Honeycomb App Selection Let’s be frank, there aren’t nearly as many Honeycomb Apps as there are iPad Apps. Why is that? It’s hard to say. On one hand, you have a huge iPad installed base, which is an understatement considering Apple is selling more iPad’s than Macbook’s now. They also seem to be able to make a better profit on the iPad, which may have something to do with Android on handsets. People on Android tend not to pay for any apps, and there are a larger percentage of free apps on Android Market. If you were an app developer, which platform would you choose? The iPad and iPhone have such a huge amount of people developing for it, but if you don’t build a really great app, it’s hard to be noticed in a sea of other good apps. On Honeycomb, if you could build a compelling app, there would be little to no competition for you. The exposure you could get just by the fact that there is so much less Tablet apps in general on the platform could surely make a difference in your download count and your wallet. Browser performance on the Transformer is great, and having Flash available to view videos in the browser is nice. But people don’t constantly want to be in the browser especially to check something like twitter. They bought a tablet for a different experience. Plume for Twitter on Honeycomb is one of a few Twitter apps made for the Tablets. It’s columns offer some customization, it loads extremely quickly, and is generally a clean experience. It is a nice example of a platform that hasn’t gained much traction on Android phones because of Twitter’s official app and other competition, but is the app of choice by many on Honeycomb. Pulse is another great app for Honeycomb. You can choose from featured feeds, or plug in any RSS Feed yourself to view your news quickly and cleanly.  Swipe from side to side, click stories to enlarge, and launch the browser if you want to explore the site further. The last App I want to highlight is the Gamefly App. Even if you don’t use the service, the app has news from the website www.shacknews.com and videos of the upcoming games. It isn’t greatly different from their iOS and Android phone apps, but simple tweaks make it easier to use on the Tablet, and make it much more usable.  I am looking ahead to when Google releases a Honeycomb optimized Google+ app, because Facebook hasn’t provided a Tablet app for the iPad for whatever reason.  In the end, the Honeycomb experience is mostly positive, with a few caveats. There are less apps than it’s biggest competitor, and they have greatly improved the user experience over time. But unfortunately it seems like the platform may not catch on greater until the unifying Smartphone/Tablet Software Platform Ice Cream Sandwich launches sometime this year from Google.
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Honeycomb App Selection

Let’s be frank, there aren’t nearly as many Honeycomb Apps as there are iPad Apps. Why is that? It’s hard to say. On one hand, you have a huge iPad installed base, which is an understatement considering Apple is selling more iPad’s than Macbook’s now. They also seem to be able to make a better profit on the iPad, which may have something to do with Android on handsets. People on Android tend not to pay for any apps, and there are a larger percentage of free apps on Android Market.

If you were an app developer, which platform would you choose? The iPad and iPhone have such a huge amount of people developing for it, but if you don’t build a really great app, it’s hard to be noticed in a sea of other good apps. On Honeycomb, if you could build a compelling app, there would be little to no competition for you. The exposure you could get just by the fact that there is so much less Tablet apps in general on the platform could surely make a difference in your download count and your wallet.

plume

Browser performance on the Transformer is great, and having Flash available to view videos in the browser is nice. But people don’t constantly want to be in the browser especially to check something like twitter. They bought a tablet for a different experience. Plume for Twitter on Honeycomb is one of a few Twitter apps made for the Tablets. It’s columns offer some customization, it loads extremely quickly, and is generally a clean experience. It is a nice example of a platform that hasn’t gained much traction on Android phones because of Twitter’s official app and other competition, but is the app of choice by many on Honeycomb.

pulse

Pulse is another great app for Honeycomb. You can choose from featured feeds, or plug in any RSS Feed yourself to view your news quickly and cleanly. 

pulse story

Swipe from side to side, click stories to enlarge, and launch the browser if you want to explore the site further.

gameflap

The last App I want to highlight is the Gamefly App. Even if you don’t use the service, the app has news from the website www.shacknews.com and videos of the upcoming games. It isn’t greatly different from their iOS and Android phone apps, but simple tweaks make it easier to use on the Tablet, and make it much more usable. 

I am looking ahead to when Google releases a Honeycomb optimized Google+ app, because Facebook hasn’t provided a Tablet app for the iPad for whatever reason. 

In the end, the Honeycomb experience is mostly positive, with a few caveats. There are less apps than it’s biggest competitor, and they have greatly improved the user experience over time. But unfortunately it seems like the platform may not catch on greater until the unifying Smartphone/Tablet Software Platform Ice Cream Sandwich launches sometime this year from Google.

Asus TF-101 Eee Pad Transformer

Back here: http://850mhz.tumblr.com/post/6369368485/honeycomb-tablets-which-to-buy-acer-iconia-tab I broke down the cream of the crop of Honeycomb Tablets, concluding that the only 2 current ones that really separate themselves are the Transformer and the Galaxy Tab 10.1. The Transformer, coming in a full $100 cheaper than the equally spec’d Tab and the iPad 2, had a nice IPS display and a Keyboard dock that turned it into more Netbook than Convertible Notebook. 

The Transformer is indeed heavier, and harder to hold for longer periods of time. The edges are straight and although they may not cut you, remain sharp. More squared than the iPad 2, who also has a sharper edge, while being slimmer. The Tab 10.1 on the other hand, has curved edges AND is thin, the best of both worlds. 

quadrant

Performance wise, the Honeycomb Tablets are all very close. They all contain the same hardware, but software tweaks do make a difference. This unit is averaging right around 1700 on the Quadrant Benchmark. Compare that to the highest scoring stock device that has passed through my hands, the Atrix, that runs the same processor but drives a much smaller screen, that is hitting over 2000 consistently. 

The display is quite adequate, bright enough, and has great color reproduction. The separation between the glass and the display underneath is greater than the aforementioned Tab 10.1 and iPad 2, which on this unit allows some light bleeding. Asus has had this problem from the beginning with the Transformer, and this much time later in their production cycle it’s sad to see the problems persist. It doesn’t necessarily distract from most tasks performed, but when a darker background or a black page is shown, it is undeniably there. 

Another issue Asus has had with the Transformer is sound. The speakers on the front outside of the display and units have had an issue where one side is noticeably louder than the other. Luckily if you were the adventurous type, the folks over on XDA-Developers Forum have a fix, but luckier still, this units speakers are working correctly. 

After pulling it out of the box and powering it on for the first time, you are prompted to connect to a Wifi Network, Enter your Gmail account information and get started. My unit shipped with an older build of 3.0 Honeycomb, but I was immediately given a notification in the notification tray on the side that there was a system update, which was Honeycomb 3.1, and their latest build was released this past week. Asus has been way ahead of the norm in making sure the Transformer is updated and the bugs in the software squashed. 

version #

Going from 3.0 to 3.1 there is a noticeable upgrade in the UI speed, with which there was considerable lag. After playing with the HP Touchpad, you get an appreciation of what a lag free experience that 3.1 Honeycomb and the iPad can offer you. 

The front and rear Camera’s are functional, and the rear sensor, although it may not replace your digital camera(who wants to carry a tablet around to take pictures anyway?) it is adequate for shots of your dinner you plan to post on Twitter. 

Overall, the Transformer isn’t the best in some ways, but with a $100 less price over it’s best Honeycomb and iOS competition, it is more than capable to change your experience at home and how you consume media and the internet at large, and get you off of that tiny phone screen.

Google is still doing well, in case you were wondering

google earnings

Who doesn’t love an Earnings Calls? Impressive, the $9.02 Billion Revenue. Impressive, the $2.51 Billion Net Revenue, up from $1.84 Billion in the same quarter last year. 

But the most interesting part of the call in my humble opinion is the fact that there are 550,000 Android devices activated DAILY. Android Market has had 6 BILLION downloads. Staggering. 

New Look Android Market Incoming

The Android Market has had one major revision in the past couple years. It was aimed at making apps easier to discover, and having a clean UI to navigate. 

Google is here again with a Market update that aims to repeat that, plus add Movie Rentals(starting at $1.99) and Books to the mix. 

android market

The UI does look to have changed quite a bit, hopefully offering a more intuitive way to search through top app choices and the “Editor’s Choice” pages they have added. 

This is set to roll it “in the coming weeks” to devices with 2.2 or above, and like the last release, will automatically show up. 

Nexus S with at&t 3G. 

Yes that’s a pink iPhone. 

This is the i9020a Nexus S. The Nexus S, with its curved glass(but not curved display) is definitely a sleek device. It is also plasticky and plain next to something like the iPhone 4. The at&t compatible i9020a hasn’t been available from a retailer in the United States. There are online retailers who sell them, but thanks to Rogers/Bell/Fido in Canada, this model was built and is available for people like us.

One problem arises for someone who wants to bring one over to at&t though. The radio that ships on the phone limits the speed of download/upload speeds you will receive over at&t’s network. 

We can’t even purchase the only phone with a true pure Android experience here, and when we get ahold of one we have to hack the radio to perform satisfactory on our network! Hopefully in the future, because of at&t’s improving policy regarding the installation of Third Party Applications and their need to provide high quality Android devices in the wake of losing iPhone Exclusivity, we can get the next Google Experience Nexus phone through official channels and not through online importers/retailers. 

This is one device you don’t have to worry about a carrier preventing you from Tethering or use of WiFi Hotspot. And the Stock Android experience is so good that switching to a Touchwiz UI powered Infuse 4G or a MotoBlur powered Atrix 4G can be quite annoying at times. 

This phone is running a custom ROM with a custom Radio, so I am observing speeds in the realm of all the other devices. The ROM itself is indistinguishable from stock 2.3 Gingerbread.