The Xoom was the guinea pig for Android 3.0, but now Google is saying it wants to improve the experience before it starts deploying the new operating system wide-scale.
Right now, only manufacturers with close ties to Google are being allowed access to Android 3.0, also known as Honeycomb. Unlike other versions of Android, it hasn’t yet been made available to the public.
This won’t affect release schedules for other Honeycomb-based tablets that have been announced from Samsung and LG, but it may mean a longer wait for other manufacturers.
The bigger deal is the wait time for smartphones. While Google has said Android 3.0 is the optimal version of Android for tablets, that doesn’t mean the OS is reserved exclusively for larger devices.
Google does still plan to make the platform available for phones. It will basically be a huge ‘reset’ button for Android phones, as it will employ a new, stricter set of standards for phone manufacturers, reducing the fragmentation that has occurred in the Android market to date.
“While we’re excited to offer these new features to Android tablets, we have more work to do before we can deliver them to other device types including phones,” said Google in a statement as reported by The Inquirer.
