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Note: The Android team at Google's I/O developer conference asked attendees to write applications for Honeycomb and described the new features in version 3.1.
Slideshow: Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 (click image for larger view and for slideshow)
One of the bigger announcements Google made at its I/O developers conference on Tuesday was Android 3.1 Honeycomb. This new version of Android for tablets adds a number of features sure to make end users and developers alike happy. In a move meant to entice Honeycomb developers, Google gave everyone in attendance at the event a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Honeycomb tablet. Will the new capabilities--and new hardware--be enough?
Looking in detail at what Google has added to Android 3.1, it seems worthy of more than a 3.x release name. Even so, Google calls it an incremental update.
Some of the key improvements include speedier user interface elements, with smoother action and better performance. Users will notice that the home screens perform faster,...