Motorola Says Rooted Xoom Tablets Eligible For LTEMotorola Says Rooted Xoom Tablets Eligible For LTE

Motorola Xoom Teardown: Inside The New Android Tablet

Based on comments made by a Motorola support forum spokesperson last week, it appeared that the company was going to leave rooted Xoom users out of the LTE upgrade party. Now, the company has stated that's not entirely the case.

Motorola is requiring that Xooms be in "factory condition" when they are submitted for the Long Term Evolution 4G upgrade. That means that users who root and unlock their Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablet will have a way to obtain the upgrade.

Motorola explained in a forum post, "All Motorola Xoom tablets on the Verizon Wireless network are eligible to receive an upgrade to support 4G LTE. This includes those that have been unlocked; however, those units must be submitted for upgrade with the original factory software reinstalled and the device relocked in order to receive the upgrade."

In other words, root users are going to have to completely back-up their Xoom's settings and then revert it to its original condition.

Don't feel like doing all that work? Motorola said it will at least attempt to upgrade rooted devices, but it isn't making any promises. "For devices that are returned unlocked, Motorola will attempt to complete the upgrade, but may be unable to update the software," it explained. "In these cases, the device will be returned to the consumer with just the 4G LTE modem installed. More details on the process will be available closer to the upgrade availability."

Is it worth the trouble to restore a rooted Xoom to factory status in order to get the LTE upgrade? You betcha. Upgrading the Xoom to LTE will put it in an entirely different playing field with respect to mobile broadband. Verizon Wireless's LTE network is capable of speeds between 5 Mbps and 12 Mbps on the download, which are four to nine times faster than its current EVDO 3G network can deliver. The LTE network already has a significant footprint covering 38 markets and 60 airports across the U.S., with more on the way later this year.

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