Date:06/02/2011 URL:
http://www.thehindu.com/2011/02/06/stories/2011020664851000.htm
National
Honeycomb promises to hot up tablet PC race
Karthik
Subramanian
Android 3.0 will help a new generation of tablet PCs take on Apple's
iPad
CHENNAI: Earlier this week, Google unveiled its Android 3.0 operating system
code-named 'Honeycomb.' It has since received positive buzz across online geek
forums for what many see as the open source operating system that will help
Android Tablet PCs challenge Apple's iPad, the undisputed market leader now,
which runs on its proprietary operating system.
Technology writers, who were invited to the Google headquarters at Mountain
View, California, on February 2, were among the first to get an in-depth view
of Android's Honeycomb eco-system. It has come across as operating system built
from scratch with the new form factor of tablet PCs in mind. Most of the
widely followed technology blogs have already given it their thumbs-up.
The first of the tablet PCs sporting Honeycomb, Motorola's Xoom, is expected to
hit the retail markets soon.
Huge leap
The predominant verdict is that not only has Honeycomb been a huge leap over
the previous versions of Android OS, which, to be fair, have been designed
for smartphones running on much lower specifications. It also comes across as a
good introduction to the Android ecosystem, in ease of use. It also supports
multi-tasking, among many other new experiences.
Hardware specifications
The new OS also seems to have been designed keeping in mind the advanced
hardware specifications that most Android tablet PCs set to hit the markets
world
over through the year are expected to sport. Motorola's Xoom tablet PC,
previewed at the CES event in Vegas last month, is one such device with fairly
advanced specifications: it has a dual core processor as its CPU and full HD
support. In many ways, Honeycomb is seen as the OS that would help the Android
tablets compete with the next version of iPad.
In-built GPUs
Thanks to a host of next-generation processors that are both capable and
low-power consuming, most tablets are expected to have in-built GPUs (graphic
processor
units) in addition to the CPU. Android Honeycomb has 'renderscript' for
hardware accelerated-3D animation that makes the user experience smooth. This
has
made it possible for the desktop to have a 3D effect and features the 'flip
experience' that many users have got used to in the Apple ecosystem. Serious
geeks will know that such effects have long existed in the Linux ecosystem.At
this point, it is still not officially clear whether Honeycomb will also
have a separate OS for smartphones. There is speculation that there could be
one with a different user-interface as it could allow 'syncing' without any
drastic change in the look and the feel.
Bigger numbers
By virtue of being open source, Honeycomb is most likely to have bigger numbers
in terms of deployment because of the number of vendors backing it. But
it is still not exactly a two-horse race between Apple's proprietary OS and
Android's Honeycomb. Blackberry's Playbook tablet PC, which runs its own OS
and is set to hit the markets soon, has received good press so far. This could
be the first year of an all-out battle of the tablet PCs.
Renuka E,
Section Officer,
ICT Centre for Visually Challlenged,
CHMK Library,
University ofCalicut,
Malappuram Dist.,
Kerala.
Get numbers right this time, help the census with correct disability info!
