Google’s Android Advance Plays to Bigger Tablets

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Will a true iPad Killerever emerge? A number of tablets have been released since Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) shook up the mobile industry last year when it released the best-selling iPad, but so far none of them has captured close to the iPad’s sales and buzz.

Part of the reason for that is that many of the devices are based on the same version of Google’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android software that’s used in smartphones. By contrast, Apple did some serious rejiggering of the iPhone’s iOS to optimize it for the iPad.

But at an event today at company headquarters here, Google previewed “Honeycomb,” the next generation of Android designed for tablet devices.

In a formal presentation and at demo stations here, Google and independent developers showed off new features optimized for Android tablets, including a rich, 3D user interface, redesigned widgets and video conferencing using the Xoom’s front-facing camera.

The news comes at a good time for Android supporters following a report this week that one of the first Android tablets, the Samsung Galaxy Tab, touted as an iPad competitor, is seeing a high rate of returns.

Enterprise Mobile Today has a full report on Google’s Honeycomb preview and news related to a major update of Google’s online store for applications, Android Market.

Read the full story at Enterprise Mobile Today:
Android Mobile OS Alert: Google Sweetens Honeycomb Pot, Demos Updates on Xoom