Android 3.0 tablets close to January CES debut
Android 3.0 will make a big splash in January if a report from Taiwan is to believed. The report claims that HTC, Samsung and Motorola, among others, will be ready to show off new Gingerbread tablets in the new year.
HTC, Motorola, Acer and Asus are set to show off Android 3.0 Gingerbread tablets at the Las Vegas CES trade show in January next year, according to a report from Taiwanese website Digitimes.
According to the source, we should also see a Gingerbread version of the Samsung Galaxy Tab in the new year. Google has just notified partners that Android 3.0 will soon be completed, with related engineer samples showing up in December. Although the Galaxy Tab and a plethora of other slates will reach us in November with Android 2.1 and 2.2, Android 3.0 is already being earmarked as the version that could really show what these devices are capable of.
LG has already killed off plans to make a Froyo tablet in favour of releasing one with Gingerbread, while we are now fully expecting Motorola to come out with some sort of Droid Terminator super phone early next year. We had a quick taste of what Gingerbread could offer us yesterday -- a graphical overhaul, hardware acceleration and video chat are just some of the rumoured features you can expect to see.
Being Google Android, the development is obviously not going to stop here. The report also said you should expect to see Android 4.0 in the second half of 2011. Some of you are a little frustrated that Google is moving so fast, considering many of you are stuck on earlier versions of the operating system. But you may have to argue this with carriers and manufacturers, as Android development doesn't show any signs of slowing to wait for the stragglers.
At the moment, the BlackBerry PlayBook and iPad are the only slates stopping Android making a bid for tablet domination next year. Microsoft could have something to say, but tablets running Windows 7 haven't been all that impressive so far. Meanwhile, Redmond has its plate full just trying to push Windows Phone 7 as a viable smart phone OS.
Next month, we will see the first wave of Android tablets making their debut, led by the Samsung Galaxy Tab. Are tablets even your thing? Are you lot going to buy Froyo for the Christmas season, or wait for the Gingerbread frenzy? Comment below.