Tablets : Honeycomb needs a dual core processor?

Tablets, dual core phones and 3D cameras are the hottest gadgets for 2011 as per Wired. There is no mention of dual-core tablets. And tablets by default do not have dual core processors. None of the tablets launched in 2010 had dual core processors. That might soon change. Or they better change. As the darling OS of tablets has just dropped a bomb, a dual core bomb. 

photo © 2006 Windell Oskay | more info (via: Wylio)

All the hardware manufacturers which were banking on the Google’s ‘free’ Android operating system had to rethink their production line. The farthest they can go on the Android software is till Gingerbread. Google’s Honeycomb needs a dual core processor to run. This should be dampener to many tablets – except Notion Ink Adam.

Android Honeycomb will require a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor to run properly, according to Bobby Cha, managing director of Korean consumer electronics firm Enspert.( Motorola, incidentally, will be first to market with a Honeycomb-powered tablet. (9to5mac)

Samsung Galaxy Tab for all its big bucks cannot go further than Gingerbread. Unless, Google maintains a parallel code to support single core and dual core processors. That is highly unlikely as it would be a nightmare for any software development company, let alone Google.

Android tablet buyers should keep this in mind. iPad buyers just don’t have to worry. You are in safe hands.

Intriguing six months wait for us. Would the tablet makers jump to Windows? Would they cajole Google to maintain two code bases? Or would they just stop the production line and get on with the dual core tablets?