Mobile telco Vodafone today confirmed it would not be launching Motorola’s highly anticipated Xoom tablet in Australia, instead focusing on existing exclusive offerings such as its rival Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1v.
The Xoom will first go on sale in Australia on 24 May through Telstra, but the nation’s number two telco Optus late last week confirmed it would also sell the Xoom, starting from mid to late June. A spokesperson for Vodafone confirmed it would not sell the device, but was not able to comment further.
The Xoom is one of the first devices to run Android 3.0 (Honeycomb), which has been designed for the tablet form factor. It is supported by a dual-core 1GHz processor, 32GB of memory and 1GB of RAM. It sports a 10.1 inch, 1280×800 widescreen display, a 5 megapixel rear-facing camera and a 2 megapixel front-facing camera. Built from anodized aluminum, the Xoom weighs 730 grams.
Telstra will sell the device for the outright price of $840, or customers can also pick it up on either $29, $49 or $79 monthly capped plans, with an additional tablet repayment cost of $25 for the lower plans or $15 for the $79 plan. The plans come with 1GB, 7GB and 12GB of data quota included. Optus has not yet confirmed pricing for the device, but last week said it plans to launch the Xoom with a number of “compelling customer offers”.
The news comes as Vodafone earlier this month started selling the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1v, which has similar specifications to the Xoom but ships at a cheaper price. Vodafone is selling the device for $729 up front, and it comes with 6GB of data included on a prepaid pack that can be used for up to three months.
In terms of pricing, Optus has tended to price its mobile plans and devices slightly cheaper than the same options at Telstra. However, reviews have shown over time that the company’s network does not have the speed and coverage offered by Telstra’s flagship Next G network, allowing Telstra to grab slices of the mobile market through dint of its superior network. Optus’ network, however, is not known to have suffered the same level of high-profile faults that have plagued the network of Vodafone.
Image credit: Motorola
I’m not quite sure why Vodafone is bothering to sell a device that they cannot provide the internet for. Nobody wants to use a tablet that takes 45mins to load a 3min video clip, or drop out of range for no apparent reason.
Instead of selling devices which will most likely place Vodafone in further negative light, perhaps they should fix their current problems. Then launch these new technologies on the backbone of a strong and developed network.
Awesome another vodafone article. lets bash them and not comment on the article at all!
I only opened this article up to see how many “vodafone should concentrate on fixing their network” comments there were. Surprised there’s only one!
Maybe I’ll take the opportunity to say it’s a good thing that such an awesome tablet won’t be tied to a 2nd rate telco :)
lol.
Also I think Voda might be wanting to deal with Samsung for there tablets in the future.
Also I’m with vodafone…and you don’t see me bashing them
I find it kinda funny that we know what Vodafone should be doing and Vodafone dont.
They can only do one thing at a time? The sales, marketing and accounting folks should be out there wiring up new towers?
nice one dean, very nice… totally agree, the ceo should get his hands dirty
Oh they know alright! They are spending millions investing in fixing their network after all. It’s just they are trying to take the focus away from the VodaFail fiasco by offering all sorts of good deals on high end Android products.
You know though, since this vodafail thing and people jumping ship, I get more consistent speeds :P
Considering the hard on Vodafone have for Android now I’m pretty surprised.
Although perhaps they want to stick to the shitty end of the market and continue focussing on Samsung. How can you tell the network is a piece of trash when you’re using a tin can?
Comments are closed.