That was only last month, but there are now early signs that Motorola may already be making the first preparations to get the latest version of Android on the device. An email is now doing the rounds on the Motorola Feedback Network, inviting all owners of the WiFi Xoom US model to test out a forthcoming software update.

Considering that Motorola are requiring all interested parties to fill out an application form, we would assume that this is for Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and not some minor bug fixing update. To reiterate, this is the WiFi version only so those of you with the 3G version and a non-US model will have to wait a little longer for the same good news.

If Motorola are planning to update the Xoom with Jelly Bean so soon, you have to say that is pretty good going for a device that was released over a year ago in February 2011. Also, don’t forget that it took over a year for Ice Cream Sandwich to arrive officially, so perhaps Google has seen that and is looking to rollout Jelly Bean to supported devices a lot quicker this time around.

If you do have the WiFi Xoom in the US, let us know if you have received this email from Motorola or not. For those of you missing out, we would predict that an unofficial version of Jelly Bean will soon be available anyway – or Android 4.1 for the WiFi Xoom will get ported either way.

This is great news for the WiFi Xoom – let’s hope that we hear of many more Android devices getting the Jelly Bean update soon.

If that’s the case, then we have some very pleasing news for you as it looks like Verizon may finally be ready to drop the update. Whispers have suggested that a soak test for the Xoom’s Ice Cream Sandwich update has begun, with select members having already received invitations from Motorola to preview the build before its final release.

We don’t have a copy of that email yet sadly, but some other important information coming out is that the Ice Cream Sandwich build will be compatible on both versions of the Motorola XOOM – ie, those with the 4G LTE radio already fitted and those who are still on 3G.

While news of an imminent update is obviously great news, we wouldn’t be surprised to hear that many of you are already running a custom version of ICS on the XOOM thanks to a AOKP flash. Hopefully it won’t be too long until Motorola complete their testing and roll out the update for good. Verizon Galaxy Nexus users have just been given a much needed update to Android 4.0.4, so hopefully they will concentrate on the Xoom after finishing their rollouts.

How is your Motorola Xoom on Verizon at the moment? Will Ice Cream Sandwich breath a much needed lease of life back into the system for you? We think it is a good time for Motorola to release their next-generation tablet, one which will be packed with a Tegra 3 quad-core chip to compete with the array of other quad-core tablets due out this year.

A number of users with the Wi-Fi version of the Xoom are reporting that their device is starting to receive the Ice Cream Sandwich update over the air. They will now join the people who were testing the software for Motorola according to a report on Electronista.

The software has been updated pretty soon after soak tests had begun as the device was running a standard version of the Android Honeycomb operating system. Motorola had originally revealed that they would release the update around six weeks after Google had released the final build of it. Even though they slightly missed this timescale it is pretty quick work from Motorola.

Google have recently said they rushed Honeycomb out to the market so there was an Android tablet OS to compete with iOS. It did have its problems though with lag proving to be one major frustration with the operating system.

It hasn’t been all plain sailing with Android 4.0 though as numerous users of the Asus Transformer Prime have reported rebooting issues after upgrading to the software. This mirrors what some owners of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus have experienced with the new software. Has your Motorola Xoom received ICS yet?

For those of you that don’t know, soak tests are where Motorola choose a number of testers to try out updates on the company’s products. This is to check for any issues before releasing the update to the general public. A report by Droid Matters that once Motorola announced a “secret project” it left many people wondering what it was for.

Now after some brave testers that are actually bound by a non-disclosure agreement, have confirmed that the IML 77 update is indeed Android Ice Cream Sandwich. The rollout of the update begun last night at 9 PM PST and only those involved in the testing will receive the update. Both the Wi-Fi and 4G LTE versions of the Xoom are thought to be getting the update to test.

Hopefully the tests will go well and it won’t be long before everyone else with a Motorola Xoom can download the new operating system to their device, and upgrade from Honeycomb. Do you have the Motorola Xoom?

We have embedded the leaked image at the bottom of this post, it suggests that the Carphone Warehouse will be selling the 16GB WiFi-only Xoom 2 for €399.90 – no release date is mentioned, but seeing as how the leaflet is decorated with snow flakes and gifts it is safe to say that it will arrive before December 25, 2011.

Sadly like a lot of leaks the image isn’t too clear, however we can clearly see that it looks like it will run Android 3.2 out of the box, also it will boast an 8.2-inch display and WiFi tethering capabilities. Sadly we can’t make out any of the other specs, but we expect it to trump the original Xoom’s 1GHz NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core processor etc.

As you have probably spotted there is no mention of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, we think that it will be a massive disappointment if this tablet arrives without the latest flavor of Android which was showcased last month, what do you think?

According to Engadget the €399.90 price tag equates to $545, however it has to be said that a U.S. price may vary quite massively. We can only speculate for the moment, but we think that a price nearer to $450 – $500 would be much more suitable, that said it all depends on the specs and features it offers.

As and when we hear more information about this tablet we will keep you posted, for now let us know how you would like the Xoom 2 to build on the original’s success – let us know in the comments section below.

Considering Google’s close ties with the Xoom tablet and the fact that it was the first device to launch with Android 3.0 Honeycomb, you could have guessed that this scenario would happen after Google’s announcement.

However, it’s always nice to see it in black and white, and some comments from the Motorola forums manager has given Xoom owners reason to start getting excited about Ice Cream Sandwich. Here is what he said recently, as reported from Droid-Life:

”I don’t know anything about if it will be first or not – have no insight into how other manufacturers do updates – but XOOM will get ICS. I just don’t have any timing to share.”

So Xoom is definitely getting Ice Cream Sandwich, but the important thing to note here is that there is still no official word on when this will be happening unfortunately. Will Google manage to rollout the first wave of Ice Cream Sandwich updates to handsets and the Xoom before the end of 2011, or are we looking at updates happening towards the first months of 2012?

We recently told you that so far, the Nexus S is the only handset confirmed so far officially, to get the update to ICS – but again no set date. Then we had news of a working ICS port for the Nexus S 4G on Sprint, while Sony Ericsson’s 2011 Xperia lineup is also expected to get updates to ICS at some point as well.

Will other tablets follow the Xoom in getting an update, or will Google keep things exclusive to the Xoom for a few months? If you own a Motorola Xoom or a different Android tablet, give us your thoughts on the news.

It looks like this will be a very busy weekend for Verizon, as not only does it look like HTC Thunderbolt owners will finally get an official update to Android Gingerbread, but Verizon will also be starting their upgrades for the Xoom tablet as well.

If you have a Xoom and are seeking the update, you’ll need to visit Verizon’s website here for steps on how to go about the update process. According to Verizon’s FAQ on the same page, the carrier will take around six days to complete the upgrade and it will be completely free of charge too.

Once the Xoom has been fitted with a 4G LTE radio, you’ll have the option of choosing three data packages from Verizon. It starts off at $30 per month for 2GB, $50 per month for 5GB and then a short fortune of $80 per month for 10GB. On the plus side, your new beast of a tablet will be able to download songs in seconds and movies in minutes, so this will probably be seen as a fair compromise for the high costs of 4G data.

For those of you without a Xoom but are thinking of buying one, you’ll be pleased to know that Motorola will start selling tablets with the 4G LTE radio already fitted from October 13, priced at $499.99 on a two-year contract with Verizon. That is all good and well, but are the prices worth it in your opinion? Paying $30 for the mininum 4G data plan may seem like a lot to some consumers, so it will be interesting to see how Xoom owners take to the new 4G support.

This is My Next have exclusive images of a new Motorola tablet, which looks to be much thinner than the Xoom and looks to be about 7-inch in size. The device is thought to be running Android Honeycomb, and has slightly angled corners in the new sleeker design that is similar to the Photon 4G.

The source who provided the images has pointed out that the Motorola logo can be seen in the upper left corner in portrait mode. There seems to be micro-HDMI and micro USB ports at one end, and the screen is also the usual 16:9. This could be the fun and portable model that was promised by the end of this year by Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha.

The company is currently in the process of being taken over by search engine giant Google, but that won’t stop them bring out new products in the meantime. Many consumers do prefer the bigger tablet PCs like the iPad though, so whether another seven inch device can cut it remains to be seen. If the device is priced right with the features consumers want it may do very well.

Do you prefer a larger screen size than 7-inches for a tablet PC?

According to Eurodroid, UK retailer the Dixons Group has just dropped the price for the Motorola Xoom Wi-Fi only model to £329. The device that runs Android Honeycomb was originally launched costing £499, which was also priced at £399 only three weeks ago.

The tablet PC also comes with 32GB of internal storage and is slightly cheaper than what the store has the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer priced at. Also the Wi-Fi and 3G version of the Xoom is reduced to £399, making the device very competitive.

For your money you get a 10.1-inch display powered by a 2GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 dual core processor. There are two cameras to be found on the device with a 5-megapixel camera on the back which can also take 720p video, and a 2-megapixel round the front.

Users can use the 1280 x 800 touchscreen to watch 1080p HD content, which can also send out HD content to other devices via the HDMI port. It also has the Adobe Flash Player on board for watching web content. We could start seeing a lot of discounts on tablet devices in the run up to the holiday season.

Retailers and manufacturers will want to shift stock sitting around, and would have seen what any sort of discount can do for sales. Admittedly we won’t get price cuts as steep as what we saw for the TouchPad, but expect to see some great offers in the coming weeks.

Would you purchase the Motorola Xoom at this price?

As many of you may have guessed, the Motorola Xoom is the first device to be given the Android 3.2 update, and the signs are suggesting that Verizon has now started to roll out the update to Xoom owners.

The file size of this update will come in at 15.4MB and confirmed features in the update are SD card support, zoom-scaling for applications and also improvements to movie streaming and rental purchases.

We’ve found a few documents up on the Verizon website informing customers about the planned Xoom update to 3.2. If you haven’t received the update yet, you can download a couple of PDF files, so you know exactly what is coming and instructions to take whilst performing the update.

It will be interesting see just how many of you are holding it out for the 3.2 update, as we know many of you have already rooted your device and are already enjoying the benefits of Android 3.2 via custom ROMs. On the plus side though, those who do have a rooted device are still eligible for the 4G LTE upgrade, as Motorola has already confirmed that they will still attempt upgrades on rooted devices – which is nice.

If you have a Xoom at the ready now, it’s worth checking your device to see if the update to Android 3.2 is available for you or not yet. It may be rolling out in waves as Verizon has known to do in the past, so don’t panic if you still don’t get it today. For those of you that are enjoying 3.2 on the Xoom, let us know your thoughts on it so far, or if you’ve encountered any problems that were not present in the previous version.