Google's new Android Honeycomb tablet OS will require a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor to run properly, said Bobby Cha, managing director of Korean consumer electronics firm Enspert.
That means that many existing Android tablets will not be upgradeable to Honeycomb, as they lack the processor necessary to meet the spec. Currently, Nvidia's Tegra 2 platform is the only chipset in products on the market to include a Cortex-A9, although other manufacturers have said they're moving to the new processor architecture for 2011 products.
A 1,280x720 screen resolution may also be necessary, although Cha affirmed that "Honeycomb does not require 10-inch [screens] ... it's going to go as small as 7 inch."
Google introduced Honeycomb running on a prototype Motorola device last month, but they've kept the hardware requirements under wraps. Cha also confirmed that the Motorola tablet would be the first to market with Honeycomb.
If this is true, Google will have two parallel software paths for tablets, at least for a while. With their Cortex-A8 processors and 1,024x600 screens, the popular Samsung Galaxy Tab line of Android tablets run the "Froyo" version of Android, 2.2, and can be updated to Gingerbread, 2.3, but not to Honeycomb.
The same goes for a range of lower-end tablets, such as the Cherrypal CherryPad, not to mention all of the Android smartphones on the market. Honeycomb will be reserved, at least initially, for high-spec models such as the Motorola tablet, LG's rumored tablet, and the Toshiba tablet we just saw.
If Honeycomb is for high-end tablets only, you have to wonder about the upcoming "fragments" API tipped by Android head Andy Rubin in December, which will let apps display multiple views on tablets versus phones. Presumably, that will come to fruition with the next version of Android, codenamed "Ice Cream" — and that name is all we know about that upcoming version.
Enspert is currently working on both Froyo/Gingerbread and Honeycomb devices. With time, Cha said, the Honeycomb requirements will embrace lower-cost tablets — not because the requirements will get lower, but because the parts will get cheaper.
"You're going to see price erosion on many of the components in tablets right now," Cha said. "Folks like Samsung, the industry heavyweights, are going to add pressure to the component guys to lower their costs. A tablet is still kind of an expensive toy."
We expect to see dozens of tablets at the CES trade show this week. But few — maybe as few as one, the Motorola device — could be running Honeycomb at the show. Cha said the new OS will probably be ready for manufacturers to install "towards the end of January."
Google declined to comment for this story.