Android Honeycomb Tablet OS is official. This does not suck!

I will say this: the interface is very different from anything we've seen before.  Very impressive video.

Looks very interesting for sure.

 

The amazing thing is that MS couldn't come up with something like this for Windows desktop. I can see the need for a dual core chip, but I'd like to see more -- it's certainly pretty, but what does it do that Android doesn't currently do except nicer looking and faster, with the understanding that the higher specs account for much of those gains? But I'm glad they moved away from the app drawer aesthetic. A nice, flashy intro, but I'm/ hoping for a game changer on the input side.

 

I don't know.  The OS UI nav part of the presentation reminded me a little bit of the PS3's UI w/ iOS coverflow thrown in.

 

So is the whole Honeycomb UI going to have app windows floating about in 3D fulltime (and w/ neon blue lines running wild in the background 3D space)?

 

_Man_

The onslaught of Honeycomb tablets from every manufacturer is going to give the iPad a serious run for its money. And if the iPad 2 is just an iterative device with a camera and the same old iOS app drawer, it's going to look very dated but quick. Video chat over Google Voice could be the next big thing -- I anticipate that will come to the SGT and phones as well.

 

 

Actually, I thought this reference in that blog post was more cool/fun to check out  (even though somebody complained that the project was not original  ):

http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2010/12/android-in-spaaaace.html

 

_Man_

 

Interesting, but brief, video. It only gave a taste of what was to come, and I found it too short and fast to have any opinion on whether HoCo is super awesome or modest revision.

 

I did see that Android is now going to be afflicted with a CoverFlow-like interface for books. On behalf of all Mac users, you have my sympathy.

 

Yeah, that's kinda what I thought too.

 

Hopefully, their spin on the coverflow thing works much better in actual, practical usage -- I'd think it'll at least be much easier/more customizable than Apple's take on that so far, but that still may or may not be all that good...

 

_Man_

I remain envious of the revised Google Maps. Hope that comes to iOS sooner than later.

 

The most intriguing part to me was the swooping multitasking system. It looked like a re-imagining of WebOS's "cards" metaphor. That could be quite powerful.

 

EDIT:

Widgets for email...I have lust in my heart.

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2011/01/motorola-offers-first-taste-of-honeycomb-with-xoom-tablet.ars

 

Motorola's Xoom tablet is wide-ish screen, with an aspect ratio of 1.6 (1280 x 800 resolution). Conventional widescreen HD is 1.777 (or 1280 x 720). The iPad is a squareish 1.333 (1024 x 768).

 

So another choice for hardware designers, software designers and buyers is what aspect ratio to go with. And not simply a choice of a "square" or "widescreen", but perhaps everything in between as Motorola's design suggests.

The GTab is very close to 1.7 (1024x600) -- a size popularized by the original "netbooks". (1024 wide because that is the minimum to fit most web pages; 600 tall because -- I dunno -- that was as short as they could go to cut costs for the screen and resulting size of the machine, and it still is a bit too short for some apps.) And big desktop widescreen monitors were all 16:10 to start, and have only recently started going exactly-HD 16:9.

 

I'd classify all of those as widescreen, and the slight differences (between 16:10 and 16:9, or 1.6 to 1.777) shouldn't be too much of a problem for most apps. Apps with UI widgets (lists and grids) should resize "gracefully", and most games just have to decide which side to crop slightly. Google Maps wouldn't care; the web browser wouldn't care. It's only if you want pixel-perfect representation with no arbitrary cropping that you'd have to worry about it.

 

Honeycomb's big...yeah yeah yeah!

It's not small...no no no!

Honeycomb's got...a big big bite!

Big big (taste/crunch) in a big big bite!" 

 

 

 

MMMmmmmm...  Me wants...  Big BITE!  ARRrgh!  

 

_Man_

Correct me if I'm wrong, but that demo video us for the Motorola Xoom. And that demo is a scripted event or demo video. It's not real. This has come out on the CES reporting. The tablet is wholly hands off; no one can touch it or use in an unscripted fashion.

Hopefully android 3 will be that great. But I've got a dim view of these non-real demos.

http://www.androidcentral.com/hands-motorola-xoom

 

Oh well -- doesn't appear to be a true "hands-on" either.  The Moto guy is holding the thing the entire time.

Edited by Hanson - 1/10/11 at 12:37pm

Could this be the killer input method in Honeycomb? http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2010/10/google-acquires-blindtype-to-improve.html The prospect of typing without looking -- indeed,typing without an onscreen keyboard altogether -- is totally awesome.

That BlindType looks very promising.  Since it probably uses some kind of dictionary, wonder how well it handles text that are not recognized words and maybe the mixed use of multiple languages.

 

Not sure I'd really want the virtual keyboard to scale to my typing as I go though, but I'm sure that can be optionally adjusted or locked.

 

Will they actually get it into Honeycomb in time for the upcoming tablets?

 

_Man_

Interesting. After using the iphone's keyboard for six months, I'd appreciate some improvements on predictive keyboards. It's good, but I still have some problems. Maybe this stuff will flow through the greater mobile ecosystem and help us all.

 

Since Google bought BlindType (to be used on Android), it may well take a good deal longer than usual for it (or something just like it) to flow over into the iOS environment.

 

_Man_

Technically, Dave, BlindType isn't predictive text as you actually need to type out all the letters in the word for the algorithm to select the word you're trying to type.  Predictive text as it exists today tries to guess what word you're going for with the fewest letters possible.

 

The trick in BlindType is that it tracks the points in space where you are typing to figure out what letters you were trying to hit against a word dictionary.  Presumably, this can be adapted to any language that uses the QWERTY keyboard since it's just a matter of changing the dictionary underneath.  Unlike most predictive text keyboard that spell correct at the same time, if you misspell the word in BlindType, it won't match.

 

The most intriguing part of the demo is inputting characters with BlindType with an invisible keyboard.  Now you don't have to up half the screen with a virtual keyboard.  And if you can do that, you can type without even looking at the keyboard.

 

A rising tide lifts all boats

Good clarification on the BlindType usage.

 

But what if some of the boats are never put into the waters (or even near them)?  Might need to wait for the next great Flood...   Of course, then again, this is HTF, and there is 2012...

 

_Man_

 

The metaphor has gone a step too abstract and you've lost me :)

Oh well...  I guess you didn't click on that link (for 2012) and/or haven't seen/heard of the movie...

 

These metaphor thingies just don't always pan out...

 

_Man_

http://ces.cnet.com/best-of-ces/

 

I find it disappointing that Best of Show goes to a device that is nothing more than monitor playing a pre-recorded video. That is: Xoom's demo unit won the CES top award.

 

I'm still hoping someone can say otherwise: that Motorola is showing a real system with a real OS that actually peforms as demo'd. But the bits I've heard, mainly from TWiT reports, continue to be it was Look-but-don't-Touch demo reel.

http://m.engadget.com/default/article.do?artUrl=http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/21/motorola-xoom-priced-at-800-at-a-minimum-according-to-verizon/&category=classic&icid=eng_latest_art

Engadget claims Moto Xoom will sell for $800 at Verizon. If it's entry price is 60% more than the iPad, it's not long for this world. Fingers crossed the first real Android tablet is at price parity with the iPad.

I wouldn't be so quick to write it off based on cost alone. The Galaxy Tab wasn't priced competitively, and it sold pretty well. If the Xoom can pull out one more killer feature it could still hold a lot of appeal regardless of price. And also consider that while the $800 price point isn't competitive with the current iPad, it may be in line with iPad 2 pricing.