Google previews next mobile OS, opens Android app store

Google opened a new front Wednesday in its battle for the mobile computing market, launching a Web-based store for buying applications and previewing a version of its operating system made for tablet computers.

Google, whose Android software platform has surged in popularity over the past year and now leads Apple's iOS in smartphone market share, made the announcements at a packed event in Mountain View, Calif.

The company debuted the Android Market Web Store, where users of Android devices can browse through more than 100,000 apps. Google also unveiled plans to let users make purchases from within apps, a feature that may help developers make money on a platform known better for free software.

Making it easier for developers to make money could draw more of them to Android, analysts said. Developers have created more than 300,000 apps for iOS.

Google's Web store announcements followed a preview of the next version of the Android operating system, known as Honeycomb, which has been built for tablets and is also expected to run on smartphones.

Honeycomb will mark Google's first full-fledged release for tablets, a category that Apple reinvented in 2010 with the introduction of the iPad.

Where the iPad's basic interface is a static grid of tiles, the Honeycomb interface is more dynamic. Widgets on the home screen update automatically with news, weather and status updates from friends. And Honeycomb has a visual polish that previous versions of Android have lacked.

Unlike Apple, Google doesn't manufacture its own devices. It gives hardware makers Android for free and generates advertising revenue through its products like search and Gmail, which are part of the operating system.