UK pre-orders for the Wi-Fi-only version of the much-hyped Motorola Xoom tablet have now been opened by PC World, which has revealed that the Android-based tablet will hit the markets early next month. The price-tag of the Xoom will be £499.99.

While PC World is apparently the only UK shop to get the Xoom’s Wi-Fi version at launch, the cost of the tablet might just put the prospective buyers of the tablet slightly ill at ease --- more so as PC World had earlier-this-week accidentally published a ‘Xoom pre-orders’ page, quotin that cost of the device as £449.99.

However, with the supposedly “draft holding page” quickly taken down by the retailer, with the announcement that Motorola was still to conform the cost of the Xoom in the UK, the new pre-order page now shows that tablet costing £50 more than what PC World had earlier projected.

The PC World’s Xoom pre-orders page claims: “If you order from us today you'll be the first in Europe to receive one.” However, there is no official disclosure about whether Flash be available for the Xoom when it goes on sale in the UK.

Meanwhile, buyers interested in the 3G-enabled version of the Xoom can head over to Best Buy and Carphone Warehouse, both of which said in a last-month announcement that they will be selling that model of the Motorola tablet.