Motorola XOOM Set for a February 17th Launch at Best Buy

Motorola XOOM, the Android-based device that Motorola says it can be placed at the top of the evolutionary chain for tablet PCs, is expected to become available for purchase on the United States market come February 17th.

The tablet was announced officially during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in early January 2011, and should be released in the country on Verizon Wireless' airwaves.

Although the two companies announced officially that the Android tablet PC would be released in the coming months, a specific release date for it was not unveiled, nor was a possible price tag.

However, recent info that emerged over at Engadget suggests that the Motorola XOOM would arrive on shelves at Best Buy on February 17th, less than a month from now.

Previously, the device was expected to be put on sale only in March, but it seems that Verizon and Motorola might have it in users' hands sooner than that.

In addition to the said release date, Engadget notes that details on a possible price tag for XOOM emerged as well, suggesting that Verizon might have it at $699.99, without subsidies.

Previous rumors on the Motorola XOOM suggested that the wireless carrier might have it priced at $799.99.

Of course, nothing was confirmed officially for the time being, and things might turn out quite differently in the end.

However, some things that might not be changed include the fact that the tablet PC would run under Google's Android 3.0 Honeycomb operating system, or that it would arrive on shelves with 32GB of onboard storage.

The specifications list of this device also includes a 10.1-inch widescreen HD display, a 5-megapixel camera with 720p HD video recording, front-facing 2-megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, 3G/4G LTE connectivity (the latter enabled through an upcoming update).

The Motorola XOOM would also offer 1080p HD video support and HDMI output, Google Maps 5.0 with 3D interaction, support for Adobe Flash Player, access to the Android Market, and more.