Google will be making its foray into Android tablets as the company’s Android chief Andy Rubin unveiled a prototype of a device it is co-developing with Motorola this week.
Rubin, officially the VP of engineering at Google but who also oversees the Android division, showed audiences the tablet prototype at the D: Dive Into Mobile Conference in San Francisco on Tuesday, according to the Wall Street Journal’s All Things Digital Blog.
According to PC Magazine, the tablet sports a 10-inch screen and is “sleek, black, thin and sported an Android interface unlike any we've seen before.” Rubin said the tablet was running an NVidia Dual Core chip and allowed for video chatting.
The Android tablet will run the yet-be-be-released version 3.0, or “Honeycomb.” Google just released Android 2.3, or “Gingerbread,” for its mobile devices on Monday, and “Honeycomb” is expected to be released early next year.
Android “Honeycomb” will be rebuilt to handle apps for the tablet’s larger screen, but will be a system for mobile phones as well, Rubin said.
Rubin demonstrated on the tablet the new version of Google Maps for Android, which he said would be released in the next few days. The app revamp included a new vector drawing system that sped up scrolling, and its new 3D features alter shadows for buildings when moving around the map, according to PC World.
There was no mention of when the tablet would be available or how much would it cost, but Rubin joked that the Android tablet could cost upwards of $10,000.
