Google got off to a good start this year by launching the Honeycomb 3.0 OS, which was a month later available on Motorola’s Android-powered Xoom tablet.  But the hype around Honeycomb 3.0 is dying down, as Google is delaying the release of the Honeycomb OS’s  ‘open source code’ to a later, unspecified date. The reason for the delay is that the OS was not officially designed for smartphones but for tablets, leaving a great deal to be desired before it can be a truly useful, open platform.

“While we’re excited to offer these new features to Android tablets, we have more work to do before we can deliver them to other device types including phones. We’re committed to providing Android as an open platform across many device types and will publish the source as soon as it’s ready,” said Google’s statement.

Main competitor Apple made the same decision and postponed the release of iOS 5 for the fall, unlike previous years when the operating systems and iPhones were launched at the beginning of the summer. There are rumors saying that iOS 5 will be launched with the new iPad this autumn as well.

It is expected for the iOS 5 to integrate cloud-based features, such as Music Locker and Find My Friends, which will probably be presented within the WWDC event in June. Apple has been assiduously working on a specific location service that will give a new flavour to their map apps. Word is that the acquisition of PlaceBase at the end of 2009 was meant to replace the use of Google Maps database in iOS maps. The rumors are confirmed by Apple’s listing of a developer within the Maps team on their Job section of the website. Hopefully this will translate into Apple delivering a location service superior to Google Maps.