Review of Honeycomb

The new Android OS has been completely adapted to functioning on a wireless device with a much larger screen. The OS, Android 3.0, has not escaped the nicknaming process the company seems to love. “Honeycomb”, as a platform seems to introduce some very exciting new features. Though I am still hesitant to say that Honeycomb will unseat the “mighty” iPad, my vote does tend to gravitate towards its UI design. The tablets themselves that will carry this platform have USBs for the most part as well. Not anything to do with the OS, but a bus that Apple truly missed.

So what’s does the new OS do that the old handset OS did not?

Right out of the gate you can tell from the software development kit (SDK) that this was developed for the larger screen. It excels at the 1080p video playback and unlike the earlier versions of Android, this OS does not give a mixed experience from being magnified by the tablet device. You will also note that the Chrome browser will offer private browsing and the syncing of your bookmarks. There is a dual pane setup, working well for email and other apps as well.

To be technical, it’s UI brings in some really rich paradigms for the user to interact with in a virtual and almost holographic design. The menu area in Android 2.3 got replaced with an Action Bar and the Notification bar was swapped out with Honeycomb’s System Bar. As a user you will find you look to the action bar out of instinct when you are in need of an option for an application or a setting that is outside of the main UI.

Here’s what you all want to know: How does it stack up next to the iPad’s iOS?

For starters the browser kicks the ever-living pants off of the iPad’s. You fall in love with the way Honeycomb utilizes tabs and how it interacts with your desktop version of Chrome (i.e. work or home). The scroll is also smooth as can be.

Anyone who has ever been annoyed with the copy/paste process on an Apple, would rejoice here in Honeycomb. If you are not one of these, but instead are familiar with Gingerbread, you know those orange arrows that appear after highlighting text. However there wasn’t a button for choosing what you wished to do with that text. Honeycomb heeded your suggestions. Highlight. Then the action bar changes to give you options: Cut, Copy, Paste, or Select All. Might not be the most exciting update, but it is sure to make some smile.

Here are all the specs the end user can expect to experience:

  • Customizing home screens
  • Menu area from the phone now become the Honeycomb Action Bar
  • Notification bar from the phone now become the Honeycomb System Bar
  • A Recent Apps button
  • New keyboard features like reshaped buttons for better targeting as well as the addition of a Tab button
  • Copy-&-Paste upgrades with a press and hold option, drag and resize, as well as web search and find with the Action Bar
  • Media/Photo Transfer Protocol support
  • Google sites auto-sign in & bookmark sync with Chrome
  • Camera with front-facing option for video conference
  • Card-like contacts
  • Two-panel email app with multi-select as well as home screen widget

The Motorola Xoom was the first to feature Honeycomb. So here’s how the device stacks up next to the Apple iPad:

Credit: Alain Joseph, NY Android Examiner

In short, it may not kill the iPad following or tear down the booming Apple app sales, but the new Android 3.0 is extremely comfortable, snappy and easy to use. Google’s SDK team leader, Xavier Ducrohet, stated in a blog post that, “Besides the user-facing features it offers, Android 3.0 is also specifically designed to give developers the tools and capabilities they need to create great applications for tablets and similar devices, together with the flexibility to adapt existing apps to the new UI while maintaining compatibility with earlier platform versions and other form-factors.” Forward thinking on Google’s part is more than apparent. You can expect 2011 to be the year of the tablet, and the brawl between the Apple and Google networks will heighten accordingly. The coming days will surely prove intense. As for this reviewer, one of the 15 million iPad buyers, consider me a convert.

Jon Ryan is the Marketing Manager for CellPhoneNumber.com, a site that helps users find facts and ask questions about cell phone numbers. He has a background in copywriting, journalism, promotions, blogging, design work, drafting, website design/coding, ad design, and creative directing.

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