Hasta La Gadget!

Motorola's Xoom, the first Android tablet to run "Honeycomb." Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Motorola’s Xoom tablet is the first promising alternative to Apple’s iPad, but the sickly condition of Android’s tablet app ecosystem may end up stalling the platform’s progress.

One month after its launch, the Xoom currently has about 50 native apps available for Android 3.0 Honeycomb, Google’s version of Android optimized for tablets.

That’s pitiful compared with the iPad, which was released last year with approximately 1,000 native apps on launch day. The Xoom debuted with a paltry 15 Honeycomb-native apps available for download in its catalog.

50 apps is a pretty small number, and the actual total may be even smaller. The official Android online market, as well as other online message forums for Android enthusiasts, place the number of Xoom apps somewhere close to 50. But this number hardly seems accurate, as it includes existing Android applications which have been re-sized to take advantage of the tablet’s larger screen. The number of apps with interfaces made specifically for the tablet is probably diminutive.

Still, it’s unclear why more developers haven’t taken the short cut and re-sized their apps for Honeycomb. It could be that developers aren’t sold on the idea of re-sizing their apps to fit more screen real estate, as opposed to “building a true tablet experience that takes advantage of the new platform’s possibilities,” iOS developer Justin Williams told Wired.com in an interview.

And even if developers wanted to create such a “true tablet experience,” they’re hard-pressed to do it without the source code for Honeycomb, which Google is currently keeping a tight reign over. The big device manufacturers working on Honeycomb-powered hardware — like HTC, Motorola and Samsung — all have early access to the code, but only after licensing agreements were made with Google. Smaller developers don’t have this luxury.

“Apple was wise to have the tools out there months in advance of launch,” Williams said, “as compared to Google who made them available only a short time before.”

To be fair, the Xoom is currently the only Android tablet on the market running Android 3.0. Once the glut of Honeycomb-running hardware devices arrives — like the June release of LePad from Chinese electronics manufacturer Lenovo, which was delayed specifically to ensure the tablet will run Honeycomb — we could reasonably expect to see more tablet-optimized applications available. Samsung’s redesigned Galaxy Tab 10.1 will also run Honeycomb, and will also launch this summer.

“Google needs more hardware,” says Williams, “and they need to get developers excited about building tablet experiences, not just larger screened phone apps.”

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

See Also:

• Report: Motorola Xoom Tablet to Cost a Hefty $800
• Motorola Thinks You’ll Pay $800 for the Xoom Tablet
• Motorola Xoom Launches Without Flash
• Honeycomb
• Video: Android ‘Honeycomb’ Tablet OS Revealed
• Video: Motorola Tablet Running Android 3.0 Honeycomb
• Upcoming Asus Tablets Will Run Android Honeycomb
• What We Know About Honeycomb, the Android for Tablets

RIM's PlayBook will ship without the core functions that make a BlackBerry a BlackBerry. Photo: Charlie Sorrel

Oh, RIM! What are you doing? According to a leaked internal document, the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet will ship without native support for e-mail, contacts or messaging. To use any of these services, you’ll have to either hook up a BlackBerry handset, or access them through the web browser.

The document, a seven-page FAQ for the upcoming tablet, lays out the details. To use these core BlackBerry services you need to use “BlackBerry Bridge”, which displays the BlackBerry’s apps on the PlayBook’s screen. Here’s the full text from the relevant section:

Q: Will apps such as e-mail, contacts, calendar etc. be available natively on BlackBerry PlayBook?

The BlackBerry PlayBook can be used in conjunction with a BlackBerry smartphone or it can be used on its own (i.e. standalone).

The BlackBerry Bridge feature creates a secure Bluetooth link between a BlackBerry PlayBook tablet and BlackBerry smartphone allowing BlackBerry smartphone users to view and interact with the email, BBM and PIM apps on their BlackBerry smartphone using the larger BlackBerry PlayBook screen.

In addition, users can access their e-mail via the BlackBerry PlayBook’s web browser without any need for a BlackBerry smartphone.

In a future software update for the BlackBerry PlayBook, we will also provide native e-mail, calendar, and contact apps for those customers who prefer to have these apps directly on the tablet.

[Emphasis added]

Some might argue that this doesn’t matter, as a “future software update” will bring native apps. But what this document really says is, “We rushed it.” RIM is so desperate to get an iPad rival on the market that it is cutting corners. So many corners, in fact, that the PlayBook may just turn out to be shaped like a real Blackberry.

Let’s look at the evidence:

• The software development kit (SDK), which will allow developers to write native apps, isn’t yet finished.
• In order to bring what RIM’s CEO Jim Balsillie calls a “tonnage of apps” to the PlayBook at launch, RIM has added an emulator to run Android apps.
• The PlayBook will ship with Wi-Fi only, no 3G. To connect without Wi-Fi, you need to tether  a BlackBerry.
• RIM, whose business is built on messaging and communication apps, is shipping its tablet without messaging or communication apps.

Not enough? I got a chance to play — briefly — with the PlayBook at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, and found it to be clunky and rather laggy. I tried the e-reader software Kobo, which will come pre-installed on the device. Kobo on other platforms is fast, slick and a pleasure to use.

On the PlayBook it was rather janky, and certainly not smooth. This may be due to the software being in beta. (Or not — I didn’t ask that question. It is also not a criticism of Kobo, which usually makes great apps.)

You can almost smell the desperation that has crept into RIM ever since the iPhone arrived on the scene. RIM went from making the best messaging devices on the planet to making the worst wannabe iDevices around. It started with the awful “touch” screen Storm and continues with the PlayBook — all products rushed to market before they’re finished.

If RIM wants to avoid going the same way as Palm, then it should stop trying to chase Apple and start making some new devices of its own. And it should maybe try to finish them before showing them off to the world.

Leaked BlackBerry PlayBook FAQ (.pdf)

BlackBerry PlayBook FAQs [Scribd. Thanks, AngryMonkeyGeek]

See Also:

• RIM Unveils Tethered Tablet, the BlackBerry PlayBook
• Hands-On With the BlackBerry PlayBook Tablet
• PlayBook Smokes iPad Browser in Blackberry Speed-Test Video
• Video: Adobe Air, Flash Demonstrated on RIM PlayBook Tablet
• Video: Blackberry Playbook Hands-On Demo

Korean electronics manufacturer LG may be working on a Google-branded "Nexus" tablet.

Google is preparing its own hardware entry into the Android tablet market in collaboration with device manufacturer LG, according to a report circulating Monday morning.

The device will be an LG-made “Nexus” tablet, Google’s signature product name for its collaborations with independent hardware manufacturers, the report says.

The tablet could be complete by mid-summer to early autumn, according to speculation from tech site Mobile Review. The site did not disclose any further details or hardware specifications on the speculated device. One caveat: the LG-produced device could just be a prototype used internally by Google for development, as noted by The Boy Genius Report.

Google did not respond to our request for comment on the matter.

If a Google-branded tablet hits market, this wouldn’t be Google’s first entry into branding devices from outside manufacturers. Google’s previous Nexus devices include the HTC-manufactured Nexus One smartphone, which was widely regarded as a failure after lackluster sales and a lukewarm reception from the general public. The Samsung-produced Nexus S followed in late 2010, a phone that garnered much hype upon its initial release, but has been passed over by the myriad 2011 smartphone releases, which boast beefier hardware profiles and heftier ad campaigns.

A Google-branded Nexus tablet may have a better chance at success than its smartphone Nexus predecessors, however. Among other reasons, the Nexus One’s difficulties lay in AT&T’s and Verizon’s unwillingness to subsidize the handset — only T-Mobile (the carrier in last place in the U.S. in terms of adoption) backed the release.

While carrier subsidies can help sales, a new tablet’s popularity isn’t necessarily contingent on whether or not the major carriers are willing to play ball. Wi-Fi only versions of tablets like Apple’s iPad and the Motorola Xoom are sold at significantly lower prices than their 3G network-enabled counterparts, which means more potential sales without the headache of carrier choosing for customers.

But any new entry into the already crowded tablet market must take into account other factors, including a healthy media ecosystem and competitive pricing. Currently, the Android Market hosts over 200,000 apps for download, with many more available on independent, unofficial markets. Apple’s app store is home to double that amount at over 400,000. Recent improvements to Android’s payment system such as the launch of its web-based Android Market in February, however, could give Google more traction in developing its app environment.

LG is already producing its own Android-based tablet in collaboration with Google, the brevity-lacking “T-Mobile G-Slate with Google by LG.” The G-Slate will run Android version 3.0 (Honeycomb), and will be capable of playing and recording 3D and full HD video content.

See Also:

• LG Promises Two New Android Phones, Tablet
• LG’s Glasses-Free 3-D Phone is Pretty Impressive
• Gingerbread

A series of stress tests show that Apple’s new iPad 2 has significantly stronger glass than its predecessor, even though it’s 27 percent thinner.

Shown in the video above, repair company iFixYouri.com tested the flexibility of the screens by propping them on two wooden blocks elevated one or two inches high and pressing down on them with a wooden plank. The iPad 2’s screen survived when bent from both elevations, but the iPad 1’s screen broke when flexed from one inch high.

Finally, the iFixYouri tester had to break the iPad 2’s glass with his own hands. Brutal.

“That glass was redonkulously strong!” an iFixYouri engineer says in the video.

It’s impressive how much progress glassmakers have made between just the first- and second-generation iPads. Perhaps our dreams of flexible digital displays aren’t too far off.

From 9 to 5 Mac

The Kindle 3 can now download Audible books over Wi-Fi. Photo Charlie Sorrel

Kindle users can now browse, buy and download Audible audio books, direct from their device. You’ll need to be connected to Wi-Fi to actually download anything thanks to the large chunks of data involved, but this simple addition makes the Kindle a whole lot more useful.

To try it, just head to the Kindle Store from your Kindle, and you’ll see a new link to browse audiobooks. You can browse 50,000 titles by genre, or you can search. And just like regular e-books, you can download and listen to a sample. The audiobooks show up in your main book list, and you open them just by clicking, as you’d expect. The page then shows a cover thumbnail, a summary of the book and a set of on-screen audio controls for playing, navigating and skipping tracks.

I have had a Kindle 3 for a few months now and I have never tried out the speakers. They’re surprisingly good. Speech is loud and clear, and easily good enough to listen to a book while you cook. And of course, you can plug in headphones.

If you are already an Audible subscriber, you can sign in from the Kindle and then spend your Audible credits instead of charging your Amazon account. I can’t yet find a way to download previously purchased Audible content, but I’m working on it. Plus, you can always just download the files and transfer them to the Kindle via USB.

I’m also running tests on how playback affects the Kindle’s battery life. More on that as I get it. Given that I have only charged the thing twice since I got it, that may take some time.

The Latest Kindle Offers Wireless Delivery of Audible Audiobooks via Wi-Fi [Kindle Daily Post. Thanks, Kinley!]

See Also:

• Amazon Adds Real Page Numbers to Kindle
• Read (Some of) Your Own Books on Kindle for iPad
• Kindle Singles Will Bring Novellas, Chapbooks and Pamphlets to E …