Motorola Finally Comes Through With Xoom LTE Upgrades

Xoom users, rejoice! Despite having to stick it out for a few extra months, the 3G version of Motorola’s ambitious 10-incher is finally getting a piece of the LTE action starting tomorrow.

Frustrated users may remember that the Xoom was originally slated to get its LTE upgrade some time in Q2 2011, but months have come and gone without a firm release date.

The process is (fortunately) still free, and remains the same as the one we heard outlined all those months ago. For those of you who haven’t jumped ship and bought a LTE Galaxy Tab 10.1, you’ll be able to ship your Xoom directly to Motorola, where they’ll perform the upgrade and send the unit back. Motorola says the entire operation should only leave you sans Xoom for about six business days.

If you decided to hold off on buying a Xoom until you could get one with an LTE radio pre-installed, your wait is nearly over too — Motorola says those units should start popping up in stores starting on October 23.

While I’m glad Motorola finally managed to keep their word on this one, it’s seems a bit crazy that users are only now getting their updates, even when a significant hardware refresh is known to be in the works. By throwing the Xoom an LTE bone, Motorola’s giving their tablet enough staying power to last through the holidays, but who knows how much longer the Xoom will last after that.