February 3rd, 2011 
Paracha
We have already published a post that Google will soon hold a press conference to launch its well awaited Android 3.0 Honeycomb particularly designed for Tablets. And today, Google arranged a great press conference in which Android 3.0 Honeycomb was launched. Google introduced many pretty new features of its Honeycomb tablet version in-depth in this live event. Google also announced to open Android Market Web Store with OTA installation, in-app purchases and much more for you. Here is the complete list exhibiting the major features of Google’s Android 3.0 Honeycomb.
The event kicked off with following introductory note;
Our approach has been to equip developers with best possible toolkit then get out of their way
Major Features of Google’s Android 3.0 Honeycomb are;
- The screen is redesigned. The top left has the search functions, the top right has application access, and the bottom bar has the traditional Android buttons. Except they are no longer physical buttons. Those are a thing of the past.
- There’s a new interface for browsing through videos, photos and books via widgets.
- Advanced notifications. They’re like Growl notifications on the Mac, except on the bottom right of the screen. The settings panel is also there.
- Games work just as you’d expect them to.
- Google’s android 3.0 Honeycomb utilizes a pane interface for things like e-mail. If you’ve ever tried Gmail on the iPad, you’ve seen this interface before. Google calls these panes “Application Fragments,” which developers can use to optimize their Android apps for Honeycomb.
- Drag-and-drop interactions are included in Honeycomb, so you can drag-and-delete your e-mails if you so choose.
- Hardware acceleration available for apps. Only takes one line of code to enable.
- New animation framework. Makes transitions smoother (though it’s still nothing compared to the iPad, in our opinion).
- New YouTube app. 3D video wall, utilizes render script and hardware acceleration. The same is true for Google Books.
- Google Maps is now getting demoed. It utilizes 3D rendering. Even the buildings are in 3D (a feature Google’s Marissa Mayer informed us about earlier this year).
- Google Body is the last 3D demo. You can see the human body in 3D.
- Google’s Android 3.0 Honeycomb has a new camera app. It’s the same as the camera app I played with when I first got my hands on the Xoom at CES.
- A widget called “Contact Shortcut” lets you access your contacts and call them or e-mail them. Video chat via Google Talk just brings your contact up as a full screen video. Seems to run crisply enough.
- The CNN app launches in “the near future.” It utilizes the pane interface. The key news sections are on the left, while the right-hand side has different videos you can watch.
- CNN’s app for Android Honeycomb has live stream capabilities. You can watch CNN locally or internationally from the app (though I doubt it can replace the cable channel).
- CNN is discussing iReport in Honeycomb. You can not only see recent photos and videos from iReporters, but you can also capture photos or videos from the app and upload them to CNN.
- Android Market Web Store! Finally!
- You can now find and purchase apps via the web. You can check it out at Market.Android.com
- There is a featured application section. Descriptions, developer information, screenshots and more are available.
- Once you buy the app, your phone/tablet automatically gets a notification and starts downloading the app. No wires, all cloud.
- Developers can also upload YouTube videos to promote their apps in the web store. There’s also a “tweet” button on every app page for sending the app to your friends. There is no Facebook integration — no surprise.
- There are filters for finding the right apps. You can sort by popularity or rating if you’d like.
- New currency support. Developers will be able to set override prices in other currencies.
- In-app purchasing is coming to Android apps. This is something Apple has had for a long time, but now you can buy new levels in your favorite games. It’s a long-overdue feature.
- Disney is launching Radio Disney for Android. That’s nice, but even better, it’s bringing Jelly Car, one of the most popular iOS games around, to Android.
- Final game: Tap Tap Revenge 4 is coming to Android. The Tap Tap Revenge franchise has been sold more than 50 million times. The company waited until in-app purchasing was available before launching.
Via: Mashable
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