While all Android apps currently available will run just fine on your shiny new Motorola XOOM, a handful of Honeycom-specific apps have begun to emerge. The latest is the new tablet version of USA Today. While The Daily goes about making a name for itself as the first digital news source distributed via tablet alone, USA Today takes a history of reporting and informative graphics and brings them into a new interactive format.
All the news coverage you need laid out across the larger space of a 10.1-inch screen. If there was any complaint it would be that the UI isn’t the most exciting or original design we have seen on a tablet, but perhaps that’s all the better.
[via Electronista]
Sadly apple requires the app\subscription price to be the same or more than the apple version of the app per their requirements (where apple takes 30% of)…yes…USA today will make more profit on android…but the fact remains apple should NOT own usa today’s business decisions.
I have to disagree with the statement that “While all Android apps currently available will run just fine on your shiny new Motorola XOOM”. I picked up my xoom yesterday and have found two issues. 1) The citrix receiver client crashes and will not work at all. I have tried both available clients from the android market, but no dice. 2) Facebook works and is stable, but does not appear to rotate properly. When you click on the facebook icon in the upper left after launching the application it rotates 90′. No matter what it wants to be viewed up/down or what would be sideways if you are looking at the xoom face on.
I am sure somone is working on it and these issues will be resolved soon, but it is an issue right now.
I feel like Motorola dropped the ball on this one. Apple released the SDK to developers a month or two before the launch and there were hundreds of applications and games ready before the device launched. Google just released the full SDK this week, so the Xoom doesn’t have a lot of tablet-specific apps. By the time the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and G-Slate launch they’ll have a pretty healthy amount, but for now it seems barren.
I have the xoom and I can’t find an Android specific USA today app. I have found the new CNN app which is visually stunning and has a great UI and widget….although they do have some bugs to work out.
I have found numerous apps that don’t work correctly on my Xoom. Words with Friends, Facebook, USAA Bank, etc. I also couldn’t find the USA News specifically for Honeycomb.
I found the USA app by doing a search of “USA for tablet”
Sounds like the XOOM is rather disappointing so far from comments from several people that have picked one up. I hope that’s not the case.
can’t wait to try this on my NOOKcolor
Doesn’t rotate when the USA Today app I found in the market is loaded on my Nook.
@mike the apps on the phone work good on the tablet when i had my ipad it was bad it was a lil screen all the devloper have to do is add a line a code you rather buy the same apps again?
Unfortunately the new marketplace is not completely finished. There appears to be no way to automatically get your Honeycomb-specific application for tablets to appear. For USA TODAY search for USA TODAY for tablets as someone pointed out above.
I picked up a Xoom and it is great. There are few “built for tablet” apps currently. That said I had no illusions of there being any this soon. I am sure we will see the #s grow exponentially as developers finish modifying their apps over the next few weeks.
I picked up the Xoom on launch day. I am a PC user but have an iPhone and never used Android. My observations from a user view is that so far very few apps work correctly. Not good from the point of view of a potential new user esp b/c they will think they are doing something wrong.