Google Android Honeycomb revealed on prototype Motorola tablet

Google has given us a taste of Honeycomb, an upcoming version of Android. Hot on the heels of the new Google Nexus S phone, which runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread, Honeycomb was revealed on a prototype Motorola tablet.

Gingerbread isn't even out yet, but Google is already working on "an early version" of Honeycomb. The big G's Android kingpin, Andy Rubin, showed off Honeycomb onstage at a conference in the US. It features a tweaked home screen and apps that are designed to make the most of a tablet's larger display -- good news for the myriad Android tablets on their way to shop shelves.

The tablet version of the OS features an app-launcher bar and nifty switching between apps. In the video below, Rubin mentions video chat, which is also a new feature, and shows off a 3D, vector-based Google Maps. Click 'play' on the video to see Honeycomb in action.

The Motorola tablet looks like an iPad-sized 9- or 10-inch model. It's bigger than the 7-inch Motorola Motopad we've reported previously. Rubin said the tablet runs a dual-core Nvidia GPU, and pointed out that it has no buttons, so it can be flipped any way around, unlike the iPad.

Rubin said the tablet "won't be out for a while". Honeycomb will arrive in 2011. Next up is Android 2.3 Gingerbread, which will start showing up on phones in the real world "within weeks".