Google's Android 3.0 or "Honeycomb" is a tablet-only OS for now, a Google spokesman said Wednesday.
Somewhat oddly, Google ended the launch of Honeycomb and its Web store without entertaining questions from journalists.
However, a company spokesman answered one question, and raised others. When asked if Android 3.0 would also appear on phones, spokesman Andrew Kovacs said no. "Features will arrive on phones over time," he said.
Kovacs didn't elaborate, but that might be because the design and layout of Android 3.0 is optimized for tablets. Although the interface is austere, the format takes advantage of the broad format of the tablet. Individual services - the browser, for example, has Incognito private-browsing windows and tabbed browsing, like Chrome - work in the tablet space, but wouldn't be as conducive to smartphones with smaller screens.
And, for now, of course, Google's some of developers are claiming that the Honeycomb performance on the Motorola Xoom far surpasses the Apple iPad.
Still, Android 3.0 certainly paves the way for features to arrive on Android 2.2 devices and subsequent followups. In addition to the browser enhancements, Gmail also has drag-and-drop folders. And then there's Movie Studio, a new video-editing app that could be used in some way on smartphones that can capture video. 
Obviously, Android 3.0 raises the question of nomenclature: if Android 3.0 is for tablets, then doesn't that put a finish line on Android for smartphones? In other words, what happens when Android 2.2 becomes 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, and then version 2.9? On the other hand, Google can't differentiate the tablet OS too much, or else run into charges that the OS is fragmenting yet again.
Separately, it seems a bit odd that Google iterates Chrome OS so quickly, and yet drags out each point release of its Android operating system for months and months.
Unfortunately, Google mobile chief Andy Rubin disappeared quickly after the introduction, and the remaining press corps (me included) was too eager to get our hands on Honeycomb to pursue the additional angles. This issue won't die, though. By avoiding a general Q&A after the launch, Google will probably face even more questions that it might have dealt with in one fell swoop.
Somewhat oddly, Google ended the launch of Honeycomb and its Web store without entertaining questions from journalists.
However, a company spokesman answered one question, and raised others. When asked if Android 3.0 would also appear on phones, spokesman Andrew Kovacs said no. "Features will arrive on phones over time," he said.
Kovacs didn't elaborate, but that might be because the design and layout of Android 3.0 is optimized for tablets. Although the interface is austere, the format takes advantage of the broad format of the tablet. Individual services - the browser, for example, has Incognito private-browsing windows and tabbed browsing, like Chrome - work in the tablet space, but wouldn't be as conducive to smartphones with smaller screens.
And, for now, of course, Google's some of developers are claiming that the Honeycomb performance on the Motorola Xoom far surpasses the Apple iPad.
Obviously, Android 3.0 raises the question of nomenclature: if Android 3.0 is for tablets, then doesn't that put a finish line on Android for smartphones? In other words, what happens when Android 2.2 becomes 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, and then version 2.9? On the other hand, Google can't differentiate the tablet OS too much, or else run into charges that the OS is fragmenting yet again.
Separately, it seems a bit odd that Google iterates Chrome OS so quickly, and yet drags out each point release of its Android operating system for months and months.
Unfortunately, Google mobile chief Andy Rubin disappeared quickly after the introduction, and the remaining press corps (me included) was too eager to get our hands on Honeycomb to pursue the additional angles. This issue won't die, though. By avoiding a general Q&A after the launch, Google will probably face even more questions that it might have dealt with in one fell swoop.
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