Google Android Google released Wednesday a platform preview for Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) and an updated set of SDK tools.
This preview offers the best glimpse that we have seen thus far of the tablet-optimized Android. At CES earlier this month, Google showed off Honeycomb alongside the Motorola Xoom tablet.
For developers — or interested users — who want to get a better idea of what Honeycomb will look like, Google has created an Android 3.0 Platform Highlights page.
Google also details some of the new features for both users and developers.

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New Tablet-Friendly Interface

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The iPad might be Honeycomb’s competing target, but the UI approach — at least from what we can see so far — is much more similar to the BlackBerry PlayBook. Google says that it wants to focus on what people love most about Android: multitasking and rich notifications
To that end, the layout is widgetized and stackable, with open app windows or screens on display alongside icons. Like Android for smartphones, Honeycomb supports multiple home screens that can be customized at will.
We’re really impressed by the preview of the web browser in Honeycomb. It adopts a full-screen tabs-on-top organizational approach akin to what we see in Google Chrome and in Chrome OS.
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We can see tabs as an excellent way to navigate through web pages, especially on devices with 10-inch screens. Google also says that the browser will give users the option of synching their bookmarks with Google Chrome on the desktop.

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For Developers

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Honeycomb will bring developers a new UI framework in which to build apps. Google also notes that developers can augment their applications to work as subcomponents called Fragments, which will allow developers to offer up a way to present content on multiple screen sizes. In other words, within the same application, developers can separate views for the smartphone or a widget panel on the tablet, or for the full tablet experience.
Honeycomb also features a new animation framework and hardware-accelerated 2-D graphics. As expected, Honeycomb will also support multicore processors.
A nice bonus for video developers — Android 3.0 will support HTTP Live Streaming.