Motorola Wi-Fi-only Droid Xyboard is now available

The cheaper, Wi-Fi-only version of Motorola's latest and greatest Xyboard tablet has begun shipping. Pre-orders for the units are now being fulfilled, and the product pages on Verizon's website now show them as being available to purchase. The new products, which were originally scheduled for a January 18 launch, are geared at consumers who want a high-end tablet but don't care about being able to take it online any time they want.

What could have potentially been one of the best moves for the Xyboard is that its official name is the Droid Xyboard. Unfortunately, most people just end up dropping the Droid moniker, and secondly that moniker has lost a lot of its value. Motorola should have captured that brand momentum with its first tablet, the Xoom. It isn't making nearly as big a splash now.

Nevertheless, the availability of cheaper Xyboards should spark some new interest in the company's second big attempt to cash in on the tablet war. There are four versions of the device, broken up into 10.1-inch models and 8.2-inch models, each with either 16 GB or 32 GB. Prices range from $400 to $600, a modest decrease from the cost of their 4G LTE-equipped counterparts.

[via Unwired View]