This morning, Verizon Wireless announced the launch data and pricing for the Motorola Xoom, a device originally seen among the 4G devices at CES in January.

Much speculation has surrounded the impending release of this device, mostly centered around pricing.  Early on, the “$799″ price was thrown around a bit on many sites, and was quickly followed by disbelief that anyone would pay THAT MUCH for a tablet, let alone an Android device.

The speculation can now end.  Verizon has announced that, indeed, the device will cost $799.99 - without a contract.  It will, however, cost $599.99 WITH a two-year contract.  Both will require a minimum plan of $20/mo for 1GB/mo.   No word on one-year contract availability.

The device will be the first major launch of an Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) device.

Interestingly, while the device was announced as a 4G LTE unit, the Xoom will launch with a 3G radio and be upgradable to 4G in the near future, at no cost.

The Verizon Wireless demo of Xoom can be found here.

The Consumer Electronics Show is in full swing in Las Vegas and while PhoneCan doesn’t have anyone there this year, we’re doing our best to try and keep up with the flood of new devices and technology.  It’s a bit overwhelming, and since we can’t give you any hands on content, we’ve decided to leave that reporting to those who are at the show itself.

But Google used device announcements today  to officially unveil Android 3.0 aka Honeycomb.  This is the first version of Android that Google built with the intention of it being used on tablets.  Details are still a little slim as to all the

differences, but if you check out the video below, you’ll see that it is completely different from what we’ve come to know about Android.

This doesn’t appear to be simply a Phone OS blown up to fit on a larger screen (like the tab) or lightly customized (like the iPad) but instead it appears to be an entirely different operating system designed from the ground up for a tablet form factor.

Details are still a little light, but expect a flood of new information (and devices) in the coming weeks.  Forget everything you’ve thought about Android and check out the official announcement video after the break.

Many thanks to [Android Developers] for posting this video.