Android Honeycomb upgrade (3.1) starts rollout today, includes Xbox 360 controller support

Along with the early announcement of Android Ice Cream, Google also revealed that the first major update for the tablet OS Honeycomb at the Google I/O event today.

The update adds a number of exciting updates, including some UI tweaks and functions that will potentially help gamers on the platform.

The UI improvements include re-sizable widgets, so that Google Mail can display more messages at once on-screen, as well as an improvement to the multasking that allows the OS to ‘intelligently’ shut down apps that aren’t being used, to free up memory.

Most exciting for gamers is the addition of USB host support, even if it doesn’t initially sound that interesting.

With a Honeycomb-equipped tablet able to act as host, it means that devices such as keyboards, mice, and - most importantly - game controllers can be plugged in and used by apps and games.

This feature was demonstrated onstage using an Xbox 360 controller hooked up to a Xoom running Cordy, with the controller removing the need to smudge your hand all over the screen to control the little robot.

The 3.1 update will be rolled out onto the Verizon Xoom 3G today, with other devices and networks to follow in the future. No exact date has yet been given for the European launch.