Google has officially announced the much anticipated Android 3.2 Honeycomb and the update is already making its way to Motorola XOOM tablets. The new version brings in some important updates to Google’s tablet operating system. It will now support improved user experience on a wide range of tablets, a new compatibility display mode and a variety of other features.
Here are the main highlights of the new Android Honeycomb version;
- Optimizations for a wider range of tablets. A variety of refinements across the system ensure a great user experience on a wider range of tablet devices.
- Compatibility zoom for fixed-sized apps. A new compatibility display mode gives users a new way to view these apps on larger devices. The mode provides a pixel-scaled alternative to the standard UI stretching, for apps that are not designed to run on larger screen sizes.
- Media sync from SD card. On devices that support a removable SD card, users can now load media files directly from the SD card to apps that use them.
- Extended screen support API. For developers who want more precise control over their UI across the range of Android-powered devices, the platform’s screen support API is extended with new resource qualifiers and manifest attributes, to also allow targeting screens by their dimensions.
Google has also announced that the Android 3.2 SDK is officially available for download, and all those interested to try it out can download it here. Currently, Android 3.2 is available on the XOOM WiFi-version, but Motorola has mentioned that it will be making its way to the Verizon XOOM in coming weeks.
There are other tablets which would be getting this update. We already know that ASUS is testing it with its Transformer. While new tablet in a 7-inch form factor like the MediaPad from Huawei and the ViewPad 7X from Viewsonic will come with this new version preinstalled. These are expected to start shipping sometime in Q3 2011.
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