Honeycomb – the tablet-optimized OS

Introduction

Google’s tablet-optimized platform is now in full force permeating into the memory of consumers around the world, while at the same time, it’s attempting to conquer the landscape by presenting users a totally immersive, yet functional to the point experience. We’ve spent some time getting situated with the platform, and knowing that it’s going to be continually improved, to bring new features and expand upon some existing ones, the foundations set forth by it will uniformly have a profound impact on how it’s going to be further modified down the road. At this point, there’s no denying that tablets are going to continue marching forward and become the true computing giant over the course of the next few years, however, we just need to reflect upon some of Honeycomb’s accomplishments and our desires for improvement.

First and foremost, we have to applaud Google for sitting down and meticulously bringing the platform from the ground up – while solely keeping in mind that it’s a tablet platform and nothing more. From its surreal and futuristic design theme to its ubiquitous paneled layout within its core apps, everything concretely wraps together to give the user an experience that’s functional, cohesive, and relevant. In addition, Google has upped the ante in the personalization department, much like what we’ve seen with Android as a whole, thanks to its useful array of widgets and dynamic looking wallpapers. Although it’s still in its infancy, the Mountain View based company has done an exceptional job in fully comprehending how the tablet experience is  different from anything else out there – and tailoring it to fit that unique medium.

Still waiting for more optimized third party apps

Arguably, some might perceive that the platform is already positioned at its utmost threshold, but with all things technology related, there are still some items we’d like to see definitively expanded in order to keep it fresh and interesting. Obviously, Google managed to juggle the task of handling multi-tasking and notifications with Honeycomb, but the biggest roadblock that we see with the platform right now is its painfully slow (literally) build-up of third party apps that are tablet-optimized. Taking a peek at the Android Market, you can naturally download any of the existing ones available to Android smartphones, but there are still barely any worthwhile selections that are optimized for Honeycomb.

On the other hand, we have seen most of Google’s core services being integrated heavily with the platform – like video chat support with Google Talk and the recent availability of Google Docs. For now, it’s only time that’s standing in the way from transplanting the platform from its humble beginnings, to something that came out from the movies – we’re talking Minority Report kinds of things!