Google Android 3.0, Geared for the Tablet Experience?

Android Smartphones and Tablets has been the theme for the year so far. Perhaps, it’s time for Google to go back to the drawing board and chalk out its plan for the tablet market.

Android 3.0, referred to as “Gingerbread”, will be a major upgrade for the Android platform. It will require manufacturers to have specific hardware and capabilities to qualify for an upgrade. With the tablet market cooking up a storm, is it the right time for Google to put that extra effort into a tablet version of Android that will have its own special apps and experience to rival the iPad?

Gingerbread for better experience

The next update for the Android OS, codenamed “Gingerbread” is expected to move towards a direction that will allow Android apps to offer a richer experience and not suffer from the current problems of sub standard apps due to its policy of one app for all devices. Early reports suggest that Android 3.0 will require at least a 1GHz processor along with 512MB of RAM. It will support higher resolution (1024x768) for devices with displays measuring 4-inches or more. Gingerbread is also expected to ramp up the UI to a whole new level, taking the load off smartphone vendors who feel compelled to develop a customized UI layer for Android to make it more appealing.

Specialized apps for tablets

Coming back to tablets, even the move to have a more sophisticated version of Android that promises a better experience for high-end smartphones and tablets might not work in the long term. The kind of apps that a user would want to use on a tablet might not be the same as the ones on the smartphone. Right from the basic issues of app resolutions and their inability to scale the performance as per the hardware, there are bigger challenges for Android Market if it wants to match the Apple App Store. The Apple App Store is significantly better with specific versions along with unique lists of apps that are developed for the iPad. Going forward, the Android market will also need to have special apps that are meant for tablets.

To sum it up, there is a clear need to have a tablet version of the Android OS along with a unique selection of apps for Android tablets on the market soon.

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