[Rumor] Verizon Eliminates Minimum Data Plan Requirement for Motorola Xoom

dgstorm

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Motorola-Xoom-nocontract.jpg

There is potentially some good news for those wanting to get hold of the Motorola Xoom that just went on sale today. According to Electronista.com, Verizon has confirmed with them that they will not be requiring a minimum 1-month of service on their $799 Xoom after-all. This 'new' pricing strips away the extra $20 bucks for the first month, and $35 dollar activation fee that Verizon was going to charge. This is unconfirmed at this time, but if it turns out to be true, it will make a lot of people very happy and make the Xoom even more attractive. Can any members out there confirm this? Sound off in the forums what you think of this development.

An interesting sidebar story; Motorola is getting sued for trademark infringement over the name Xoom at the moment. Here's a quote from Electronista's story,
Xoom Corporation filed a complaint in a Northern District of California court accusing Motorola of "willful and intentional" misuse of its name. The company primarily handles online money transfers but has filed trademarks since 2004.
You have to wonder what Motorola was thinking on this one. Even though their product is fairly different than Xoom Corporation's product, there is no reason Moto's own lawyers shouldn't have caught this during trademark research for the name. The case will probably be settled out of court for some untold amount that Motorola will cough up just to make it go away.

Don't forget to let us know what you think about the new pricing.

Source: AndroidTablets.net via Electronista.com
 

forum8417

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im glad they dropped all those dumb fees but it is still alot. i can wait(because i got a cr-48 and my wife got an ipad for free from work) for the price to go down
 

ljprevo

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I honestly don't think you should be forced into a internet plan if you don't want it. I shut my 3G off most of the time and use WI-FI. I work from home so I am not in terrible need to have internet on it. I am glad I was able to drop to a $15 a month plan.
 

johnomaz

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I honestly don't think you should be forced into a internet plan if you don't want it. I shut my 3G off most of the time and use WI-FI. I work from home so I am not in terrible need to have internet on it. I am glad I was able to drop to a $15 a month plan.

What app do you use to shut off 3G on a verizon phone? I've looked and can't find any that work.
 

Backnblack

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I honestly don't think you should be forced into a internet plan if you don't want it. I shut my 3G off most of the time and use WI-FI. I work from home so I am not in terrible need to have internet on it. I am glad I was able to drop to a $15 a month plan.

What app do you use to shut off 3G on a verizon phone? I've looked and can't find any that work.

Airplane mode works wonders.
 

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I honestly don't think you should be forced into a internet plan if you don't want it. I shut my 3G off most of the time and use WI-FI. I work from home so I am not in terrible need to have internet on it. I am glad I was able to drop to a $15 a month plan.

What app do you use to shut off 3G on a verizon phone? I've looked and can't find any that work.
Try Widgetsoid in the market. I use it and it works exceptionally well. Fully customizeable. Its like the power control widget but you select as many or as few toggles as you want. Color configureable. And yes....3G/ data toggle is just one of the options. I use it primarily to extend battery life. But will serve your purpose just as well.
 

bazar6

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You have to wonder what Motorola was thinking on this one. Even though their product is fairly different than Xoom Corporation's product, there is no reason Moto's own lawyers shouldn't have caught this during trademark research for the name. The case will probably be settled out of court for some untold amount that Motorola will cough up just to make it go away.

Sweet... Now we know why they have it marked up so freakin high, because they (probably purposely) used a trademarked name, and were preparing to have to do this. Either that or it was the Droid trademark they have to pay Lucasfilm, Ltd.
 

fishfood

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Motorola-Xoom-nocontract.jpg

There is potentially some good news for those wanting to get hold of the Motorola Xoom that just went on sale today. According to Electronista.com, Verizon has confirmed with them that they will not be requiring a minimum 1-month of service on their $799 Xoom after-all. This 'new' pricing strips away the extra $20 bucks for the first month, and $35 dollar activation fee that Verizon was going to charge. This is unconfirmed at this time, but if it turns out to be true, it will make a lot of people very happy and make the Xoom even more attractive. Can any members out there confirm this? Sound off in the forums what you think of this development.

Was in a Verizon store today to play with the illegally named Xoom, and was very impressed... I shall be picking one up in the next few days, I think. As for pricing, the rep confirmed that the $799 price tag was a non-contract price, allowing users to go month-to-month with their data plan. However, once it is disconnected, you will have to pay the $35 activation fee to reconnect it, unless your account is privy to the employee discounts that state and local government employees get (WOOHOOO!) in which case the activation fee is waived.

So, for most people, the month-to-month option is not really an option, since you'll get hit with a $35 fee every time you change your mind. The $599 option is with a two year contract and a minimum $20/month data package.

Have fun with your new Xooms!
 

Hugh Jass

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Verizon is paying the game very skillfully.

Step one: LOOK EVERYONE, awesome device woo!!!

Step two: Oh noes, bad news everyone all of these things we just made up are going to hobble this device making it sound really awful! Stay tuned!

Step three: Hahaha, just kidding. Enjoy.

Genius.
 

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Good points, Hugh. Although often times what looks like brilliance is actually just fortunate incompetence.

CNET had a good discussion on this. A lot of money to pay for something to be locked into a 2-yr contract with the pace of the tech advancement. Myself I wouldn't sneeze at $200, but I'd rather have the option of upgrading after a year and/or deciding I don't ALSO need data on a tablet. But drop the home broadband and maybe it all makes sense.

It DOES look awesome and getting great reviews. But I already have an expensive laptop and a smartphone so tablets are not for me, at least not yet.
 

sb1831

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Has anyone else been told that the Xoom will only be upgraded to LTE IF you have a data plan? I wanted to buy the tablet, and activate data when LTE becomes available in my area, but I was told I wouldn't even receive a notification and authorization from Verizon unless I have a data plan
 

VitsDroid

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picked this baby up from motorola for $652 shippped to my house and no contract. Had a 25% coupon code. some lucky peeps also got in on the deal but moto has turned it off when they realized the coupon was working on the xoom.
 

Hugh Jass

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Good points, Hugh. Although often times what looks like brilliance is actually just fortunate incompetence.

That's true, but it often seems like the best kind of marketing happens with this scenario. Use gas prices as an example...stayed rather steady for a very long time, then next thing you know BOOM, $4 gas. Everyone was in a rage, then the economy tanked and the price dropped to twice what it was before and everyone was like "AWESOME look how cheap gas is now!" even though they're paying twice as much. This same logic can be applied to every commodity known to man if it's done correctly, and it appears to me Moto did so successfully even if it was by mistake. Create a demand for a product, shock possible buyers with high cost to feature ratio, and right before it's all said and done suddenly increase the feature to cost ratio, creating consumer buzz right before launch increasing initial sales. Not only does this tactic excite the masses, it also prevents competition like apple from coming up with a perry to the attack so to speak. Had Moto introduced the device just how it is now, apple would have answered big time by now, increasing their feature to cost ratio as well to reduce consumer interest in the Xoom.
 
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