Enterprise Mobility: Google Android 3.0 Honeycomb on Xoom Wows Crowd at Googleplex

Google Android 3.0 Honeycomb on Xoom Wows Crowd at Googleplex

by Clint Boulton

Honeycomb at Home

Barra shows off the homescreen on his Xoom. "It's not just a warehouse full of apps, it's an application-development platform in itself."

Everything Pops Out

Barra scrolls around the homescreen and his applications and widgets pop out for easy touch access.

Grid Widget

The grid widget in all its glory, showing Barra's bookmarks.

Stack Widget

The stack widget lets users flick through YouTube videos, Google eBooks selections and other files. "It's really just about quick-and-easy access to important information," Barra said. You know, like surfing LOL Cats and other Websites from the eye-pleasing Xoom tablet.

Application Notifications

Note the super-rich notifications. While the music application is active in the background, a user can play, pause or move to the next track. There is also a settings panel for quick access to airplane or WiFi modes.

Running Gmail

Take a look at Gmail in Android 3.0 on the Xoom. Note the left folder view and inbox on the right. Users may drag and drop messages into folders.

App Fragments

When Barra touches a message, the left-most pane slides out to make room for the message pane. These are application fragments, which a developer can use to encapsulate functionality and reuse it throughout the application. Eventually, the functionality will be seamless between the phone and tablet version of the application.

YouTube Deck-of-Cards

YouTube in Android 3.0 sports a deck-of-cards feature. This is available, thanks to Google's RenderScript engine for 2-D and 3D-graphics.

Google eBooks

Here is Google's eBooks application on Honeycomb, which is also equipped with a 3-D carousel.

Google Body

Check out the Google Maps of the human body, the Google Body application.

Monster Madness

Thomas Williamson, CEO of game developer War Drum Studios, shows off the 3-D graphics engine in Monster Madness on the Xoom.

Google Talk

This is what Google Talk looks like on Android 3.0.

Chat

Barra calls his friend for a Google Talk Chat.

CNN App for Honeycomb

CNN built a special application for Google's Honeycomb platform. There can be as many as 350 stories on the application's broadsheet homepage. The application will be available free from the Android Market soon.

Android Market Webstore

Google's Yerga takes over to show off the Android Market Webstore, a dedicated Website to let developers put applications in front of consumers for purchase and consumption. "It's the new way that users can get applications on their devices," Yerga said.

Purchasing Apps

Buying an application from the Webstore is a snap, Yerga said. Previously, the only way to find and install applications was via the Market on an Android phone. Android Market Webstore enables purchases via the Web browser.

Transaction Review

Review the transaction before you green-light the application purchase.

Downloading Apps

Boom, to the cloud! Oh wait, that's Microsoft's tagline. But seriously, Yerga said the application zips right to the users phone upon purchase confirmation. Moreover, users can share information about application purchases on Twitter.

In-app Purchasing

Yerga then transitioned to in-application purchasing to allow developers to sell virtual goods in their applications. Disney Mobile General Manager Bart Decrem said he has been working to prepare Tap Tap Revenge to support in-app purchases on Android. Consumers will purchase song downloads from within Tap Tap Revenge.