Google will not bring Honeycomb to smartphones – yet [updated]

By on Feb 3, 2011 at 1:34 PM
mobile February 3, 2011

At a press event on Wednesday, a Google spokesperson confirmed that Android 3.0 Honeycomb will not be made available for Android-powered smartphones, PC Magazine reports. The new Android 3.0 operating system was designed specifically for tablets, according to the report. Andrew Kovacs, a spokesman for Google, said that features from Honeycomb “will arrive on phones over time,” but he declined to elaborate on when Android smartphone users might expect these new features to begin rolling out to phones. Google gave an extensive demonstration of the Honeycomb operating system at its press event, highlighting exciting new features like the completely revamped UI and enhanced video calling. Some of the features might not translate well to smaller screens, but others would be welcome additions to smartphone versions of Android, which now rely heavily on third-party tweaks to aid usability.

UPDATE: It turns out there may have been a bit of confusion surrounding Kovacs’ comments at the Google event. Google reached out to clarify, supplying BGR with the following statement: “The version of Honeycomb we’ve shown is optimized for tablet form factors. All of the UI changes are the future of Android. Yesterday’s event focused on tablet form factors, which is where you’ll first see Honeycomb.”

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  • Anonymous

    Fraggie frag frag!

    • Tim242

      Faggie fag fag! I can say that hehehe

  • Chut Pata

    Booo. Tablets are just oversized and more powerful smartphones. With new smartphones being dual core and over 1Ghz, they are more powerful than the old Compaq laptop I still use.

  • Anonymous

    So Google themselves think it is pathetic??

    • Anonymous

      Is that really what you took away from the statement or are you just another garden variety asshat with a keyboard?

  • Willpowell8

    Will it come to google tv?

  • Apple Fanboy

    Android is Fragmented dookie.

  • jay_max

    And people think Windows is fragmented… ;-)

  • Anonymous

    HAHA

  • bossmt_2

    Why is it a shock? Honeycomb was made specifically for tablet. It’s optimized for tablet, it’s brilliant. There’s a difference in use between a smart phone and a tablet. Gmail wouldn’t be user friendly if a chunk of my screen was dedicated to folders. You can bet money that android apps for Gingerbread or Ice Cream will run on Honeycomb at some point, but they won’t work the other way around.

  • Akira B

    It is interesting, an opposite approach from Apple’s 4.0 on phones first, then on tablet.
    I think Google sees its smartphone base as strong competitors and wants tablets to get a good run from the start.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=545634778 Alan Paone

    Engadget had an article showing that Honeycomb has support for phones. basically, google made a new UI for larger screens. Since the OS knows your screen size, it’ll show you what you need to see. Those app fragments they showed off are designed to make the exact same apps work on both large and small screens. On a phone, you swipe from fragment to fragment, while on a tablet, you see them all. The phone UI is probably half-baked right now, but it’ll come. Phones might even see 3.0, there isn’t a giant bee on the lawn at the googleplex, so they aren’t finished this version.

  • Anonymous

    The YouTube interface reminds me of Safari’s site history dashboard. Just saying.

  • Kenshindc

    The most important thing from Honeycomb they need to bring over to Android smartphones is 2D/3D hardware acceleration.

  • http://twitter.com/mimrixmike Mike Hale

    Actually, according to BGR… here is his update:
    UPDATE: It turns out there may have been a bit of confusion surrounding Kovacs’ comments at the Google event. Google reached out to clarify, supplying BGR with the following statement: “The version of Honeycomb we’ve shown is optimized for tablet form factors. All of the UI changes are the future of Android. Yesterday’s event focused on tablet form factors, which is where you’ll first see Honeycomb.”

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