Android Honeycomb shows off its graphics capability!!!

Google officially unveiled Android 3.0 Honeycomb, demoing it on the Motorola Xoom which was introduced at CES 2011 last month, in an event today. The demonstration video showed a handful of features that Honeycomb OS offers like the Notification System, Application Optimization and a new built-in Render Script for hardware accelerated 3D graphics.

Here are some of Honeycomb features that came trhought the presentation:

1. Notification System

The Honeycomb GUI has been optimized for tablets and it has buttons for Home, Back and Multitasking on the lower left while the lower right has notifications and clock. The new multitasking button will show visual preview of the recently used applications and the states that they are currently in. The Notification system has been redesigned for better user experience.

The rest of the screen is entirely dedicated to applications and Google said the Home screen is not just a screen where icons can be arranged but also a developer platfrom in itself. Google also showcased different widgets for Gmail, calendar, Grid for bookmarks, Stack for news or e-books etc. One intuitive feature about is the multitouch support which enables users to scroll through more than one widget at a time (much awaited feature).

2. Application Optimization

Google said that it wants to encourage developers to build tablet optimized applications/games, so it introduced what it called Application Fragment. The Fragment will allow a static frame for the app that can be used throughout the app while the other pane can be dynamic. In the video, Google demonstrated how the Application Fragment works using the Honeycomb/tablet version of Gmail. The feature also offers drag and drop in the Gmail application and the top has an application bar which is context-sensitive based.

3. Render Script Graphic Engine

Using the Script Graphic Engine, Honeycomb is able to show fluid and smooth 3D transitions in the web or applications. The Script also enables various 3D animations and graphics for the Honeycomb OS which will be running on various devices. Google also said that it had worked hard enough to make sure that the OS will get optimized 3D for different tablet devices running on multi-core processors.

Planing for a trip to any foreign country??? Here is your translator!!!

If you've ever wandered around a foreign country completely confused by what all of the signs are actually saying, Quest Visual has the answer with its augmented reality Word Lens App for iPhone. Simply point the camera at the text you want translated and the foreign language is replaced instantly on-screen with something you can read.

While translation software has been available before, seeing the converted text in-situ without any pop-ups is both neater and quicker. The speed of translation requires a small amount of text and Word Lens was not designed to read books. Decent light and clear text are also required for the best results, with Quest Visual telling people to "brighten the text with your phone light".

Currently the app is only available for the iPhone on the App Store for free, but you have to pay $4.99 in-app for translation packs. Currently there are only two packs available, Spanish to English and English to Spanish; however Quest Visual has big plans for the software.

"We're starting out with European languages and will expand from there. We won't stop until we get all the way across the globe!" said the official website.

More European languages should be added soon and all will be available to buy in-app, with the rest of the world following after that.

What of other handset users? Quest Visual has big plans on this front too, hinting that apps are on the way for Android, Windows Phone 7, Palm and Blackberry.

"Our goal was to get a great first release on one platform. Keep in touch!" said the website.