[Update: August 29, 2011] Here’s a big list of all the greatest apps for Honeycomb! Check out A Hive of the Best Apps for Android Honeycomb Tablets
[Update: April 12th, 2011] We’ve got a new list of the Best Apps and Games for Android Honeycomb Tablets: Check it out here!
The Xoom is a first of its kind and will forever be known as the tablet that kick started the Android tablet revolution. Unfortunately the Xoom launched in February to a bare list of compatible Honeycomb tablet apps. Android really dropped the ball by not opening up the honeycomb platform to developers at an earlier date. When the Xoom did launch, there were just 16 tablet apps.
Even with the lack of Honeycomb enabled apps in the Android Market, you’ll still be able to download and use all apps in the Android Market, though you are bound to run into some small errors and display problems.
It’s going to take a couple months before we see a reasonable amount of tablet apps in the Android Market, but with an estimated 40-60 million Android tablets being sold in 2011, developers will have some motivation.
Best Xoom Apps
Touchdown for Tablets
This is the tablet optimized version of TouchDown. TouchDown gets your Email, Contacts, Calendar and Tasks from your corporate Exchange server, and gives you a single tabbed view. TouchDown lets you interact with your exchange account on a tablet device in a unique and integrated way, allowing you to manipulate your emails, contacts, calendar, tasks and Notes from a single application, allowing you to switch between them using tabs on the top of the screen.
Angry Birds
You just knew Angry birds would be here, it’s on every top app list on the net and with good reason. It’s easily on of the most fun, most addictive games on the Market, and playing Angry Birds on the 10-inch Xoom screen is nothing but pure pleasure.
Google Earth
Hovering over your house and browsing different places around the world is a treat on the Xoom with Google Earth. The app works beautifully on tablets as to be expected by the Google development team.
Words with Friends
Shortly before the Xoom’s February 24 release date, Zynga’s immensely popular game Words With Friends debuted on Android’s devices. The Scrabble-like game, which is free, is much better suited to the tablet form factor than on any smartphone. Battle other wordsmiths in the living room or match your skills against a random stranger in another part of the globe.
IMDB Movies & TV
Browse the latest trailers, review movies and tv information on the Honeycomb enabled IMDB App. It’s had over 1 million downloads from the Android Market and a solid 4.5/5 average review, I think that says it all. Browsing the reviews, you can see tablet users giving positive experiences with app.
Pulse News Reader
One of the most popular Android apps, Pulse news reader is honeycomb tablet ready.A beautiful application that makes reading news fun and engaging. Pulse takes your favorite news websites and blogs and transforms them into a colorful and interactive mosaic. Tap on a news article to see a clean and elegant view of the story. Sharing it via Facebook, Twitter and Email is as easy as two taps.
CNN News Tablet Edition
A great showcase for Honeycomb, the CNN App for Android includes live video, breaking news and the user-generated iReport feature. There’s some complaints about the annoying ads, but remember this is a free app, ads are to be expected.
BBC News Tablet Edition
BBC is a great worldwide news source that always has great coverage, a few days ago they just released their Tablet android app to some excellent reviews.
- “Awesome format, but please include a portrait mode. Galaxy tab”
- “Works great on my Advent Vega. This is not for phones. Tablets only.”
The Wall Street Journal Tablet Edition
The Wall Street Journal released their Tablet edition Android app in late February to some mixed reviews on the Android Market. You can browse full featured video, market data, and articles which can be downloaded to your Xoom for reading while offline.
- “Don’t bother downloading. I have a lot of apps on my tab, system panel shows this app consumes almost double the memory as system processes.”
- “Great on the Galaxy Tab, though they could be a little more generous with the article offerings for those without a subscription :P”
If you’d like to learn more about the Xoom see how it stacks up to the competitors, iPad 2 VS Xoom.
Be sure to let us know your experiences with these apps on your Xoom and let the world know your favorite Xoom apps.
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