Verizon Wireless has just posted an announcement of an upcoming software update for the Motorola XOOM. The update will be arriving at an unspecified date through Over-the-Air (OTA) delivery.

Verizon XOOM users are encouraged to stay alert to tablet notifications for software update HTJ85. The update can be installed right away when Verizon’s notification for it arrives on the tablet. The update can also be manually installed at a later date from the Settings > About tablet > System updates screen.

Software update HTJ85 includes the following:

• Screen scaling compatibility mode — enables the XOOM to display selected applications (non-native Honeycomb apps) in double-pixel mode
• SD card support — allows a file manager to be used to view the contents of a microSD card and save files to the card via a PC or Mac
• Adaptive streaming for movies — improves user experience by adjusting a streaming movie’s bit rate based on the client’s bandwidth
• Improvements to Movie Rental, Exchange ActiveSync, and security
• New EAS policy to allow password recovery

Looking at that list, we presume that this updates the Motorola XOOM to Android 3.2 Honeycomb, which has been reported to bring the “zoom-to-fill” mode and SD card support to Honeycomb tablets.

Earlier reports of public rollout of the update seem to have come from confusion over a soak test conducted for the software. Verizon hasn’t officially released the update yet, but has promised that it’s “coming soon.”

If you were one of those who participated in the soak test and have received your software update, what improvements have you noticed to your Motorola XOOM?