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Google Music and web-based Android Market could be announced tomorrow
Google's last Android-centric event, Google I/O in the middle of last year, treated us to a pair of delectable demos that may now finally be turning into mobile realities. One was a web client for the Android Market with OTA installations -- you just browse to an app you want to install while on your desktop and choose to push it to your Android device -- and the other was a cloud-based music backup and streaming service. The latter has since picked up the moniker of Google Music in subsequent rumors, and today both are receiving some speculative support for a launch at tomorrow's Honeycomb event. Android and Me has an insider source claiming the web-based Android Market is finally ready to roll out, whereas BusinessWeek reports Andy Rubin is heading up Google's digital music team and also has software ready for release, potentially at some point this month. Given the importance of both new additions, it's highly logical for Google to at least announce and show them off once more tomorrow. Then we can get back to waiting for the next Android update.
Honeycomb for Nook Color released for download (update: video)
Android Honeycomb on a humble e-reading tablet? Why yes, it's not only possible, it's downloadable. Deeper-blue, the chap who's been spending the past few days porting the Honeycomb SDK over to the Nook Color, has today decided to release his latest work out to eager users and fellow coders. He's enabled the accelerometer, touchscreen, buttons, graphics acceleration, and wireless connectivity, but other things like sound remain on the to-do list. Hit the source link for all the code and info you require to be among the first to run Android 3.0 on their tablet. Update: Video walkthrough after the break! Update 2: Sound has now been enabled! We've updated our source link to point to the latest build. Thanks, Ibrahim! [Thanks, Forrest]
Motorola Xoom lands in Chad Ochocinco's safe hands, is 'pretty awesome'
The Motorola Xoom's release is close, very close. How do we know that? Well, Moto has just handed one to Chad Ochocinco -- one of the NFL's most recklessly loquacious players -- and you don't do that with an unfinished product. For his part, Chad's finding the Honeycomb tablet to be "pretty awesome" and regretfully informs Motorola that it "won't be getting this back." Tracking Chad's tweets reveals that he's just landed in Dallas, site of this year's Super Bowl, where he's received the Android-driven hardware. Something tells us neither he nor Motorola's tablet will spend the next week hiding in the shadows -- look for a lot more screen time for both in the buildup to the big game (and Moto's big halftime ad). One last note? Chad's image above was taken using an iPhone 4. Guess he's holding out for the Atrix 4G. [Thanks, Zizo]
Motorola teases Xoom Super Bowl ad: '2011 looks a lot like 1984'
Moto hasn't been shying away from the Apple jabs this year, and it's got another one in store for the Super Bowl this week with a commercial that'll poke fun at Cupertino's 1984 Macintosh ad, perhaps the most famous Super Bowl spot of all time. In it, the company says that "2011 looks a lot like 1984" with "one authority, one design, one way to work" while showing Planet Earth wearing a pair of shiny white iPod / iPhone buds. Boom, here comes a new planet -- a red, gaseous one with an "M" logo on it -- that pimps a bunch of wild features we'll be seeing in the Xoom like a dual-core processor, upgradeable 4G, and Honeycomb out of the box. In closing, Moto says "it's time to live a free life." We would've liked to have seen Motorola follow a format closer to that 1984 commercial, but it's a pretty well-played jab nonetheless -- and it's conceivable that this is just a teaser for the actual ad that'll air next weekend. Follow the break to check it out.
Android Honeycomb port for Nook Color gets graphics acceleration, first demo video
Can't wait until February 2nd to see more of Android 3.0 in action? That's not a problem, as today we've got a whole 129 seconds of video showing Google's latest mobile software doing its thing on the Nook Color. The OS was ported to B&N's tablet on Friday, when we were promised further work would be taking place over the weekend to enable hardware acceleration of the GUI, and what do you know, that goal has been achieved with plenty of Sunday to spare! Most core functionality is still not available, but the delicious Honeycomb interface is very much in effect. Jump past the break for the eye candy feast. [Thanks, Jules]
Google announces Android event for February 2nd
Had enough Honeycomb this week? Perhaps -- but next week is a whole new week, and Google's got your back. Mountain View has selected Wednesday, February 2nd for an event that'll include "an in-depth look at Honeycomb, Android ecosystem news and hands-on demos," so by all accounts this seems to be more than a mere wrap-up of everything they've announced in the past few weeks. New tablets? Honeycomb for smartphones? Android 2.4? Something else entirely? We'll be there to find out, of course.
Nook Color earns its very early, very unofficial Android 3.0 Honeycomb wings
One of the first things that happens after a new platform emulator breaks loose is that a bunch of hackers far smarter than ourselves get hold of it, tear it apart, and port it to whatever's convenient. In the case of this week's Android 3.0 Honeycomb preview, "whatever's convenient" would be the Nook Color, which reigns as perhaps the cheapest decent-quality Android tablet money can currently buy. Naturally, xda-developers has a thread going on the subject as we speak; the current port is said to be really slow and mostly broken -- but then again, that kind of describes the current state of the emulator itself. Good news is that the developer says he plans on working on graphics acceleration to improve performance over the weekend, so with any luck, the Xoom might have some unofficial competition before too long. Follow the break for another shot. [Thanks, s30zgt]
Android 3.0 Honeycomb emulator has traces of smartphone support
Thought Honeycomb was just for tablets? Well, it's not! Sure, tablets might be Google's main thrust with the release, but we've been able to dig up enough evidence in the preview SDK's emulator released yesterday to suggest that these guys are still keeping their eyes on the smartphone prize. Here's how it works: the emulator can be set to load at an arbitrary screen resolution. By default, that's WXGA, 1280 x 768 -- perfect for tablets, but obviously a wee bit large for even the biggest smartphones. Well, it turns out that setting the emulator to WVGA (like you might find on a modern mid- to high-end smartphone) triggers a moderately different shell UI that lacks most of the whiz-bang home screen stuff Google's shown on the Honeycomb tablets. In fact, the default launcher crashes out entirely, which means you need to install a replacement (Launcher Pro works nicely) just to play around. Once you get in, it's pretty raw, but you immediately notice that the emulator's got some traces of smartphone support. Notably, the status bar reverts to a more smartphone-friendly form, albeit one with pre-Gingerbread background coloration and incorrectly-inverted font colors. The lock screen (pictured above) is back to its old form, not the webOS-esque circular lock in the Honeycomb tablet UI. The browser -- which has been completely revamped in Honeycomb -- works, though without visible tabs; Google might be thinking that they'd take up too much real estate on a screen this small. Again, you can't glean much here, but it's interesting primarily because the emulator knows to revert to a smartphone UI layout at the lower resolution -- a possible sign that Honeycomb will be a true dual-mode, dual-purpose platform from day one. And even if it isn't, it looks like they're setting themselves up for a two-UI strategy down the road. %Gallery-115314% [Thanks, Andrew]
Android 3.0 Honeycomb preview emulator hands-on
So we've just installed Google's first public-access preview of its tablet-focused Android 3.0 Honeycomb operating system, an early build of the platform's SDK that features "non-final" code and APIs; it's intended primarily for developers who want to get a head start on making their tablet app dreams come true, but naturally, we needed to install it and take it for a test drive ourselves. Here are our quick observations: Like Android SDK emulators before it, Honeycomb's is extremely slow -- nearly to the point of uselessness in this case. We'll give them a mulligan since this is a preview build, but seriously, we wouldn't recommend installing this unless you enjoy pulling your hair out. There appears to be some sort of orientation bug that prevents us from going landscape, which is what we really wanted. Sorry about that! We've shot the video sideways and rotated all of our images; if we're able to figure it out or a newer build is released with orientation properly working, we'll update. The browser looks great -- specifically the UI, which is going to make desktop browser users feel right at home perhaps more than any other tablet browsing experience to date. As with the rest of the emulator, it was too slow to really use -- and it kept crashing on us -- but we're digging the look. The system for adding and managing widgets is a joy to use -- it makes your entire desktop accessible from a single screen, and we like the amount of detail you can preview for each widget before deciding whether to use it and where to place it. In general, the window animations and screen transitions seem cool, but none were smooth or fast enough in the emulator to know for sure. Jury's still out until this gets faster or we're using Honeycomb on actual tablets. We're not in love with the dim, squashed segmented display that Google is using for the time in the lower right; we're hoping there are plenty of alternative fonts available. Since the emulator doesn't provide a "Google experience" build with access to the Android Market, Gmail, or other "branded" Google apps, we weren't able to deep-dive on how real-world applications are going to look on the platform -- but with any luck, Motorola's Xoom should be shipping within a few weeks. In the meantime, check out a video after the break! Update: We've figured out the orientation trick -- you need to uncheck automatic orientation in Settings, then flip the emulator from landscape to portrait (counterintuitive, we know). We'll be updating the media as soon as we can! Update 2: Second video (in the correct orientation this time!) added after the break. %Gallery-115158%
Android 3.0 Honeycomb SDK preview goes live
It's still going to be a little bit before you can get your hands on a Xoom, but if you'd like to start playing with the Honeycomb SDK right now -- and hey, developers, we'd encourage you to do just that -- Google's now made it possible. A version of the Android 3.0 SDK billed as a "preview" is now available for download, featuring "non-final" APIs and system images that will help would-be Android tablet devs get their feet wet as they prepare for an inevitable onslaught of these things over the next few months. So go on, get it while the gettin's good. Among the more delicious promises from Google are tablet-specific UI elements like "richer" widgets and notifications, a built-in GL renderer that permits GPU acceleration of both 2D and 3D visuals, and support for multicore processor architectures. Yay for making the most out of the available hardware. [Thanks, D]
T-Mobile releases: Streak 7 and Galaxy S 4G in February, G-Slate in late March?
Odds are you'll have your first chance at Honeycomb with Motorola's Xoom next month, but LG's G-Slate for T-Mobile -- which might very well be 3D-enabled -- shouldn't be too far behind. New intel coming out of TmoNews today pegs the G-Slate for a March 23rd launch with an unknown price tag, preceded by the Dell Streak 7 on February 2nd (which is being billed as the carrier's "first 4G tablet" thanks to its HSPA+ support) at $299.99 on contract after rebate. Turning to non-tablet news, the Galaxy S 4G -- which you might recall is basically a Vibrant remixed with HSPA+ -- looks line up for February 23rd. In other words, it's going to be a busy, wallet-emptying couple months for you T-Mobile types... so save up while you can.
Motorola Xoom launching February 17th at Best Buy (update: priced at $700)
When we stumbled upon an $800 price for the Motorola Xoom yesterday, our instinctive reaction was to leap forward to the next obvious question: when? Well, that call has now been answered by an internal Best Buy document that's just dropped into our inbox, which explicitly pinpoints February 17th as the launch date for Moto's highly touted, Honeycomb-equipped tablet. Stock is expected to land at the big box retailer on February 16th, with the big party going down the day after. There's a note confirming that the Xoom will come with its promised 32GB of onboard storage, but anyone looking for confirmation or denial of the earlier pricing leak will be left disappointed. Guess we'll all have to set our calendar alerts for about a month from now and exercise patience in the mean time. [Thanks, dajarbot] Update: Our tipster has also uncovered a price: $699.99. That's a hundred green leaves south of Verizon's supposed pricing and should soothe a few agitated souls.
Motorola Xoom priced at $800 at a minimum, according to Verizon leak
Wow, insider tipsters are getting efficient! Verizon appears to have only just added Minimum Advertised Pricing for the Motorola Xoom to its internal systems, but already it's been leaked out by more than one source. Android Central has the damning evidence, which lists an $800 levy for any prospective owners of the flagship Android Honeycomb device. It's accompanied by a listing of the HTC Thunderbolt at $250, with the logical conclusion being that the Moto tablet will come unsullied by subsidies while the HTC LTE handset will probably cost that much on a two-year deal. That makes plenty of sense to us -- the typical smartphone price is $200 and Verizon can point to the 4G goodness the Thunderbolt brings as justifying its $50 premium, whereas the Xoom's cost seems to be in line with the Galaxy Tab's pricing. Now, how about some launch dates, leaksters?
Motoblur coming to Xoom as software update, still considered Google flagship product? (update)
Maybe you thought the Motorola Xoom would be devoid of -- or dare we say, spared from -- a coat of Motoblur. Being the inaugural Honeycomb device, you'd expect Google to keep the tablet as vanilla as possible (e.g. G1, Nexus One, Nexus S). Indeed, Android's director of engineering Dave Burke tells CNET UK that Xoom is a flagship product for Mountain View, but in the same reported meeting, Motorola's Jonathan Nattrass said Motoblur will be coming to the tablet as a software update. In what form? We don't know, but if we had to guess, it's gonna be much more isolated that previous devices -- special widgets, perhaps, and services for backup or tracking a lost slate. Let's play wait-and-see on this one, at least until the top bar gets a cartoonish blue aesthetic. Update: Motorola reached out to Phandroid to say that, yes, this is a "Google Experience Device" and as such, you should expect the platform and UI to be Google's. Doesn't exactly explain where Nattrass got his talking points, but for now let's call it a strong rebuttal and move on. Certainly we'll have a clearer picture once we can actually try Xoom / Honeycomb out for ourselves.
LG G-Slate to have an 8.9-inch 3D display? Rumor mill says 'maybe'
If 3D and tablets are the two unstoppable forces of modern consumer electronics, doesn't it make sense to meld them into one, fearsome, trendsetting device? LG's T-Mobile-bound G-Slate might be doing exactly that, we're hearing, as a pair of different sites are reporting it'll come with a 3D-capable display. The guys at GPS And Co have apparently heard directly from LG's French arm, who told them the G-Slate would have a glasses-free 3D display and 3D camera, though the validity of that information is diluted somewhat by TmoNews' source finding 3D glasses listed as future accessories for this rather mysterious tablet. Yes, it's contradictory information, but then Pocket-lint has also heard directly from LG and received a promise of "an actual working 3D device," which should be expected shortly. That could be the 4.3-inch autostereoscopic panel we scoped out at CES or it could be another hint that the G-Slate's been camera-shy for a very particularly, three-dimensional reason.
ASUS Eee Pad Transformer and Slider: another look
Remember those eccentric ASUS Android tablets at CES? Yeah, it's all a bit of a blur for us as well, but turns out both the Eee Pad Transformer and Slider prototypes just made it to the BETT (British Educational Training and Technology) Show in London this morning, so we decided to wander along to get our hands dirty again. Sadly, the Transformer had a bit of a rough ride from Vegas and remained dormant, but we were still able to admire its sturdy keyboard dock with great key press travel. And in case you've forgotten, said dock is also an external battery that doubles the juice up to 16 hours. UK shoppers will see this slate popping up in the stores around May or June for £379 ($597), and its docking kit for £100 ($158). We were more fortunate with the functioning Slider prototype, even though it had the same sliding issue we saw at CES. But fear not, as we were told that the engineers are already reworking the mechanism, and here's hoping that they'll do something about the flexing keyboard as well. As for software, we didn't have time to test everything, but we were surprised by the general snappiness of the current Froyo test build. And speaking of which, we're not too sure what the plan is with ASUS' Android roadmap -- even though we were told at CES that Honeycomb will be on these tablets at launch, the folks we met today said that they'll be shipped with Gingerbread instead; and even then, there's no time frame for the 3.0 upgrade just yet. Anyhow, this is less of a concern for the Slider given its July or August launch, but it'll cost you a hefty £429 ($676). Additionally, both tablets will see their 3G variants in the UK a quarter after their respective launches, but regardless, it's never too soon to start a petition for your carrier to spread the ASUS tablet fever. %Gallery-114020% %Gallery-114019%
Best of CES 2011
Maybe, just maybe, you've noticed that Engadget relocated this past week to the City of Sin for CES 2011. Oh yes, we set up camp in a double-wide trailer, liveblogged our hearts out, combed the show floor, and worked our rear ends off to bring you more gadget news than you ever thought possible. It's true, we've written over 720 posts (40 or so about tablets alone!), shot more than 180 videos, and brought you over 350 photo galleries in the last seven days. That's a ton of technology news and products, but naturally, only certain ones have been able to rise above the rest and stick out in our scary collective hive-mind. With that said, we've complied our annual best of list for you, so hit the break and feast your eyes on what are bound to be some of the best products of the new year.
Motorola Xoom: pretend UI hands-on walkthrough (video)
The Motorola Xoom is a huge product this year for two reasons: it's a major first tablet from a major Android manufacturer, and it's the flagship device for Honeycomb, an OS that's been announced for dozens of other tablets here at the show, but not actually shown running on any of them. The only problem is that Motorola isn't really showing Honeycomb on the Xoom, either. Instead they're showing a demo video of the UI, which is actually running on top of real Honeycomb. For a glimpse under the covers, Jacob snagged a quick illicit peek at a totally unpopulated home screen, the gallery app, and even the task switcher the other day. We'll just keep that between us, however, and until we get a full-on official look at the UI, we thought we'd walk you through that demo UI video Moto is running on the actual tablet and pretend like we're actually using the thing, which should clear up some of the confusion on this brand new tablet OS while simultaneously stoking our egos. Check it out after the break. Update: Here's the gallery of the non-pretend and very real UI shots we peeked in the first hands-on post (including a shot of the task switcher in its current form). %Gallery-112881%
Tablets at CES 2011: Honeycomb, Windows 7, and all the rest
<div style="text-align:center;"> <a href="http://www.engadget.com/features/tablets-at-ces-2011/"><img alt="" border="1" hspace="4" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2011/01/tablets-1294522376.png" vspace="4"/></a></div> It's been raining <a href="http://www.engadget.com/topics/tabletpcs">tablets</a> here at <a href="http://www.engadget.com/ces">CES 2011</a>. No seriously, it as if the sky has opened up in Vegas and dropped touchscreen slabs with <a href="http://www.engadget.com/tag/android">Android</a> and <a href="http://www.engadget.com/tag/windows7">Windows 7</a> operating systems on our heads. It's been nearly impossible to keep track of the number of tablets released and the details we've learned about them... until now, that is. After the break you will find a complete list of all the tablets we have heard about as well as a few key details about 'em. You'll notice that most of the tablets listed plan to run Android 3.0 -- if you're looking for more on Google's not-yet-released tablet OS, you'll want to check out our <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/06/googles-android-3-0-honeycomb-for-tablets-a-guided-tour-of-the/">guided tour</a> and our interview with <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/07/exclusive-interview-googles-matias-duarte-talks-honeycomb-tab/">Google's Matias Duarte</a>. The show isn't over yet so expect us to add more tablets over the next couple of days, but without further ado, we give you the official Engadget tablet chart of CES 2011.<br /> <br /> You'll also note that we've denoted <strong>our favorites in bold</strong>, so pay closer attention to those and make sure to click through to hear why they've impressed us so much. Enjoy!<br /> <div style="text-align:center;"> <br /> Coming Soon!<br /> </div> <div style="text-align:left;"> <strong>Update</strong>: <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2012/1/12/2702325/the-best-ultrabooks-of-ces-2012">They're here... kinda</a>!</div>
Exclusive interview: Google's Matias Duarte talks Honeycomb, tablets, and the future of Android
We're not going to lie -- we're pretty excited to bring this to you guys. Here at CES 2011 we had a chance to sit down with Matias Duarte, the man behind webOS (as well as the Sidekick and Helio UIs), who's now heading up Google's user experience for Android. Matias is currently driving the interface and design for Android 3.0 (AKA Honeycomb), and it's clear that he's bringing his big, bold ideas to the Android platform. This is the first video interview Matias has done since leaving Palm, and we pressed the man on his involvement in Gingerbread and Honeycomb, what had to be torn down in Android, how desktop OSs can inform mobile devices, and much, much more. Don't just take our word for it -- follow along after the break and watch the full interview!
