Application developers this week will finally get their hands on Android 3.0, also known as Honeycomb, the first mobile operating system Google’s written specifically for tablets.
As Enterprise Mobile Today reports, the release of a preview software development kit will give developers a head start on building the next generation of mobile apps for the fast-growing tablet market.
Xavier Ducrohet, technical lead for Google’s SDK team, in a blog post said the release gives developers a chance to start testing their new tablet-centric apps and familiarize themselves with new UI patterns, APIs and other capabilities that will be available on its third-generation mobile operating system.
“Besides the user-facing features it offers, Android 3.0 is also specifically designed to give developers the tools and capabilities they need to create great applications for tablets and similar devices, together with the flexibility to adapt existing apps to the new UI while maintaining compatibility with earlier platform versions and other form-factors,” Ducrohet said.
This preview version of Honeycomb includes non-final APIs and any applications developed on it cannot be published on Android Market. Google said it will release a final SDK in “the weeks ahead” from which developers will be able to publish their new applications.
