At Mobile World Congress HTC announced the HTC Flyer tablet.
But the specs didn't blow us away - it's a 7-inch single-core device running an older version of Android instead of one of the dual-core larger options running Android 3.0.
So what do we know about the new device?
The HTC Flyer doesn't have Android 3.0
HTC plumped for the earlier Gingerbread version of Android (2.3/2.4) rather than the Android 3.0 version a lot of the other tablets are using. It seems Honeycomb will arrive on the tablet imminently though.
The HTC Flyer processor is 1.5GHz
The HTC Flyer packs a 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor - surprising amidst the slew of dual core tablets being released at the moment. However, it is clocked high at 1.5GHz. There's also 1GB of RAM.
The HTC Flyer has a 7-inch screen
Like the BlackBerry PlayBook and Acer Iconia A100, the HTC Flyer plumps for a 1024 x 600 7-inch display surrounded by an aluminium unibody. That's the same resolution as the PlayBook too.
A 5MP camera with flash resides on the back of the device, and we're treated to a 1.3MP offering on the front for video calling – however voice calling is not supported despite a 3G connection.
The HTC Flyer has a stylus
Yep, you heard that right. Although during our hands on: HTC Flyer review we weren't that impressed by the pressure sensitivity which "doesn't really seem to work that well when trying to annotate text – although the range of brushes and options were accurate and useful."
Every time an application can make use of the new stylus, a small icon pops up in the bottom right hand side of the screen.
We weren't blown away by the video quality on the device we were having the demonstration with, but with the settings unable to be altered at this early stage we couldn't get the brightness to an acceptable level anyway – whether this will be a decent PMP substitute remains to be seen.
The HTC Flyer has HTC Sense
It was rumoured that the skin that HTC uses on its Android phones - HTC Sense - may get a redesign and a new name for the HTC Tablet. HTC has trademarked HTC Sensation alongside a list of devices which include mobile phones, wireless devices and portable computers.
But the Flyer will actually run HTC Sense atop Android Gingerbread. There's a bunch of new 3D widgets, while HTC says it has done a lot of work on the interface - but the only visible difference is that apps are now much bigger of course (as well as working in landscape).
The dual-pane windows for things like video, contacts and mail seem to work well.
The Notifications bar now also gives you quick access to the Settings, as on the HTC Desire S.
The HTC Flyer battery life is said to be good
The charger is a slightly altered microUSB offering, designed to facilitate power to the 4000mAh battery.
The HTC Flyer is thin and light
The HTC Flyer is really light at just 415g, and with a thickness of just 13.7mm. It will fit nicely in a bag, though is 7-inch too small for you, especially if you've used an iPad? The device also has a thick iPad-like bezel.
The HTC Flyer has the standard HTC buttons
There are controls for the Menu, Back, Search and Home functions which glow when in use. Otherwise there's just a volume switch.
When is the HTC Flyer UK release date?
According to DigiTimes, Apple Daily says that a JP Morgan analyst says that Google is messing around with its Android support. Motorola is Google's priority for 3.0, LG will be priority for 3.5 and HTC follows on, which means the HTC Tablet won't ship before the second quarter of 2011.
We're betting on a March or April HTC Flyer UK release date.
The HTC Flyer price may be $790
One DigiTimes report took a stab at the HTC Tablet price, and it predicts that without subsidy it'll be $789.75.
On February 21 the HTC Flyer hit German pre-order, with pricing set at €669.
The tablet was listed by the company itself; so if we use a straight currency conversion that gives the HTC Flyer UK pricing of around £563 – not at all bad for the tablet, in our view.
The HTC Tablet price might be zero
Download Squad says the HTC Flyer will launch on Verizon in the US with a price tag of zero depending on the tariff you choose. Similar deals are likely here: we've already seen Three, T-Mobile and Orange offer subsidised iPads.
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Your comments (11) Click to add a new comment
smokemonster
February 22nd 2011
11. Back on topic; as with all of HTC's announcements I am disappointed with their tablet device.
Last year HTC were the Android leaders, but that's no longer the case, they took their eye off the competition and have quickly been surpassed. I hope that changes over the rest of this year, but if I were about to upgrade my phone or look for a tablet I would not be looking at HTC.
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bradavon
February 21st 2011
10. @ duskrider: The Motorola Xoom, LG SmartPad, Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 (Android 3.0), HP TouchPad (WebOS 2.0) and Blackberry Playbook all give iPad serious competition.
This looks really but but it's light and cheap (for tablet prices). It's still overpriced though.
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duskrider
February 21st 2011
9. @cullen_tillotson Then why is it that there is STILL no good competitor to the iPad if what you say is true? That would mean that many competitors actually had the jump on Apple, so you would think that within months of Apple coming out with the iPad someone would have responded with something compelling, being able to just tweak what they had as you say Apple did.
The flaw in your logic comes from the fact that you are forgetting that Apple created the iPad with an OS that was meant for it. That fact alone changed the device, allowing it to be something we had not seen before, ever. I had a Compaq convertible tablet and it was nothing like an iPad. Nothing. Not in any sense. No relation. The iPad isn't a 'fixed-up' version of that Compaq. It's not even a distant cousin.
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cullen_tillotson
January 4th 2011
8. Nice piece of revisionist Apple-ista history.
The iPhone was years too late to be the first smartphone. There were generations of Windows-based phones before it ever came out.
Apple is fitting in well with Microsoft anymore - they don't invent anything new, they just market very very well what they have tweaked that others invented. Market so well that even tech journalists seem to forget that they weren't first, or second or third or even fifth, to market with their offering.
It doesn't surprise me that the iPad is getting the same treatment, even though it's arguably a 5th or 6th generation tablet PC. Of course it's sleeker and sexier - Apple has had generations of revisions from other tech companies come before it to work out what didn't work (pens, spinning screeens) and allow them to sex-up what did work (touch-sensistive screens, built-in 3g, HD, app store, etc...). None of it is "new" or even really re-inventing anything either. And one of the biggest reasons this is true is because it all works - you rarely if ever get that with 1.0 tech.
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kevinwong0511
December 17th 2010
7. As a non-tablet user till now, I think that the tablet (or slate, whatever) is still a device that for the purpose of playing multimedia.
What's more, I don't think that having word-processing software can really help us in daily work, since I believe the touch screen can never replace the physical keyboard...
Am I too paranoiac?
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tamalinio
December 1st 2010
6. Word to the wise angry birds seasons is in the marketplace now its free
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bradavon
December 1st 2010
5. @ Andrew: Slates and tablets are the same thing, just slightly different form factors. Two names just confuses the markets. They're all tablets because that is the name we now use for these devices, not slates.
Windows 7/Office 2007-2010 have touch screen features bolted on but are certainly not designed with them in mind. You only have to look at the very awkward design of HP's Windows 7 tablets to see this. A Ctl-Alt-Delete button, really? A keyboard that only appears when you manually press a button (the same to deactivate it) and covers half the screen. Are you for real?
It's very clear only Android and Blackberry have a serious chance of taking on the iPad, maybe WebOS too but that currently has woeful third party support.
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bradavon
December 1st 2010
4. Why would HTC source a third party to make their tablet? They never have before.
It's good HTC are waiting until Android 3 ships because it's clear Android 2.2 isn't designed for tablets and it would just hurt the HTC tablet brand. Wait until you can get it right, instead of rushing one out now (like Samsung have).
It's also clear Android is designed for touch screens, whereas Chrome OS isn't and tablets are all about touch screens.
@ Paul: True and they made some really good ones but it wasn't until Android came along that they finally became a household name, prior to this they were only known of in the technical arena.
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andrewinoking
December 1st 2010
3. Just to say, the iPad is a Slate, not a Tablet. I think HTC may well make a slate (they would be mad not to really) but I'm not convinced that they'll make a tablet.
I currently use a laptop/tablet hybrid as my main PC and I think that once most people have used a computer with a touch screen they won't want to go back. It is quite clear that Windows 7 and MS Office 2007/2010 are designed with touch screen computers in mind.
My next computer, that runs a full "Desktop" operating system, will definitely be a slate, made by HTC or not!
Cheers
andrewinwoking
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paulczar
December 1st 2010
2. erm, just a point about the start of the article. HTC have been making smartphones for much longer than apple have.
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smokemonster
December 1st 2010
1. HTC making an Android 3.0 tablet; now this is something to look forward to :)
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