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Android 3.0 preview, SDK lands: Does this UI entice?

Summary: The Android 3.0 Honeycomb preview has landed and for good measure the mobile operating system, which is optimized for tablets, has a few screenshots that serve as nice appetizers for those waiting for quality tablets that can compete with Apple's iPad.

Larry Dignan

By for Between the Lines |

The Android 3.0 Honeycomb preview has landed and for good measure the mobile operating system, which is optimized for tablets, has a few screenshots that serve as nice appetizers for those waiting for quality tablets that can compete with Apple's iPad.

Gallery: Android 3.0 preview screenshots

In a blog post, Xavier Ducrohet, the Android software developer kit tech lead, detailed the basics:

  • A holographic UI theme;
  • Widgets galore;
  • Multitasking;
  • 3D graphics;
  • And enterprise management goodies.

But you can read those details on your own. The big question revolves around the Honeycomb UI. Here's a look at the screens. Do they entice?

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  • RE: Android 3.0 preview, SDK lands: Does this UI entice?

    Sure, it looks nice, but can it match the iPad's performance? You can talk about dual-core processors and the like all you want, but Android up to this day is still laggy and shutters a lot. Google should concentrate on performance before developing an entirely new UI.
    ddevito@...
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Android 3.0 preview, SDK lands: Does this UI entice?

      @ddevito@...

      I have an HTC Incredible, an Android phone with a 1 GHz processor, and it's never been laggy. It's never shuttered. For the record, I also own an iPad, so I do have an iProduct to compare it to.<br><br>What Android device has been laggy for you? Are you sure it wasn't due to something other than Android?
      AGWednesday
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Android 3.0 preview, SDK lands: Does this UI entice?

        @AGWednesday

        I have the OG Droid. It lags all the time. All my friends and coworkers who have the OG Droid tell me the same thing. The Froyo upgrade has been the culprit I suspect. Overall the performance has been fine but the "blank screen of death" must go. I'm waiting for the Bionic, and I hope all the optimization rumors about Motorola are true.

        Anyway, yes, I would love a 'droid tablet, but the fact that it's the first release and the fact that the Xoom will be around $700-$800 will only make people like me get a WiFi iPad.

        Come on 'droid manufacturers, wake up. Android MUST BE cheaper than iOS or it'll have no chance on tablets.
        ddevito@...
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Android 3.0 preview, SDK lands: Does this UI entice?

        @AGWednesday I don't use Android myself, but every Droid phone I've used has just seemed sluggish and kind of patched together, especially when compared to WP7. I must admit that these haven't been the highest end devices, but that shouldn't matter.
        Tiggster
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Android 3.0 preview, SDK lands: Does this UI entice?

        @ddevito<br>I suspect it is the device or a layered UI on top of Android.<br>I have a Nexus One and an i4.<br>For speed and responsiveness the Nexus outperforms the i4 in almost all categories.<br>There have been many comparisons between these two and most agree with what I have found.<br><img border="0" src="http://www.cnet.com/i/mb/emoticons/wink.gif" alt="wink">
        rhonin
        Reply Vote

      • Droid X and Droid Incredible.

        @AGWednesday

        Lots of lags and stutters on both units. Touch response was measured to vary between 500 and 700 ms on basic swipes.

        Oddly, the choice of using OLED tech also gives the illusion of a significantly slower interface. The rapid response time of the OLED pixels adds to any slow to mid frame-rate animations. The iPhone's LCD tech has about 25ms response time and this results in animations that actually look smoother to the eye.
        Bruizer
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Android 3.0 preview, SDK lands: Does this UI entice?

        @AGWednesday
        Lucky you, I'm stuck with the Galaxy S and it laaaaags a lot..
        Hasam1991
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Android 3.0 preview, SDK lands: Does this UI entice?

        Any lag on the OG Droid is app based, not OS. As a very technical person by career and hobby, I am very sensitive to performance issues and every time I have had lock up issues and performance issues on my Droid, it has been application related. Widgets such as weather bug and other apps that are always running are the typical cause. I use mine for work so I have 3 different e-mail accounts, facebook, etc but no widgets except e-mail and I have no lag or lock ups. Its just like a PC, you put a bunch of apps that run all the time on it, and you eventually run out of memory and processsor cycles.
        bigdaddyellison
        Reply Vote

      • Can't get older than my device

        @AGWednesday I've got an HTC Magic - truly first gen, came out just after the G1 on T-Mobile (the original MyTouch?)

        I'm running Froyo on it, and it's as responsive as 1.5 was on it. Google is good at baking in performance improvements.

        Motorola is good at performance killers... all the Blur stuff, working in the background to collect and integrate data from all your social networking... ugh.

        Don't blame Google, blame Motorola.

        And next time get an HTC android device. I can't believe how responsive my completely wimpy 528mhz, 192meg, non-HD, many-years-old device can hang today.

        Definitely can't say that about iPhones of the same vintage... if you've ever tried to use a 3G (or even 3GS) on iOS4, it's a painful, frustrating, throw-phone-through-wall experience.
        geolemon
        Reply Vote

    • The dual core will give more than enough power, the problem is battery life

      life. By allowing multi-tasking and Flash, this impacts the battery life, and of course the performance. Apple was able to get a VERY functional VERY responsive, long battery life tablet by not allowing multi-tasking or Flash. The question is with newer more efficient more powerful dual-core processors what the trade-offs will be.

      And, almost all Android phones perform VERY well, no lag. There are some with slower processors that did not do so well, that is true.
      DonnieBoy
      Reply Vote

      • iPad Multitasks since 4.2 upgrade.. still has great performance..

        @DonnieBoy
        doctorSpoc
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Android 3.0 preview, SDK lands: Does this UI entice?

        @DonnieBoy
        Just for the record, iOS multitask is more of a quick change between apps and poorly done.
        On my i4 I have to periodically either reboot or clean out the mt task bar - its a memory hog but does not have much impact in battery life.
        On my Nexus One I let Android do the handling and have had almost no issues involving tasks/mt since the 2.2 update.

        btw: during normal daily use of both devices, the battery life is very close. Other devices may be different...

        I wonder what/if the devices that impliment dual core will have some type of power management software...?
        :)
        rhonin
        Reply Vote

      • doctorSpoc: as the other poster noted, iPad and iPhone do not have true

        multi-tasking, just applications switcher. And, of course they do not have Flash which is a CPU hog.
        DonnieBoy
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Android 3.0 preview, SDK lands: Does this UI entice?

        @DonnieBoy<br><br>"And, almost all Android phones perform VERY well, no lag. There are some with slower processors that did not do so well, that is true."<br><br><br>The general consumer doesn't compare processor speeds when purchasing a phone, so if they happen to have a slower processor Android phone that causes lag, then the perception is that Android lags, is choppy and slow (ad Flash to the mix and things get worst). As comparison, all iphones going back to the very original with its slower processors (400 Mhz) have been very snappy. So what's really the reason for Android OS running choppy on certain phones? <br><br>The consensus with WP7 so far has been it's much snappier than anything Android (On iOS level). So again, what's the deal with Android? And unlike Google MS have put OEM restrictions on processor speed, display etc., which creates a level of predictability and consistency for the users going from phones to phones. Sadly I don't think we will see this anytime soon or ever with Android. Samsung is releasing 4 new phones in 2011 with processor speeds under 1 GHZ.
        dave95.
        Reply Vote

      • DonnieBoy.. this is simply not true.. iOS does have multitasking..

        @DonnieBoy, @zenwalker... the only difference between iOS and android is that in Android by default all apps multitask and it is all handled by the OS.. in iOS the dev must implement the app to be multi-tasking and Apple must give it's blessing for it to multi-task.. for many apps multi-tasking is just not necessary, so you have fast app switching.. but apps like pandora on iOS plays music in the background if you go to other apps.. i have Navigon GPS software that will still announce nav instructions if you go to another app etc..<br><br>iOS has multi-tasking but is is handled differently than android.. some apps will never multitask while other will.. and will to varying degrees (keep only certain processes running in the background etc) depend of the app and its needs..
        doctorSpoc
        Reply Vote

      • Just for the record to everyone...

        iOS has real preemptive multitasking built in, since it uses the XNU kernel which is derived from Carnegie Mellon's Mach, although it's not a true microkernel.

        Apple has tweeked iOS to prevent general preemptive multi-tasking because of battery problems. So what you see in the UI is the controlled experience, but under the covers you could have any number of processes running at the same time.
        cosuna
        Reply Vote

    • RE: Android 3.0 preview, SDK lands: Does this UI entice?

      @ddevito@... You have no idea what you are talking about. I'm tired of novice technical people chiming in on matters they really don't know anything about.
      rob_cluett@...
      Reply Vote

    • Some screenshots look like clutter to me; iOS still more consistent

      @ddevito@...
      DDERSSS
      Reply Vote

    • RE: Android 3.0 preview, SDK lands: Does this UI entice?

      @ddevito@...
      No, it's not.

      Load up the same exact webpage on my Nexus One and on your iPad, and I guarantee I'll get it open much, much faster.
      Droid101
      Reply Vote

      • Web browser speed is not a measure of sluggishness

        @Droid101 The best way to visualize sluggishness is by looking at an application like the Kindle. While on the iOS, switching pages looks like moving a paper page, on Android the visual delay and sluggishness is more than obvious. Don't believe me? Look at the video of the Moto Xoom published a few days ago.
        wackoae
        Reply Vote
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