Hasta La Gadget!

Google’s Android boss Andy Rubin showed of a prototype Motorola tablet running the forthcoming tablet-friendly version of the Android OS, version 3.0 Honeycomb at the All Things Digital “D: Dive Into Mobile” event.

The tablet runs on an NVIDIA dual-core 3D processor (unspecified by Rubin) and looks to be around seven-inches in size, or maybe a little bigger. Rubin starts off showing a new super-fast vector-based version of Google Maps which not only allows a quick two-finger swipe to enter a 3D building-view, but also loads way faster thanks to those vectors. Currently, Google Maps uses image tiles, which is why you do so much waiting on a slow connection. Vectors are way smaller in file-size and are infinitely zoomable, staying crisp all the way.

Google has warned tablet-makers off the current version of Android because it’s not designed for their larger screens, leading to tablets like the Samsung Galaxy Tab, which comes on like a giant cellphone. Android 3.0 Honeycomb will be the first tablet-ready Android OS, and it sounds like Google is taking the same approach as Apple, making “universal” apps that run on both phone sand tablets.

These apps will pack two different views. On a phone, you’ll see one screen at a time, much like you do now. On a tablet, these views will be shown together. From the video, it looks like the tablet view will be somewhere between the iPad’s one-screen view and a desktop like approach, with several windows (from the same app) on-screen together. The actual layout will be up to the app’s designer.

This looks like it will be Google’s reference design. Rubin says that his team partners with a hardware maker and a chip maker to build the reference device, whether it’s a Nexus phone or a tablet. He gave away no details about availability, but when pushed by D’s Kara Swisher on the subject of price, told her that the tablet in his hand had cost around $10,000. Snap!

Google’s Andy Rubin Shows Off Prototype Motorola Tablet [All Things D]

See Also:

• Your Froyo Tablet Probably Won't Support Android Market
• Samsung Galaxy Tab Garners Favorable Reviews
• Google Unveils Nexus S Smartphone, Gingerbread OS
• Gingerbread