Hasta La Gadget!

The Motorola Xoom is a huge product this year for two reasons: it’s a major first tablet from a major Android manufacturer, and it’s the flagship device for Honeycomb, an OS that’s been announced for dozens of other tablets here at the show, but not actually shown running on any of them. The only problem is that Motorola isn’t really showing Honeycomb on the Xoom, either. Instead they’re showing a demo video of the UI, which is actually running on top of real Honeycomb. For a glimpse under the covers, Jacob snagged a quick illicit peek at a totally unpopulated home screen, the gallery app, and even the task switcher the other day. We’ll just keep that between us, however, and until we get a full-on official look at the UI, we thought we’d walk you through that demo UI video Moto is running on the actual tablet and pretend like we’re actually using the thing, which should clear up some of the confusion on this brand new tablet OS while simultaneously stoking our egos. Check it out after the break.

Update: Here’s the gallery of the non-pretend and very real UI shots we peeked in the first hands-on post (including a shot of the task switcher in its current form).

Continue reading Motorola Xoom: pretend UI hands-on walkthrough (video)

Motorola Xoom: pretend UI hands-on walkthrough (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 09 Jan 2011 22:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’re not going to lie — we’re pretty excited to bring this to you guys. Here at CES 2011 we had a chance to sit down with Matias Duarte, the man behind webOS (as well as the Sidekick and Helio UIs), who’s now heading up Google’s user experience for Android. Matias is currently driving the interface and design for Android 3.0 (AKA Honeycomb), and it’s clear that he’s bringing his big, bold ideas to the Android platform. This is the first video interview Matias has done since leaving Palm, and we pressed the man on his involvement in Gingerbread and Honeycomb, what had to be torn down in Android, how desktop OSs can inform mobile devices, and much, much more. Don’t just take our word for it — follow along after the break and watch the full interview!

Continue reading Exclusive interview: Google’s Matias Duarte talks Honeycomb, tablets, and the future of Android

Exclusive interview: Google’s Matias Duarte talks Honeycomb, tablets, and the future of Android originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 15:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We knew it was coming, but we didn’t know what it would look like… or anything else besides 4G, Honeycomb, and an LG partnership, but at it’s press event here at CES, T-Mobile has finally revealed its G-Slate tablet. It looks like, well, a big screen, and we’re still working on getting more details, but for now these shots from the presser will have to suffice.

T-Mobile G-Slate revealed at CES press event originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Jan 2011 14:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A funny thing happened after Google posted (and subsequently pulled) its Android 3.0 Honeycomb video: T-Mobile celebrated its G-Slate announcement by posting the same video. And about six more after that (to be fair, they’re also on the Motorola / Verizon Xoom we demoed). Today it was made official during Verizon’s keynote, with Google itself narrating a hands-on demo. We’ve scrutinized these videos to no end and we think we’ve come up with the most complete picture of Google’s tablet OS experience at this point. Join us after the break for all the goods.

Continue reading Google’s Android 3.0 Honeycomb for tablets: a guided tour of the UI (video)

Google’s Android 3.0 Honeycomb for tablets: a guided tour of the UI (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Jan 2011 13:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LAS VEGAS — Google’s Android development team has previewed the upcoming “Honeycomb” version of its mobile operating system. Honeycomb is the first version of Android to be tailored for larger-screened tablet computers.

We first got a glimpse of Honeycomb when Android boss Andy Rubin showed of off a Motorola tablet prototype in December last year. And Motorola’s new Xoom tablet, a tablet without a price or a release date, will also run the tablet-centric OS.

The video shows that Honeycomb has much more than just a scaled-up smartphone UI, a complaint leveled at most Android tablets so far. It comes on like a desktop/smartphone hybrid, with friendly, finger-sized controls mixed with a desktop metaphor. It looks pretty neat, if sparse, although that’s to be expected with any Google software.

Here we see Gmail (much like the iPad-optimized version) and the new 3D Google Maps, with vector and offline support. Google Voice comes into its own on a tablet, with video-calling supported to pretty much anyone with Gmail and a webcam, and you have access to Google Books.

When Android Honeycomb tablets finally ship, we’ll be excited to get a proper look. And one thing, Google: can you please fix up the font-rendering in Android? This is 2011, and your on-screen type looks like something from Windows 95.

A Sneak Peek of Android 3.0, Honeycomb [Google Mobile Blog]

See Also:

• Motorola Previews New Android Tablet, Droid Smartphone
• Honeycomb
• Video: Motorola Tablet Running Android 3.0 Honeycomb
• Motorola Teases Android Honeycomb Tablet for CES 2011