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HTC Flyer - 7" Aluminum Tablet Computer
HTC Enters the Tablet Market
HTC announced today, at the Mobile World Congress, the aluminum HTC Flyer. The Flyer is a seven (7") inch tablet computer.
This is the first tablet computer offered by HTC and it is going to be running the new Android 3.0 (dubbed Honeycomb) operating system. Though the Flyer initially comes with Gingerbread (Android 2.4) it can be upgraded, in store, at the time of purchase.
Layered on top of the Operating System (OS) will be HTC's Sense user interface which will work with both finger-tip and/or stylus.
HTC Flyer Standouts
What makes this tablet different than other offers are it's operating system (Android 2.4 [Gingerbread]), the fact that it works with both finger-tip and stylus, and its very fast 1.5GigaHertz Snapdragon processor.
HTC Software
HTC Scribe
The tablet will include HTC's proprietary HTC Scribe writing recognition software to translate hand printed text into digital format. Scribe is also tightly integrated with Evernote, a very popular note taking app for Android.
HTC TimeMark
Another HTC add-in is TimeMark, a video recording application designed to synchronize your written words with audio. So, for example, you could take both written and audio notes of a meeting, and the written notes you take are synchronized with the audio that was also recorded simultaneously. Tapping on a particular word of phrase in your notes will replay that particular portion of audio that was recorded along with the written words. TimeMark is also integrated with the calendar to aid in meeting scheduling. When the meeting time arrives, TimeMark will prompt you to start taking notes.
HTC Watch
The HTC Flyer will also introduce HTC Watch service with this tablet. Watch is a streaming video service that allows you to download first-run movies from HTC's cloud servers.
HTC will also offer gaming services on their cloud. This service is called OnLive. OnLive will allow game play of top popular gaming apps either directly on the tablet or to an attached television display.
Other Software
The Flyer is also expected to run HTML5 and Flash 10.x.
HTC Flyer Specifics
The HTC Flyer will run the Qualcomm Snapdragon processor at 1.5GigaHertz, one of the fastest clock-speeds yet for a mobile computing device. The operating system will be Android 2.4 Gingerbread with HTC's own User Interface (UI) layered on top.
The screen has a resolution of 1,024 x 600 pixels and is a capacitive multi-touch screen that will work with finger-tip or stylus.
It will come with 1Gigabyte of ROM (for programs and apps) with an additional 32Gb for storage. It will also recognize microSD cards for even more storage.
Supported cellular networks are HSPA+ (other will surely follow for different carriers) as well as Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n) and Bluetooth 3.0 + EDR.
The battery is rated at around 4,000 milliAmpHours giving it an enormous standby time. Video playback time is rated at four hours however.
The unit will weigh about 14.5 ounces or 415 grams. Dimensions are seven point six by four point nine by one half inch (7.68 x 4.92 x 0.51") or [195 x 125 x 13mm].
For a full list of specifications see the table below.
HTC Flyer 7" Tablet
| |
|---|---|
Cellular Network(s)
| HSPA+
|
WCDMA: 900
| |
GSM/GPRS/EDGE
| |
Formfactor
| Slate
|
Dimensions
| 7.68 X 4.92 X 0.51 (195 x 125 x 13 mm)
|
Weight
| 15.5 oz [415 grams]
|
Display
| LCD
|
Screen Resolution
| 1024 x 600
|
Screen Size
| Unknown
|
Touchscreen
| Capacative
|
Multi-touch
| Yes
|
Proximity Sensor
| Yes
|
Light Sensor
| Yes
|
Battery
| 1,400 mah
|
OS
| Android 2.4 (Gingerbread)
|
Processor
| Snapdragon 1.5GHz Qualcomm MSM8255
|
Internal Memory
| 1Gb / 32Gb Storage
|
Camera Rear Facing
| 5 Megapixel
|
Flash
| white LED
|
Camera Front Facing
| 1.3 Megapixel
|
Features
| autofocus, face detection, Geo-tagging
|
Video Capture
| 1280 X 720
|
Video Calling
| Yes
|
Music Player
| .AAC, .AMR, .OGG, .M4A, .MID, .MP3, .WAV, .WMA
|
Video Player
| .3GP, .3G2, .MP4, .WMV, .AVI, .XVID Recording: .3GP
|
Radio
| Built-in FM
|
YouTube
| built-in
|
HTML
| browser with flash support
|
BuiltIn Social
| twitter, facebook, YouTube
|
GPS
| Location and Navigation
|
Phone book
| Depends on remaining capacity
|
Calendar
| Yes
|
Alarms
| Yes
|
Calculator
| Yes
|
SMS
| Yes
|
MMS
| Yes
|
eMail
| IMAP, POP3, SMTP
|
Memory Expansion
| microSD & microSDHC
|
Builtin Memory
| 32 Gigabytes
|
Included SD
| Via microSD
|
Bluetooth
| 3.0 + EDR
|
Wi-Fi
| 802.11 b/g/n
|
USB
| MicroUSB
|
Headphone
| 3.5mm
|
Sensor
| Accelerometer and Compass
|
Battery Capacity
| Unknown
|
Specifications are subject to change without notice.
Product Release
May 12, 2011
The HTC Flyer is now available in Europe for €499.00. Countries in the European list are England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Greece, Portugal, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Romania.
When the Flyer will hit U.S. shores is unknown, but a savvy shopper can order one online from a European supplier if they just can't wait.
Coda
Perhaps the most exciting thing about this tablet, beside the fact that this is HTC's first, is the included software. HTC Scribe, HTC TimeMark, and HTC Watch are all interesting additions to the Android Gingerbread platform and the first two hint at a new direction for tablets; both high functioning office productivity computers as well as personal gaming media machines.
There are no prices published for the HTC Flyer, but speculation is that it will be offered in the $450.00 to $650.00 range. Availability is projected to be sometime in the second quarter of 2011.
Disclaimer
The author was not compensated in any way, monetarily, with discounts, or freebies by any of the companies mentioned.
Though the author does make a small profit for the word count of this article none of that comes directly from the manufacturers mentioned. The author also stands to make a small profit from advertising attached to this article.
The author has no control over either the advertising or the contents of those ads.
