The world has been eagerly waiting for a worthy competitor to the iPad, and when you speak of a mobile OS with touch interface, all eyes look at Google’s Android. Android has done well for itself and is perhaps the only proper competition to the iOS in the smartphone race. However, when it comes to tablets, Google is yet to release a tablet friendly version of the OS. Honeycomb, the version of Android that would run tablets is expected to be out in early 2011, and a trusted source who works closely with a member of the Open Handset Alliance has revealed to us that Honeycomb tablets won’t make it to the markets anytime before Q2 2011.
Yes, its a disappointing wait for another 5 or more months for anyone hoping to see Androids official Tablet build. Till then perhaps the only option would be to see Froyo (2.2) and Gingerbread (2.3) being scaled up in 7? & 10? form factors. Google has maintained that Froyo isn’t optimized for tablets yet, and thus anything over 7? form factor won’t be blessed with Android Market. While we aren’t 100% sure about what Gingerbread would bring in (higher resolution support?), but its certain that it is not the tablet special version of Android and any tablet based on Gingerbread wouldn’t be a full potential competition to the iOS.
Q2 2011 release would mean that Android tablets running honeycomb would face direct competition from the 2nd gen iPad and in all probability a WebOS tablet from HP-Palm. Tough times ahead in the tablet space?
Q2 2011 is a LONG way away, especially in tech terms. We should be having a look-see at the next iPad by that time. Of course, you can never really rule out the fact that Google might surprise people by deciding to favour a particular manufacturer and let them get their Honeycomb tablet out faster than that. Remember how quick Motorola was to get 2.0 on the Droid?
Thats the only hope! And I am getting a feel that its going to be Motorola again, though its a wait and watch for us – most Android dependent tablet makers are sure to be disappointed.
Judging by what they did with the Droid, I HOPE it is Motorola again.
Again? ah.. next option please..
I have a feeling that Motorola will be the ones to run with Honeycomb first. This article http://www.netbooknews.com/15103/motorola-will-release-7-inch-and-10-inch-tablets-confirmed/ talks about the 7 & 10 inch tablets the 10 inch being affectionately named “Stingray”. I agree with you though, it would be great if Motorola was the one to produce a honeycomb based tablet first, they have done such a great job with the droids.