I am so excited for the future. It's so clear to me that tablets are a stepping stone, and a very very exciting one. They're going to be the first time a consumer computer has lived up to their dreams and expectations of the future of computing: it works, it's fast, it's easy, it's safe and it's <i>fun</i>. Using Windows on a desktop is none of those things. It turns out that iPad was a glorious thing; not in that it was physically incredible, but that it opened up a world that Google understands and is preparing for. We're going to have Android and iOS running HTML5 applications (and native apps of course) on nearly every device in just a few years.<p>Guys, that promised future is coming!
More and more I'm forced to face the reality that ChromeOS is doomed.<p>Conceptually I still like the IDEA of ChromeOS more but I just can't see a consumer choosing what is essentially a browser over something like this.<p>My only hope is that Google will try and move Android to a place where Web Apps are just as powerful as native apps on the platform.
One can't really tell from a promotional video, but the main thing that stands out to me is the improved home screen over iPad. It's too "technical" to be mass market in this version; viz. "Books \n 3x3" type stuff - my parents won't know what 3x3 means, even after explanation. Even I'm only guessing is the size the widget takes on the home screen. However, assuming they fix that, it's rather an improvement on Apple's iOS SpringBoard, which is looking rather dated (alongside their notification system). Here's to competition accelerating an upgrade in iOS 5!<p>The rest of the applications, one can't really tell in short clip. A lot of them - mail, video chat etc - seem very similar to what one would find elsewhere, except with the Honeycomb chrome (take it or leave it, as personal preference dictates). In others, I worry they've gone for eye candy over usability. For example, in "Books", the circular scroll is all very well, but I can't see any way of telling how far through your collection you are, nor where the book you want might be. Of course, the is prerelease promo, so it might be obvious in the real thing. What most people don't seem to get is that Apple tend to use eye candy <i>only when it's useful</i> - not just to look like something in Minority Report. Even they don't get it right all the time (I'm looking at you, Time Machine animation!). Eye candy is really cool for promotional videos, but when you're trying to use the application for the 4562nd time you really hope that it's added just to enhance usability, rather than impress CES visitors.
Man, functionality aside since I haven't used it, it is not very impressive. I would describe it as ugly as sin. It looks like the graphics were all thrown together in an afternoon. I hope it is placeholder.<p>- They replaced the nice soft gray/blue Chrome UI with a harsh gray one.<p>-The keyboard buttons are flat and lifeless.<p>-Arrows for selecting text has no depth and high contrast border.<p>-The page turning looks like something from the 90s<p>-The Youtube videos pop in from the left<p>This has really set my expectations low for what was suppose to be a significant UI upgrade. As a designer this makes me cringe.
This looks fantastic, but I'm concerned about what isn't being discussed: namely, what happens to small form factor devices in the Android 3.0 timeline, like my Nexus S?<p>Is Google going to pull an Apple: temporarily bifurcating Android between tablets and phones, and then later reunite them? Or is Honeycomb going to ship for phones, too, but with less of the large-screen optimized UI goodness?
As a long time Android user I'm definitely looking forward to
a tablet. I've been holding off on buying anything until a good tablet comes out. I really wish I could watch this video without an ad preventing me from reading all the text in the video so I knew more about what to look for and not just stare at the omg eye candy.<p>As far as ChromeOS being dead, I dunno. I have been playing with my cr48 a few weeks now and love it. Its a great system for most things. The things it prevents me from doing well right now (ssh to hosts and doing dev/support) are minor.<p>In general I have a browser, IM App, and terminal open on my computer. If a good and secure way to remotely manage hosts via ssh is added into ChromeOS it will quickly become my goto system that I drag everywhere with me. I doubt I would ever say that for a tablet, unless its <i>really</i> good and has fantastic keyboard support. I just hate having to deal with wireless keyboards and their aaa batteries that never seem to last long enough.<p>*edit: i can spell
They seem to have checked all the right boxes on this one - Eye Candy, Tablet UI optimizations, Video Chat (Great stuff if it works well - all GTalk users even on desktop can use this), No physical buttons, Dual Core minimum (easier on devs - they don't have to worry about crappy hardware), HTML5.
I can only hope that Android 3.0 will be available on the swath of 2.1 and 2.2 tablets that have been released thus far. Neither of those operating systems were well optimized for tablet use.
Torn. I like that it isn't just a grid of icons and some apps with split views, but I doubt Google can really pull off a great tablet OS by forking Android. I still think there needs to be an OS built from the ground up to be a tablet and a tablet only. I want an revolution like the iPhone was went it was originally announced, not a half hearted evolution.
My impression of the video was that Android 3.0 applications will be entirely a Google stack... where does that leave developers?<p>I applaud Google for finally taking on the role of owning the whole OS experience, like Apple, but if they are going to do this then they'll also be judged on those merits. I give Android OS a lot of leeway for what it lacks by saying "a developer can fill that niche"... It looks like their tablet will be much closer to an iPad experience in having a singular vision.
I'm really impressed by the video, it looks like there are a lot of cool ideas and the tablet form factor really brings the homescreen widgets that android has to life.<p>That being said, I find the prospect of this not ending up on Android phones disappointing. Android 2.2 is fantastic to use but definitely needs some love in terms of UI.
First, I had to watch an annoying commercial. Then, there was an ad overlay to the video that obscured part of the video. Goddamn that's annoying, so I didn't watch.