Verizon Launches First Droid-Brand Tablets

By Joseph Palenchar On Dec 19 2011 - 6:01am

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. — The first two Droid-brand Android tablets, both made by Motorola, will appear this month in Verizon Wireless-owned stores and in the carrier’s indirect channel

Both come with embedded 4G LTE/3G cellular and Wi-Fi.

The two tablets, available with a two-year data contract, are the Droid Xyboard 10.1 and 8.2 with 10.1-inch and 8.2-inch high-definition in-plane switching touchscreens. Both feature processors upgraded to dual-core 1.2GHz from the previous Motorola Xoom tablets’ dual-core 1GHz processor, and both are Motorola’s first tablets with in-plane switching for a wide viewing angle. Both use the Android 3.2 (Honeycomb) OS but are upgradable to 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich).

The 10.1-inch model will be available in three versions: 16GB at $529, 32GB at $629, and 64GB for $729 with a new two-year data contract. The 8.2-inch model will be available in two versions: 16GB for $429 and 32GB for $529 with a two-year agreement. The minimum plan needed to buy the tablets is a 2GB plan at $30/month.

The two tablets will also be available at an unsubsidized price with month-to-month prepaid data plans, a spokesman said.

Besides sporting different screen sizes, each model is also targeted to different users. The 10.1 is optimized for productivity, offering an included stylus for note taking and markup. The 8.2 is designed for portable entertainment with 2.1 adaptive virtual surround sound. It also accesses Netflix movies in up to HD quality.

Both also come with 1GB of RAM, Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n, and a Dijit app that turns the tablets into universal remote controls for home electronics products, including TVs. Dijit also displays local programming guides.

Other features common to both include Motorola’s MotoCast, which enables remote access to non DRMprotected music, pictures, videos and documents stored on work or home computers. Both feature scratch-resistant Corning Gorilla Glass and a coating of waterrepellent nanoparticles to resist to accidental spills and splashes.

Both also feature mobile hotspot capability to share a 3G/4G connection with up to eight Wi-Fi-enabled devices, 1.3-megapixel HD front-facing cameras for video chatting, and 5-megapixel rear-facing HD camera with digital zoom, autofocus and LED flash.