After Apple started the trend for tablet computing, Taiwanese electronics manufacturer HTC have finally announced their move into the new technology with the HTC Flyer tablet device. Whilst many expected HTC to release a tablet, the delay has been seen as something as a surprise. Key Android players such as Samsung and to a lesser extent, LG both released their tablets in the second half of 2010 so will the HTC Flyer be able to get get good footing in the market despite having to play catchup?
First impressions are that the Flyer will take tablet devices to a new level as it takes the best from the existing smartphones and adds HTC's unquestionable expertise in innovation. For the first time, HTC have included a stylus with its tablet and it is not for navigating the menus, instead it will enable high detailed drawings on the tablet and will also mean that you will be able to rest your hand on the tablet whilst drawing for a more natural writing angle. The HTC Flyer is able to recognise the difference between a command made by human touch and a command made by the stylus making the Flyer a far more flexible device than the Apple iPad which would pick up every contact with its screen, be it intentional or not. The stylus with the Flyer is also able to recognise pressure. The harder you press on the screen, the faster the ink will flow.
Unlike HTC's range of smartphones, the company will not allow network operators to customise the user interface meaning that whichever network you buy through, you will always get the exceptional Sense UI and pure Android. Initially the Flyer will ship with Android Gingerbread but HTC have confirmed that this will be upgraded to Honeycomb once this is released.
The Flyer comes with a 7 inch screen and a 1.5 Ghz processor which is significantly faster than the 1Ghz Snapdragon processor which is used in HTC's high end smartphones. In terms of memory, the Flyer comes with 32Gb onboard storage which can be expanded via a microSD card which can be purchased separately.
The 3G version of the HTC Flyer goes on sale in the second quarter of 2011 with a Wi-Fi only version released later in the same quarter. Both versions will ship with the stylus and carry bag as standard with optional extras such as a bluetooth keyboard to follow shortly after the launch.
