At this year’s consumer electronics show, Google has given us their view of the future for tablets with a sneak peek at Honeycomb – their tablet only operating system that is on the way. Honeycomb looks different than the interface you are used to but that is because Google is optimizing it for tablet use.
Widget use is clearly a focus of Google’s tablet plans and Honeycomb will be integrated with Google Maps 5 with 3D interactions and offline reliability, Google eBooks and Google Talk. Video chat will be integrated so users won’t have to go to third party vendors.
Tabbed browsing is an exciting feature that will allow tablet users to view the Internet in the same way that they do when on their laptops or desktop computers. This is certainly a big plus.
Android tablets look to be ready to make a big move in the same way that Android phones have done in the smartphone market. Custom built Android applications are very likely to start making some big noise in the marketplace very soon.
Android has recently stated that they are now activating about 300,000 Android handsets per day, which puts them on a quick pace to be the largest mobile platform in the world.
While iPhone application development for your business is a great idea, have you considered working a custom Android application into the mix? Often by looking at the demographics of their market, a business can tell which market is the best one to start with when developing mobile applications.
Android is obviously an important platform to consider since they went from zero to activating as many phones per day as global leader Nokia in just two short years. If you aren’t considering Android applications as a part of your marketing mix, you may be missing a huge market opportunity that is rapidly getting bigger and bigger.
In their recent Mobile Mix Report for October, Millennial Media states that that the Android operating system has now drawn even with the iOS platform from Apple based on its recent strong sales (full report). Yet despite this massive surge in available devices, the dedicated application talk on the street still seems to be strongly pointed at applications for the iPhone. While this is a great platform with a very solid user base that enjoys and utilizes apps, there seems to be a gap following the other devices in terms of application development.
This gap can create a huge opportunity for the proactive business person. Can you be the first on the block to bring a custom mobile application of a certain type to market for the rapidly growing Android platform? Or how about aggressively pursuing the Windows Phone 7 platform? Applications for Windows Phone 7 could be red hot in the near future with manufactures like Samsung embracing the platform. Or how about pursuing the under-served market looking for BlackBerry applications with a solid BlackBerry application development plan?
All of the platforms present great opportunities for custom m0bile applications, but sometimes the greatest opportunities exist when you are looking at the front end of a curve. Feel free to discuss your mobile application development needs a professional mobile application developer to see which platforms best suite you and your business.