Motorola Mobility CEO Sanjay Jha said a Google music application will be available with the Motorola Xoom tablet later this year. Also this week, Motorola confirmed the $799 (unsubsidized) pricing for the Android 3.0 tablet and announced the retailers that will participate in the tablet's second-quarter release in the U.K.

Motorola Mobility CEO Sanjay Jha confirmed the existence of a Google music service, one of the worst-kept secrets the search engine has harbored as it seeks to extend its power in mobile computing versus Apple.

Jha, speaking with reporters (including Charles Arthur of The Guardian) at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, said: "If you look at Google Mobile services [via Android] today, there's a video service, there's a music service — that is, there will be a music service."

While he provided no other specifics, Jha tipped Google's hand to software that will work with Android 3.0 ("Honeycomb"), which is powering Motorola's Xoom tablet (pictured) in the United States and in Europe next month. The 10.1-inch Xoom is powered by a 1GHz. dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 processor, and offers front and rear cameras for video chat. Honeycomb has been redesigned for tablets and can offers a revamped user interface, among other enhancements.

The revelation about Google's music service was big news, although it was not entirely unexpected. Rumors have swirled about this alleged rival to Apple's iTunes since last year, when Google Android creator Andy Rubin reportedly took the lead on this effort.

Google has neither confirmed nor denied Rubin's role. However, the company hinted at what was to come at its Google I/O conference last May, when engineering vice president Vic Gundotra acknowledged that Google acquired digital music specialist Simplify Media. While Simplify Media specialized in letting users take music residing on their desktop PC and stream it to a phone, Google's plans apparently are to store music on the cloud (akin to what Apple is set to unveil after acquiring LaLa last year).

Jha also hinted that the Xoom will offer a video service powered by Honeycomb. On Feb. 15, Google CEO Eric Schmidt unveiled Movie Studio, a new application for patching together still images and videos to create movies and share them online.

Xoom retailers tipped for U.K.

At the same event, Jha confirmed the Xoom would cost $799 unsubsidized from Verizon Wireless in the U.S., and about $600 for a Wi-Fi only version. The high price surprised some observers, noting that it eclipses the already lofty prices for the Apple iPad and Samsung Galaxy Tab.

Meanwhile, while Verizon and Best Buy are already set to offer the Xoom to its customers in the U.S., Motorola announced Feb. 17 that in the U.K., Carphone Warehouse and Best Buy will launch the 3G/Wi-Fi version of the Xoom, and Currys and PC World will launch the Wi-Fi-only Xoom. Both releases are scheduled for the second quarter. In addition, Deutsche Telekom will offer the Xoom in Germany, although timing was not mentioned.

Clint Boulton is a writer for our sister publication eWEEK.

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