At the Mobile World Congress, Dell revealed to its investors that it is about to launch a 10.1-inch tablet with Google’s Android 3.0 Honeycomb OS. The Android 3.0 Honeycomb operating system has been built entirely for tablet computers. The first thing that is to be noticed about this operating system is the interface. In the Honeycomb interface, in place of hardware buttons, an on-screen navigation bar appears at the bottom of the screen. This display appears regardless of the orientation of the tablet. The home screen has also been improved.
The widgets have been redesigned to give it a appearance that gives it a prominent look. It gets easy to scroll through the inbox with the Gmail widget or go through the upcoming appointments with the help of the easy to use widgets. The user also gets the opportunity to develop personally customized widgets for any individual of the contact list.
The Dell tablet computer will be able to take complete advantage of the Google Android 3.0 Honeycomb operating system by expanding into multiple panes that are shown side by side on your screen. In the Google OS, the users can read individual messages while viewing the on-screen inbox at the same time. The Google Talk platform will be used by Dell to introduce an integral solution for video chat. This will allow users to get connected to individuals in the contact list irrespective of whether they remain on line on their tablet or through their personal computer. The stock browser of Android gets upgraded with Honeycomb. Multiple tabs can be handled automatically with the help of this feature.
The 10-inch Dell tablet as revealed by the computer maker at the Mobile World Congress 2011 will have all the above features of Google’s Honeycomb in them. The Honeycomb upgrade will also see a new YouTube interface and Google’s e-book marketplace with a tablet optimized version. Bookmarks can be accessed from the home screen itself with the help of the Honeycomb browser widget.
How Dell will deal with the effect of Honeycomb’s interface on its battery life is still to be seen. Motorola XOOM may prove a tough competition for the Dell Honeycomb tablet as it too has incorporated Google’s OS.
