CES Honeycomb preview UI

[aduteau]

I know this is an ipad forum and I dont want you guys to think I am trolling or anything .... Heck Ive got n ipad of my own and just love it ...

But I just saw this preview of the new Android 3.0 for Tablets on the Engadget site

http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/05/google-shows-off-android-3-0-the-entirely-for-tablet-honeycom/

The video has been pulled down but will be back shortly,
Trust me ... the UI is incredible ... iOS maybe in real trouble if this is really the new UI for Tablets coming this year with Android.

I know only the future will tell if its a hit or not ... but seeing how Android in the phone market is making huge gains ... I think the ipad may well finally have some competition this year ... and that it may need more then hardware refresh to attract new customers.

Tell me what you guys think of the UI for Android 3.0

 

[hcho3]

UI looks awesome. I am actually getting tired of apple UI on iPad. That said, I am skeptical about

1. Pricing. How much?
2. Battery life? Gotta have close to iPad.
3. Is it really that smooth experience like it shows on video?

I will watch motorola conference and find out.

 

[alywa]

Looks pretty damn nice. Suddenly makes me wish my iPad could have multiple apps open on the screen at once. Wonder what kind of power requirements / battery life these tablets will need?

 

[Roessnakhan]

Looks good, really glad they decided to do their own take on a tablet interface rather than just scaling up the existing Android operating system. Going to definitely make me thing about the iPad 2 v. Android 3.0 tablets.

 

[aduteau]

Looks pretty damn nice. Suddenly makes me wish my iPad could have multiple apps open on the screen at once. Wonder what kind of power requirements / battery life these tablets will need?

From what I am reading, Android 3.0 will need dual core as a minimum ... I wonder what this does for phones ? will they also need dual core .. or if Android will Fragment and have an OS for Tablet and one for phones ... ( as the ipad should have been in my opinion ...)

 

[Mirai 11]

it's not gonna require dual-core, i can't see that.
The only thing 3.0 will require will be tablets of all sorts to compete and nothing else. if it requires Dual Core it'll already have hit a hurdle.
This UI does look great, the Google Maps 3d view is only wishful thinking these days now for iOS!
Looking forward to how this is going to turn out between iPad 2 and Honeycomb..

 

[aduteau]

Is it me ... Or after seeing the playbook UI and now the android 3.0 .... That iOS for tablets is looking .... Dated ?

Most be because all these othrr OS are new and have a WOW factor when seen for first time

 

[Piggie]

Irrespective of any competition from other makers.

I know many people, including myself, wish Apple had (or will do) redesign a new, dare I say it "Proper" UI for their tablets, that moves them forward and makes the very most of the screen resolution, it's physical size and the power the iPad has and will have.

All they have done, basically is scale up the very 1st iPhone UI.

Yes, we have a wallpaper, and now folders, but at it's heart it's the same scrolling large icons on a static background that the very 1st iPhone had.

Personally I feel Apple can and should do a LOT better for this, on their new generation of Tablets.

Ok, I'll cut them some slack for the iPad v1. they did not know it would be a major success, and went with the easiest and cheapest option. Just blow up the iPhone UI and see if it sells.

Now they know they have a winner, they need to do a UI that it deserves. Not just chunky icons on a static background.

 

[Mirai 11]

Definitely agree there from both of you. What's always got me about the iPad UI, is the lock screen. It just looks so wasted, and the same push notifications too. Could look so much better!

 

[Blakjack]

I love apple, but boy after seeing honey comb....they had better come strong in the coming months.

How soon will we see 5.0?

 

[jimN]

There's a lot to be said for the current iOS UI design. It's not flashy but it's very functional. Widgets on the desktop might be nice although I'm not sure which ones I'd actually want open all the time - don't need to see what the weather outside is like, nor do I need to know everything happening on Facebook - a news ticker might be helpful. Aside from that there seems to be a lot of smoke and mirrors there that's good for showing off to your mates but ultimately doesn't help day to day functionality.

I'm torn. I'd love apple to have the sought after UI that everyone talked about but I don't want one that will ultimately detract from the usefulness of the product.

 

[Piggie]

There's a lot to be said for the current iOS UI design. It's not flashy but it's very functional. Widgets on the desktop might be nice although I'm not sure which ones I'd actually want open all the time - don't need to see what the weather outside is like, nor do I need to know everything happening on Facebook - a news ticker might be helpful. Aside from that there seems to be a lot of smoke and mirrors there that's good for showing off to your mates but ultimately doesn't help day to day functionality.

I'm torn. I'd love apple to have the sought after UI that everyone talked about but I don't want one that will ultimately detract from the usefulness of the product.

I do agree with you. We don't want a hundred things cluttering up the iPads screen, but I think many people do agree, it could/should be a bit more than it is. We all know it's the UI for a 3.5" device just magnified up to 10" and that's it.

I'm hoping Apple will keep their clean and efficient way of doing things, without stupid clutter that kills battery life, but also I do think a 10" screen deserves something a little better.

 

[aduteau]

Well i doubt that we will see any UI changes with iOS5 .. With Lion coming to the Mac this year ... I think most of the ressources over at Apple most be working on Lion ...

could it be that Apple really did not see this coming from Android ?

I know that Apple is downplaying the Playbook .. But now with Android 3.0 .... I think that the early 1st gen of the ipad tablet may not be enough for Apple to keep the majority of the market like most people think ....

 

[Blakjack]

Well i doubt that we will see any UI changes with iOS5 .. With Lion coming to the Mac this year ... I think most of the ressources over at Apple most be working on Lion ...

could it be that Apple really did not see this coming from Android ?

I know that Apple is downplaying the Playbook .. But now with Android 3.0 .... I think that the early 1st gen of the ipad tablet may not be enough for Apple to keep the majority of the market like most people think ....

I sure hope u are wrong. I just don't see how apple can stand by and let google out do them for an entire year, especially with as many tablets android will be on.

Apple has done a great job to beat everyone to the market and make a strong stance, but really...how long can they go with out a UI overhaul for its tablet with android for tablets showing up so big today.

Granted honey still isn't out just yet, but Apple needs to come pretty strong with 5.0. Here's to apple anticipating googles transformation.

 

[alywa]

Is it me ... Or after seeing the playbook UI and now the android 3.0 .... That iOS for tablets is looking .... Dated ?

Most be because all these othrr OS are new and have a WOW factor when seen for first time

Agreed that iOS for iPad looks comparatively dated, but remember... at this point Honeycomb devices and the playbook are still vaporware. iPad has been out over 1 year. Modern apple (1997 - present day) has never been a company to simply rest on its laurels.

 

[aduteau]

Plus add to the fact that we probably wont be seeing iOS5 shipping with the ipad 2 this spring ... And that iOS5 will probably ship the new iphone this summer ...

Ipad2 at first will seem just like a hardware refresh ... Insted of a totally new experience ..

I may be wrong

 

[Saladinos]

Ha! Be careful to read too much in to videos. Didn't anybody learn anything from Longhorn? All those amazing videos (and even many demos) were actually made in Flash, and real performance cut it all out of the final product (aka Vista). Android isn't smooth on smartphones, so I'm erring on the side of caution here.

This really boils down to a few points for Apple:
- iOS needs widgets
- iOS needs a better notifications system
- Google maps needs updating

That's it. The rest is smoke-and-mirrors blue gradients and fancy graphics.

 

[Piggie]

Plus add to the fact that we probably wont be seeing iOS5 shipping with the ipad 2 this spring ... And that iOS5 will probably ship the new iphone this summer ...

Ipad2 at first will seem just like a hardware refresh ... Insted of a totally new experience ..

I may be wrong

This may sound a stupid question and I've no idea.

But is Apple too small? Or rather have they taken on too much as a hardware design and software company to keep Laptops, Macs, Tablets and Phones, and all the marketplace stuff, all up to date all the time?

Are they stretching themselves too far?

I hope I'm wrong, but I know you can't just throw money at the problem, which they have a lot of as we all know.

I don't think we could handle the iPad2 coming with iOS4.2 and the iPhone following a couple of months later with a better iOS5 on, and then the iPad having to wait again for months to get iOS5 itself as Apple don't have the manpower to work on them both.

 

[Piggie]

Ha! Be careful to read too much in to videos. Didn't anybody learn anything from Longhorn? All those amazing videos (and even many demos) were actually made in Flash, and real performance cut it all out of the final product (aka Vista). Android isn't smooth on smartphones, so I'm erring on the side of caution here.

This really boils down to a few points for Apple:
- iOS needs widgets
- iOS needs a better notifications system
- Google maps needs updating

That's it. The rest is smoke-and-mirrors blue gradients and fancy graphics.

For young people who love to MSN, twitter or other live chats, do you think we need some system so they can be playing a game, or browsing the web, or typing a letter and also have some chat window on screen as well,without constant home button pressing and flipping too and fro between full screen apps.

I've watched many of my families and friends kids, esp in their teens, on their laptops and they are doing all sorts of things as the same time. chatting, browsing ebay, looking through their music collection etc etc.

 

[aduteau]

For young people who love to MSN, twitter or other live chats, do you think we need some system so they can be playing a game, or browsing the web, or typing a letter and also have some chat window on screen as well,without constant home button pressing and flipping too and fro between full screen apps.

I've watched many of my families and friends kids, esp in their teens, on their laptops and they are doing all sorts of things as the same time. chatting, browsing ebay, looking through their music collection etc etc.

Good observation ... If Android is target at a younger audiance .... Then they insure themself of loyalty for a long time to come ...

 

[firestarter]

I must be missing something, 'cos I don't see anything special here.

Seems like a lot of UI elements 'borrowed' from iOS, but with an ugly blue background. Seems a bit glitchy too (in vertical scrolling) - also screen doesn't seem to be updating quickly enough in horizontal scrolling.

It looks pretty usable, for sure - but I don't know where you're seeing the 'awesome'?

 

[petvas]

When I first watched the demo video I was also impressed. I watched it now for a second time and I don't think it is really that impressive. Yes, Google seems to have done a good Android version for Tablets, but there are many things that will prevent it from killing the iPad. I believe that it will come to the same market shares we see in the smartphone market. Many people will still be buying iPads and others will opt for an Android tablet.
Here is the list of things that I believe that make Honeycomb not that really impressive:
* It uses widgets, just like the phone version of Android. This isnt bad, but it shows that it is just Android. People seem to love widgets, but I am personally not very excited about it.
* They showed us only Google Apps, so we don't know what other important apps will look like. Google Mail is cool for those that do use it, but I am not one of them. Google Maps was cool, but that will never be a reason to buy a tablet over another. Google Books support is good, but I do not think they will be able to compete with Amazon and Apple.
* No mention about games. This is one of the strongest iOS selling points and one of the weakest features of the Android OS. I do not expect to see many improvements in this area.
* The video tries to tease, but I think we haven't seen anything yet of real value. I would just wait and see.

In the meantime, I am enjoying my iPad and I look forward to new products that can challenge it. I do not believe that Apple won't make the next step, so we will soon see the ipad 2 with iOS 5, which is definitely getting a new notification system and a more integrated experience with Mac OS X. This kind of integration, high quality hardware and great OS platform that allows all these amazing apps we are all enjoy using, makes for an experience that will be very difficult to be challenged by Google.

 

[rezatayebi]

I must be missing something, 'cos I don't see anything special here.

Seems like a lot of UI elements 'borrowed' from iOS, but with an ugly blue background. Seems a bit glitchy too (in vertical scrolling) - also screen doesn't seem to be updating quickly enough in horizontal scrolling.

It looks pretty usable, for sure - but I don't know where you're seeing the 'awesome'?

I'm on your side. Other than great 3D google maps everything else looked OK.

2012 is going to be the year of Tablets
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?xl=xl_blazer&v=CWicMJgOPlk

 

[doug in albq]

not that impressive.

 

[GoCubsGo]

I'm pretty excited. After moving from the iPhone to the Droid X I've noticed even the slightest hint of a file system is fantastic. If they did something even better on something like an iPad, I'd be smitten.