Google previews Android 3.0 as Motorola launches Xoom tablet

Sweetening the pot

As expected, Motorola has become the first company to launch a product based on Google's tablet-optimized operating system - Honeycomb - which has now been confirmed as Android 3.0.

As the device is defined by the OS, and a flood of Honeycomb tablets are destined to follow, Android 3.0 is by far the bigger news. Andy Rubin, the head of Android, published a brief blog post offering a sneak peek of the OS, in which he said Android 3.0 has been designed from the ground up for tablets. To us that means most smartphones probably won't even bother with it.

"We've developed a brand new, truly virtual and holographic user interface," said Rubin. We're not sure exactly what he means by that, but the video below implies the 3D nature of the UI is pretty cool, as you can see from the video below.

As well as that, many Google products will be optimized for the larger screen, both in terms of functionality and aesthetics. There will be refined multitasking, redesigned widgets and an improved browser. Google Talk will also come preinstalled.

Having started last year apparently determined to alienate its Android OEM partners, Google has been careful to ensure all its most dedicated device-makers get their turn at the Google bosom. Initially it was HTC with the Nexus One, then it was Samsung and the Nexus S, and for tablets it's now Moto's turn.

Whether or not there will be a Nexus-branded tablet remains to be seen, but Moto has clearly been given a head start on developing for Honeycomb. The result is Xoom - a 10.1 (1280x800) inch tablet running NVIDIA's dual-core Tegra 2 SoC, with 1GB memory, back and front cameras, 32GB storage.

That's about it really, as we said: it's defined by the OS. "Light, powerful and fundamentally different than anything else on the market, Motorola XOOM leverages the very best technology available today to redefine what a tablet experience can be," said Bill Ogle, chief marketing officer of Motorola Mobility. "The first device to feature software designed specifically for tablets, Motorola XOOM goes everywhere you do and delivers everything you need."

There's also another vid, a pic and some specs below. There has been no guidance given about UK launch and price, but it will launch in the US in Q1.

The start of the year had been awash with analysts really sticking their necks out and predicting indefinite Apple dominance of the tablet market. But we always thought that if Honeycomb is good enough, there's no reason why that should be the case - just look at how quickly Android is catching-up with Apple in the smartphone market. On first impressions Android 3.0 really puts the cat among the pigeons.