Asus releases Android Honeycomb source code

Asus has made the Android Honeycomb 3.0 source code available to download on its web site, allowing kernel developers to start creating apps for devices running the Google operating system.

Google has refused to release the code itself because more work needs to be done on it, but Asus confirmed to V3.co.uk that the company had followed guidelines set out by Google.

"The Android OS is open source so we have to follow the General Public Licence rule and issue the source code. Google is aware of this," the firm said in a brief statement.

The Asus Eee Pad Transformer is available starting at £379. The 10.1in device is powered by an Nvidia Tegra 2 1GHz dual-core processor together with 1GB of DDR2 RAM.

Customers will be able to choose 16GB or 32GB of SSD storage and the tablet supports a detachable keyboard.

Google released the final Honeycomb SDK on 22 February, but has since refused to release the full source code, claiming that it is not ready.

V3.co.uk contacted Google, but the firm had not responded at the time of writing.

There had been rumours that Google was going to place restrictions on the use of the Android platform by third parties.

Andy Rubin, vice president of engineering at Google, hit back at claims that Android would not remain open source.

However, Rubin failed to explain why Google has so far refused to release the Honeycomb source code, despite devices available on the market running the OS such as the Motorola Xoom and the Asus Eee Pad Transformer.