Google showed off a Honeycomb version of its Android operating system that will debut on the upcoming Motorola Xoom tablet that won raves at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last month.<\/p>\n
“Honeycomb is tailored for the new generation of tablet-sized computers,” Google mobile products director Hugo Barra said while demonstrating software features at the Internet titan’s headquarters in Mountain View, California.<\/p>\n
“We’ve spent a tremendous amount of time really optimizing performance on Honeycomb.”<\/p>\n
The free, open-source operating system is expected to quickly be built into an array of tablets in a booming market currently dominated by the iPad launched by Apple last year.<\/p>\n
In a sign that Google is intent on wooing the developers behind the “apps” fueling the popularity of smartphones and tablets, executives here stressed that Honeycomb is built as a platform for software innovation.<\/p>\n
Google also announced the launch of an Android Market Web store where people can get fun, functional or hip applications for devices running on the mobile operating software.<\/p>\n
Google set out to address a long-standing lament by allowing developers to make money from in-application transactions such as buying virtual goods, music or other digital offerings.<\/p>\n
“We’ve gotten a fair amount of feedback from developers that they want more ways to make money from their applications,” said Android engineering director Chris Yerga.<\/p>\n
“Today, we are releasing code for in-app monetization to the entire Android developer community.”<\/p>\n