4G is not going to do any good for Motorola, which has already made some very costly mistakes. Though, its Xoom is a superior piece of hardware, but it was outrageously priced, especially when you compare it to the ultimate benchmark in tablet segment, iPad. Then, there were issues with non-working USB port and Flash. And now that Samsung is going to beat Motorola in 4G race, we are planning to set some space free for Motorola in the book of 'Irrelevant Tech Companies'.
Motorola had started the year with a bang, releasing Xoom and Atrix. Though, these products received some rave reviews, but the verbal praise was not so much translated into the real revenue. The major impediment in the way was high pricing. Originally, Xoom was priced in the vicinity of $800. Though, later the company released cheaper Wi-Fi versions and offered discount on 3G models, but the damage had already been done. So, now that Motorola has ostensibly started the 4G upgradation process, would you be willing to shell out for Xoom?
Update: Motorola admitted that its system did send such emails to some of its customers, but the mails were merely a result of a technical glitch. So, Xoom owners, you still get to wait for 4G on your tablets, but in the meantime, you can enjoy seeing new reasonably-priced 4G tablets pounding the market. Bravo, Motorola, Well done!