Lets run down all the new stuff in Android Honeycomb:
- Tablets & Phones: Honeycomb is designed for Tablets, but would run on Phones aswell, without trouble.
- All Existing Apps work: No matter for which android os an app was developed, it would still work on Honeycomb as-is. So you already have 200,000 apps in Market plus new apps coming soon.
- Even Faster: Google did a good job in Gingerbread at performance improvements, Honeycomb is even faster.
- Smother Transisitons, more polish: Did you hate Android for having almost no animations, transitions, smoothness in UI? The days are gone, its now polished, smooth. Even iOS users would love it.
- Smarter widgets. Widgets are now more powerful,inherently more graphics capable in terms of scrolling, speed & transitions.
- Notifications Revamped: Android did great in notifications, now its even better. Gone is the pull-down notification shade used by earlier Android versions. Instead, notifications pop up much like Growl on Mac OS X. Notifications scroll better, display more info e.g. shows contact photo when someone pings you on gtalk.
- New graphics Engine. Honeycomb uses dual core, and is hence capable of producing Richer graphics using Renderscript engine. This brings fluidity and advanced visual 3-D effects, much like Apple’s Core Animation. Renderscript will also bring 3-D games that are visually stunning: one area where Android lacked.
- Application fragments. Apps can consist of small fragments that work together seamlessly. The new Gmail app for Honeycomb is a perfect example: The Inbox view will change to a message view as needed, with different panes or fragments sliding on- or off-screen.
- Intuitive camera: The new camera interface exposes settings in a rotary dial, making it easier to manipulate photo settings. The dial rotates off the screen as new controls rotate on to it.
- Google Talk Video chat. This is a great feature which had been awaited for long. Quality would really be decided by the network you are in, but it works.
- Easy multitasking: Multitasking has been Android’s true strength, but its wasn’t very accessible to users. Switchign between apps is now easier, and faster. Application shows their screenshots along with icons.
- Better Market. This is not just limited to Honeycomb, but worth mentioning here. With a few clicks from the desktop browser, you can isntall the apps on all your android phones in a flick of an eye.
Here is a Handson Video of Android Honeycomb Tablet: Motorola Xoom: