A high-ranking Google exec recently insisted that Android 2.2 (Froyo) was optimized for smartphones. But TouchDown Exchange developer NitroDesk believes Froyo is more than ready to support fully-functioning tablet applications.
“Despite recent messages in the press about [Froyo] being not suitable for large screen devices, what we found is that the [current] Android SDK is very capable of letting developers create applications which are optimized for tablet screens,” the company claimed in an official statement on its website.
“While it is true that there are no separate controls for creating widgets like tree views and resizable splitters, it is quite possible to create applications which use the real estate effectively. It just requires some work on the developer’s part to get there.”
However, as Phandroid’s Kevin Krause points out, NitroDesk is merely talking about the OS in terms of apps – rather than proper support for a full-on tablet ecosystem.
“[Yes], the great Android tablet renaissance that was supposed to be coming this holiday season has been pushed back to early 2011 in anticipation of Android 3.0, an iteration of the OS that is being designed with slate devices in mind.
“Still, just like the iPad, regardless of the OS version on the tablet developers will always need to tweak their handheld apps to better fit screen real estate.”
