The new Android 3.0 Honeycomb by Google, which was unveiled yesterday, is designed for tablet PCs but will work on smartphones. The company also opened a new web based App store platform called Google Webstore that supports in app purchases. These launches follow a pattern — they enable Android to do all that was possible on an iPad.
While Android smartphone apps can run on Honeycomb, the new OS is expected to inspire a whole new range of apps optimised for tablets.
The homescreen of a tablet running Honeycomb is customisable with lots of widgets.
The iPad from Apple has a much simpler and intuitive user interface, and iOS devices don’t do anything until the user actually launches an app. This results in longer battery life. Android devices are less energy efficient because of the continuing Processor and application activity.
The Google team yesterday also presented an e book app and demonstrated turning virtual pages.
The presentation from Google didn’t reveal too many technical details. Other benefits include a two panel view of Gmail; the fact that you can customise your Android home screen; and access to Google Maps with 3D view.