Sprint Selling WiFi Xoom May 8 for $599

Sprint said it
will begin selling the WiFi version of the Motorola Xoom May 8 for $599, becoming the second
U.S. carrier after Verizon Wireless to offer the beleaguered Android 3.0
“Honeycomb” tablet.

Verizon began selling the WiFi + 3G version of the Xoom Feb. 24
for $599 with a two-year contract, or $799 without a contract. Motorola
Mobility launched the WiFi-only version of the 10.1-inch
tablet March 27 for $599.

Originally
prophesied as a legitimate challenger to Apple’s iPad, the Xoom shipped only 250,000 units in the last two
months, compared with Apple’s sales of almost 4.7 million iPads in the first
quarter alone.

Motorola
Mobility CEO Sanjay Jha pointed to the Xoom and Atrix 4G as highlights for the
company’s first quarter, but as far as the iPad goes, few will argue the Xoom
or any other tablet have proven to be a true contender.

While Global
Equities analyst Trip Chowdry criticized the tablet and Honeycomb OS as buggy
and estimated customers only bought 25,000 to 125,000 units, Verizon told eWEEK it was “very pleased” with
its Xoom sales.

Now Sprint
will test the market in less than two weeks with its own Xoom WiFi offering.

As eWEEK noted, the Xoom is great for switching from
one application to the next. The 1GHz dual-core processor rendered applications
rapidly over 3G and WiFi. Honeycomb’s widgets, Web browsing, notifications and
customization are enjoyable.

The device
also sports a rear-facing 5-megapixel camera with flash that can capture
high-definition video and a front-facing 2MP camera for Google Talk with video
chat.

Sprint will
market the Xoom WiFi in Sprint Stores, online and over the phone.
Interestingly, Sprint is also selling another major Android product, the Samsung Nexus S 4G Android 2.3
“Gingerbread” smartphone on May 8 as well.