It appears google is requiring a dual core cpu for Honeycomb. So it's unlikely you'll see official updates for them. Even tablets that skipped market access and such probably won't upgrade if there is a serious performance penalty, and it's hard to believe google would make that restriction if it was unnecessary.
There has been plenty of claims that Google is going to limiting hardware with the next OS update, and those are always been squashed. I mean, when has Google ever shown a even an inkling of trying to lock down Android? I'd be surprised if they could do it even if they wanted to.
In order for a manufacturer to be able to include the Market on their device Google imposes a bunch of hardware restrictions. For Gingerbread the restrictions include
- the size and density of the screen
- it has to have a touchscreen
- it has to have more than 128MB RAM and 150MB flash
- it has to ship with a 1GB or greater sdcard installed
- home, menu and back buttons required
- all kinds of restrictions on the accelerometer,magnenometer, gps, gyro, etc
- it has to have fast network capability
- the camera has to be 2 megapixels or greater
- it has to have USB
I don't see why they wouldn't be able to add a dual-core cpu as a requirement
It is quite a jump from needing a pittance of RAM, touchscreen, connectivity, and a SD card to requiring a dual core. Android's model requires large market penetration, and requiring a dual core doesn't really make sense.
I suspect all of those weren't rejected because their hardware didn't meet specifications, but the manufacturers didn't want to go through the trouble to get the Google stamp of approval. In particular, one of the last things Barnes and Noble want for their e-reader is Market access, with the Kindle app being available and all.
Google requires [for market access] “all hardware components have the same software APIs as defined in their SDK to be compatible,” says Kitagawa. “This provides consistency to third-party developers that access these components,” he says.
That means devices always need to have some key components, such as touchscreens with a specified minimum resolution, a certain number of navigation keys, Wi-Fi, camera and accelerometer. Devices such as the Alex e-reader or a digital picture frame don’t conform to these requirements.
