HTC introduces 7-inch Flyer tablet; 1.5GHz single-core, Android 2.4

Tablets

Today at Mobile World Congress, HTC announced the new, 7-inch, Flyer tablet; the company’s first foray into the tablet market place. The device’s specs are interesting — as the company has opted to forgo the dual-core processor route, instead using a single-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm chip along with a smaller 4,000mAh battery. The Flyer will also bring 1GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage, 5 megapixel rear-facing camera, 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera, Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0, micro-SD card slot, HDMI-out, DLNA support, and Android 2.4 into the 7-inch tablet arena. The device will be available globally, at an unknown price point, in Q2 of 2011. Hit the jump for the full press release.

HTC UNVEILS HTC FLYERâ„¢, THE FIRST TABLET WITH HTC SENSEâ„¢

Aluminum unibody design with touch and pen interaction make HTC Flyer unique

First tablet with HTC Watch™ video service, HTC Scribe™ Technology and OnLive® cloud gaming

BARCELONA, SPAIN – Mobile World Congress – February 15, 2011 – HTC, a global leader in mobile innovation and design, today announced its first tablet, the HTC FlyerTM. HTC Flyer blends HTC’s trademark design language with an all-new HTC Sense user experience that has been reimagined for the tablets. Using an intuitive and innovative approach to tablets, HTC Flyer combines natural touch and pen interaction. HTC also announced HTC Watch, a new connected video service that will debut on HTC Flyer tablet, and will collaborate with OnLive, Inc. to launch the first cloud-based mobile gaming service on a tablet.

“Clearly, smartphones have transformed our lives but as we observed how people use smartphones, computers and other technologies, we saw an opportunity to create a tablet experience that is different, more personal and productive,” said Peter Chou, CEO of HTC Corporation. “We are progressing down a path as an industry when people will no longer be in a single device paradigm, but have multiple wireless devices for different needs; this is the direction we are moving.”

Encased in a sleek aluminum unibody, the HTC Flyer tablet exudes the iconic style and build quality HTC is known for. It is also ultra-light, weighing as little as a paperback book, and compact enough to fit in a jacket pocket only. With a seven-inch display, lightning fast 1.5Ghz processor and high-speed HSPA+ wireless capabilities, the HTC Flyer tablet is perfect for those who have been waiting for a tablet that is both compact and powerful.

HTC Sense for Tablet
HTC Sense revolutionized smartphones by placing the person at the center of the experience. HTC Flyer’s tablet-focused HTC Sense experience focuses on surprising and delighting people with its gorgeous 3D home screen. A unique carousel of widgets puts a user’s most important content and information at the visual center of the experience. The HTC Flyer tablet also offers uncompromised Web browsing with Flash 10 and HTML 5.

HTC Scribe Technology
Touch interaction lights up the HTC Flyer tablet experience, but it also offers a groundbreaking pen experience. With the new HTC Scribe Technology on the HTC Flyer tablet, people can rediscover the natural act of writing. HTC Scribe Technology introduces a wave of integrated digital ink innovations that make it easy and natural to take notes, sign contracts, draw pictures, or even write on a web page or photo.

HTC Scribe Technology on the HTC Flyer tablet transforms traditional note-taking into smart note-taking by integrating natural onscreen writing with thoughtful and integrated innovations. A feature called Timemark enables you to capture the audio of a meeting in line with your written notes, so tapping on a word in your notes instantly takes you to that exact place in time in the audio recording of the meeting. Notes are also integrated with the calendar so when there is an appointment reminder you are automatically prompted with an opportunity to begin a new note or in the case of recurring meetings, to continue where the last meeting left off. In an industry first, the HTC Flyer tablet also features built-in synchronization with Evernoteâ„¢, the world-leading notes application and service.

Streaming Mobile Movies with HTC Watch
The HTC Flyer tablet premieres HTC Watch, HTC’s new video download service. The HTC Watch service enables low-cost on-demand progressive downloading of hundreds of High-Definition movies from major studios. The intuitive, natural design of the HTC Watch service makes it easy to find the latest movie and video content, while advanced technology on the back-end enables instant playback over the HTC Flyer tablet’s high-speed wireless connection.

Mobile Cloud Gaming with OnLive
HTC takes mobile gaming to an entirely new level by being the first mobile device in the world to integrate OnLive Inc.’s revolutionary cloud-based gaming service. OnLive is leading in the home gaming market by letting people play top video games on their televisions and computers without the need to buy expensive gaming hardware or software. When integrated fully, the OnLive service will enable customers to pipe the OnLive service through the HTC Flyer tablet’s broadband wireless to their television sets, or let them play directly on the tablet. When integrated on the HTC Flyer tablet, people can play a variety of games, including hits like Assassin’s Creed Brotherhoodâ„¢, NBA 2K11 and Lego Harry Potterâ„¢.

Availability
HTC Flyer will be available to customers globally during Q2 2011.

15 Comments
  • Pwalton72

    Really disappointed about this. I was wanting a 10″ tab from HTC. Looks like I’ll buy the new Samsung or Xoom. 7″ is just not good enough for a tab. Predict that when rubbish sales of this tab are confirmed, they bring out a 10″ tab!!!!

    • Pwalton72

      Sorry forgot to add. The specs look great on this tab. We just need it bigger!!!!

    • Jayhammy

      Interesting, but I prefer the 7″ Galaxy Tab I have in terms of its size. I carry it in my cargo pants/shorts pocket all the time, no case needed, just PhantomSkinz. Easy to pull out and access. A 10″ tablet just isn’t portable enough for me. I’ve played with the iPad and I’ve found it too big and too heavy, especially for any extended typing. The story to all of this is, for me at least: “keep making different sizes” because some want smaller and some want bigger.

  • Anonymous

    Really been wanting a portable, quality 7″ tablet. Put naked Honeycomb on this with a nicer price and it’ll kill the Galaxy Tab and win my wallet.

    • Pwalton72

      See where you are coming from but Samsung has moved to 10″ because the 7″ was just not working…..

      • Faraoh111

        Samsung hasn’t move to 10″, Samsung has added 10″ to their 7″ Galaxy Tab lineup.
        7″ is a real portable tablet size, but it should be done properly.

  • George W.

    htc 10″ naked honeycomb tablet = instant buy. WHERE IS IT =(

  • Gus

    No Honeycomb Android 3.0 = Fail

  • Anonymous

    why, would they only launch with 2.4, ridiculous.

  • Anonymous

    This is a perfect example of what is wrong with Android customization. I bet they can’t put honeycomb on the tablet because they haven’t fully tested and updated their Sense ui to work with it. Then out of some silly sense of pride or need to stay the course, they stick to their Sense UI instead of Android. Can’t imagine an informed person buying one of these tablets with an old version of Android installed. I’m sure they will get Honeycomb sooner or later, but I doubt that Sense is a good reason to wait.

  • KCRic

    Who’s idea is it to put 2.4 on a tablet when honeycomb is the version meant for tablets? 2.4 is a minor package meant for phones. Honeycomb is the major update meant for both tablets and future phones with better specs than our current ones. Somebody chocked down a big damn stupid pill to come up with this idea. Guess that means more fun over on XDA porting honeycomb to this tablet.

  • Jayyyrx

    they better release SOME REAL HARDWARE at CTIA

  • http://infotainmentempire.blogspot.com Rob

    Unless the Flyer is really cheap or offered a great subsidized price, I don’t see this competing with the Tab 10.1 or Xoom.

    Original Galaxy Tab is 7″ so the size is there… it’s also a single core but not as fast of a processor. Still, why would you buy this if a GTab is, say, $300-400 in the future when this is released, unless it’s priced the same or within $100-200?

    The tablet space is getting crowded… which is fine with me, that way there will be more competition, better technological advancements, and prices that get “prettier.”

  • http://twitter.com/louiesiason Louie Siason

    no honeycomb???

  • fr3dd0

    for me, i want a 7″ tab. as was said before, it fits in cargo pants, shorts, and i am a bigger guy so the galaxy tab actually fits in my back pocket in a cover… now, for my wife – a 10″ tab can fit in her purse with little problem.
    they need to make a small cell phone that bluetooth connects to a tab to use as the display. then you can either talk on the phone or use a bluetooth. something the size of the Samsung Juke…

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