Author Archive | Melissa Perenson

Google Releases Android 3.1, First Major Update to Honeycomb

Posted by Melissa Perenson on May 10, 2011 at 11:19 am

Google today announced its first significant update to Android 3.0 Honeycomb. Google will roll out the update to Verizon Xoom 3G users today, and to other Honeycomb devices over the next couple of weeks.

The announcement was made during today’s keynote address at the Google I/O developers’ conference in San Francisco.

What I find most interesting are the things Google focused on here at the keynote. Namely, that the improvements mentioned, though welcome, don’t seem to address many of the issues I’ve already identified in Android 3.0. At the forefront: The image rendering glitch that’s very obvious in the Gallery app, where images appear fuzzy and lack detail as compared with their original versions.

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Google Android 3.0 and Motorola Xoom: Hands-On, and Awesome

Posted by Melissa Perenson on February 3, 2011 at 9:46 am

[Here’s another story from our friends at PCWorld.]

Yesterday I got my first hands-on time with the Motorla Xoom tablet, running Android 3.0. And the one-two punch proved a compelling experience. It’s a very different experience than what one gets on today’s Android 2.2 tablets (led by Samsung Galaxy Tab), or on Apple’s iPad.

When the Motorola Xoom was first introduced last month at the CES show in Las Vegas, we only got glimpses of what it could do. Emphasis on the word glimpses: The demos were videos, run by demonstrators who wouldn’t allow hands-on with the device. Today, however, was a completely different experience. After Google’s special event at its headquarters to formally introduce Android 3.0, nearly a dozen developers showed off their apps on the Motorola Xoom, and Google staffers showed off how Honeycomb functions, on the Xoom device.

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Google Spills the Details on Its Tablet OS, Android 3.0 Honeycomb

Posted by Melissa Perenson on February 2, 2011 at 3:04 pm

[This article is republished courtesy of our pals at PCWorld.]

The great tease is over: Today, here at its headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., Google showed off Android 3.0, a tablet-friendly operating system also known as Honeycomb. The new tablet OS emphasizes a slick interface, beefed up graphics for games, and support for in-app purchases.

Along with the new operating system, Google also announced an Android Market Website that allows Android phone and tablet users to browse, purchase, and download apps directly to their devices — no wires or USB syncing to a PC needed. The Web-based Android Market is live now.

The live Android 3.0 demos were performed on the upcoming Motorola Xoom tablet. Google showed off other enhancements to the OS, such as a Contact Shortcuts feature that allows you to create quick links to contacts for video chatting or sending e-mail. Google also offered live demonstrations of its video chat feature, new camera interface, visually immersive games, and multitasking capabilities.

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