Google unveiled its tablet-specific Android 3.0 OS at CES to a flurry of excitement thanks to some pretty exciting new tablet-focused additions to the already impressive OS.

But, with a preview of the SDK only just released to developers, we won't be seeing Honeycomb on our Android tablets for a little while; in the meantime, whet your appetite with our round-up of the key new features.

There'll be 3D-effect graphics

You can't swing a cat without hitting something 3D (literally) in the tech world these days, and Google knows it. Honeycomb offers developers the opportunity to use high-performance 3D graphics which should offer no noticeable lag, even with the extra rendering required.

This means we'll see 3D creeping into our apps, wallpapers and carousels as the developers get to grips with the extra dimension.

The Android UI has been redesigned especially for tablets

The Android user interface had always been intended for smartphones with screens no bigger than around 4-inches – with the advent of tablet devices, displays have shot up in the size stakes. Lucky for us, they're not short of a brain cell or two over at Google and have re-designed the Android UI taking the larger screen into account.

The updated UI isn't a million miles away from what we're used to on Android handsets – there are still multiple, customisable homescreens, universal search box and widgets galore – but the small tweaks will make it so much better to use on the larger scale.

An ever-present menu bar at the bottom of the screen will hold notifications, system status updates and on-screen navigation as well as a handy clock, with a "lights out" mode to dim the bar when you're watching a film and want the full screen.

Meanwhile, the action bar at the top of the screen is dependent on the app you're in; its look and feel are dictated by each individual app, as are the options available to compensate for the lack of dedicated menu button.

Recent apps will make multi-tasking a breeze

Multi-tasking is where we expect the dual-core Android tablets to shine, and Honeycomb gives it the tools to do so.

The 'recent apps' launcher lays out the last apps you used and the state you left them in, so you can quickly nip from one to another and straight into work. The tool lives in the system bar which is always onscreen, so there'll be no tedious navigation through menus.

The keyboard will be tablet-friendly

Of course you could buy an external keyboard for your tablet but lugging a million accessories around defeats the object of having a sleek and handy tablet.

To save you the hassle, Google has put a bit of thought into the onscreen keyboard; the keys have been reshaped and repositioned to make typing more comfortable and the targeting more natural for the larger screen, instead of simply scaling up the keyboard.

We love the inclusion of a tab key, which makes the typing experience more akin to that of a desktop or notebook than that of a phone.