Motorola Xoom Launching February 17th for $699 - Best Buy

A leaked internal best buy memo has revealed that the Motorla Xoom tablet (Android 3.0 Honeycomb, http://tablet-crunch.blogspot.com/2011/01/android-honeycomb-30-tablet-specific.html) is launching on February 17th. This news falls only a day after another leaked internal memo suggested a retail price of $800 for the Motorola Xoom. I will personally wait until some competing tablets from LG and HTC are launched, as well as the new iPad 2, before I go buying one.

UPDATE: A new rumour has suggested the price will be $699, which is a tad bit cheaper than the previously leaded Verizon pricing.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/22/motorola-xoom-launching-february-17th-at-best-buy/

Android Honeycomb 3.0 - Tablet Specific Operating System Demo on a Motorola Xoom Tablet

Here is a 10 minute video that was shot at CES 2011 where the upcoming Android 3.0 Honeycomb, tablet specific OS was demonstrated. I've been using android phones for the last 6-8 months and I LOVE the widgets and notifications bars, but just as iOS was/is not ideal for the iPad in a tablet form factor, Android 2.2 froyo and 2.3 gingerbread are not ideal for a tablet either. When I use an iPad, it makes me think of a gameboy. There is a huge disconnect between running each app, which has only been mildly improved with iOS 4 and the introduction of multitasking. The widget system and notifications bar in Android really helps to make the system feel more unified, and helps to bring a lot of information to your fingertips very quickly. Instead of having to open 10 different apps on the iPad (calendar, music, twitter, facebook, email, music, weather, alarm clock, news feed) I can have them all on my home screens with Android. Honeycomb seems to be really pulling this all together with a UI that is really fitting for a tablet. I'm really hoping this competition stirs Apple from it's slumber and prompts them to really come out with something fantastic for iOS 5. We've already been seeing in rumours that Apple is responding to the hardware competition with the iPad, and here in this video you're seeing the software competition it needs to respond to. The great warranty support, fast updates (no fragmentation), and the fantastic app store (lets me honest, the Android market is terrible) makes the iPad squeak ahead no matter what, but it's still nice to see them competing.

Below is a link to the Engadget article about Android honeycomb 3.0.
http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/06/googles-android-3-0-honeycomb-for-tablets-a-guided-tour-of-the/