Google: Android Not Optimized For Tablets

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A lot of people (myself included) have been eagerly waiting the possibility of a good Android tablet. With the Android Market and all the customization of the open-source OS, it seemed like Android would be a perfect fit for an alternative to the iPad. But now, Google’s Hugo Barra says that Android (at least Froyo) isn’t for tablets. It’s for phones!

Barra said that Froyo “is not optimised for use on tablets”. And possibly the most disappointing, he said:

If you want Android market on that platform, the apps just wouldn’t run, [Froyo] is just not designed for that form factor. But the way Android Market works is it’s not going to be available on tablets that don’t allow devices and applications to run correctly. Which devices do, and which don’t will be unit specific, but Froyo is not optimised for use on tablets.

This is sort of a blow to the tons of Android tablets we saw at CES 2010, or more recently, IFA 2010. Archos just unveiled a great looking series of tablets (which look to be big improvements over their existing tablets) and it’s hard to deny that a lot of people have been waiting for the Samsung Galaxy Tab. The Dell Streak was supposed to be a tablet, but is now priced and being sold as a phone by the carriers – with AT&T even forcing a voice plan on the device.

Does this mean that the coveted Samsung Galaxy Tab won’t have support for the Android Market? It will, according to Barra (and Samsung). Barra says: “The Galaxy Tab is kind of like a large phone.”

Rumors say that later versions of Android (Gingerbread, Honeycomb, what have you) are supposed to be more tablet-friendly. Let’s hope so, or us Android loyalists may have to break down and buy an iPad.