Phandroid was at Google’s Honeycomb event yesterday, enjoying demos of the latest rendition of Android made especially for tablets and happily browsing the new Android Market website. After the presentation, David snagged some video of apps running on the Motorola XOOM which were developed using tools specific Android 3.0 Honeycomb.
Of the Honeycomb apps demoed, I was most impressed with Pulse News. Although you can see a few hiccups along the way, I love the way they’ve been mindful of the tablet environment to create an experience that is specific to tablets. Scrolling through stories seemed swift and the split-screen view looked fantastic. The concept of applications change when you’ve got a larger screen to work with and Pulse News emphasizes this point by rethinking their app for tablets yet keeping the same overall look and feel that has become their brand.
Personally, I use the default Android keyboard, but I’m sure there are a number of people out there who will find THIS to be the most exciting of the exclusive Honeycomb
apps previewed. I definitely appreciate his point about reaching your thumbs into the center of the screen being annoying and difficult, so for some I can see this being a great experience.
I was least impressed with the weather apps shown on Honeycomb. In my opinion, you don’t really need a full screen to display weather in the first place. You typically want to know the current weather and maybe – at most – a 10-day forecast. The one element I did enjoy was the weather cams that shows the video from locations so you can get an idea of what it looks like outside. Beyond that, sure the weather apps were cool, but to me they didn’t highlight why Honeycomb is so great on tablets. Not at the fault of the developers, just as a result of the subject matter.
What apps and games are you most excited to see on Honeycomb tablets?