AVG has launched AVG Mobilation for Android which the company is promoting as the world's first security app specifically designed for Android tablets.
What makes it so suitable for tablets in particular? In terms of core features, nothing beyond the fact that it will format for larger screens although this is an important usability concern. It will also run on Honeycomb tablets although these are currently thin on the ground.
The company currently offers Antivirus Free/Pro for Android smartphones, which come with an identical feature set and look and feel.
Whether used on Smartphone or tablet, the software seems to have two design strande, starting with a number of interesting security features that put it ahead of most rivals at least for the time being.
In addition to the obvious protection against rogue apps and SMS spam, Mobilation also comes with remote device location (using Google Apps), plus remote device locking, wiping and the ability to display on-screen remote protection messages. It allows app backup to SD cards, can password protect any app on the device, and in the near future will come with a 'set it and forget it' cloud-based data backup function.
Data backup will probably be more important for tablets than it have been for smartphones simply because people will fill up tablets with more personal data and will have more to lose.
A second aspect of the product is that there will be free and paid versions. The free app offers only six-day trials on the most interesting security apps (i.e app locker and app backup), which means that non-paying users will be getting only the remote wiping feature without paying.
The smartphone 'Pro' upgrade costs £6.13 ($10) through the Google Marketplace; we were unable to confirm that the Mobilation for tablet price tag will be the same.