Motorola's Xoom tablet to be priced at $800; HTC Thunderbolt at $249

The minimal advertised price (MAP) of the Motorola Xoom, considered by many to be the first real iPad rival, has been leaked in images obtained by Android Central from a Verizon source. The price, even given the specs, is a rather jaw-dropping $799.99.

Jaws drop, however, because of apples-to-oranges comparisons. Whenever a price comparison is made, most use the iPad's minimum price, of $499. Compared to the Xoom, this looks like a $300 difference. However, with the Xoom' specs, it should really be compared with the 32GB iPad 3G model, which is priced at $729.

Realistically, it could be compared to the 64GB model ($829), as the Xoom has a microSD card slot adding still more storage. Additionally, the Xoom's specs are superior to the current iPad. They include:

• Android 3.0
• 10.1-inch 1280 x 800 display
• Dual Core 1Ghz NVIDIA Tegra 2
• 1GB RAM
• 32 GB internal memory with microSD Card slot
• 10 hr video playback battery life
• 5 MP Rear camera with Flash and 720p HD video capture
• supports 1080p HD video and HDMI output
• 2MP video calling camera
• Accelerometer, gyroscope, barometer
• 802.11n wi-fi with hotspot capability
• Bluetooth 2.1
• 3G (upgradeable to 4G, later)
• 4G (later model, will come in Q2)

Despite the superior specs and a pretty good apples-to-apples comparison in pricing, many commenters criticize the pricing. There is some justification for their reasoning: Apple has a big lead with the iPad, and in order to catch up with the first really powerful alternative to it, pricing adjustments might need to be considered.

Still, this appears to be unsubsidized pricing, without a contract. It's unclear if subsidized pricing will be offered. There are also many other tablets coming, in a wave that is bound to see many successes --- and many failures. Finally, we still don't have an exact date, although it is supposed to be  sometime in Q1 for the 3G version, later upgradeable to 4G, and Q2 for the 4G version.

The same images, by the way, out the HTC Thunderbolt's pricing at $249, which sounds subsidized. It's a little more than the $199 that we're used to seeing for most handsets, but a 4G premium is probably there. It's expected to be Verizon's first 4G handset to hit the market.

You can watch a Xoom teaser below.