So
who'd a thought the ASUS would be the first manufacture out of the gates and launch their HoneyComb tablet.
Honeycomb is of course the first tablet version of the Android operating system, it has been made from the ground up and from what we've seen and heard it's looking like a very good alternative to Apple's iOS.
As with all these types of tech it will live and die by the quality of the software. In the period from announcement to launch of Apple's iPad, their army of software developers managed to get 2,000 apps ready in time for the launch.
So how many have the boffins who work on Android Honeycomb managed to achieve? 100? 500? 1000? No, well according to one blogger in the know they've managed to get 20 apps specifically designed from the ground up for the new tablet operating system.
Although this needs to be a taken with a small pinch of the white stuff, as Justin Williams is actually a Mac and iOS developer, if the number is even close to the truth this is not good news for Google.
Especially as there is a massive shortage of iPad 2's, this is the time when Google should be swooping in and offering a telling alternative, if this number is true then they haven't really got much to brag about on the software side.
This number is of course discounting any apps that are just re-sized to take advantage of the extra screen size and the iPad can do this trick for all 350,000 apps. And apparently the number doesn't include games. Which seemed odd to us.
It's quite clear the Google and its app developers need to get their act together and try and close the gap between themselves and Apple.
No one really knows how many apps are going to be available at launch and it would seem unlikely that it actually will be 20, but they need to pull their finger out pretty sharpish, or they are going to playing second fiddle to Apple for a long time to come.