At Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, HTC unveiled the HTC Flyer tablet running Google Android. The Flyer combines sleek design, strong specs, and numerous HTC software customizations, including OnLive gaming. On paper and in photos, this looks like an amazing Android tablet, save for one feature. Here’s a chunk of press release action for you:
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.
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.
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.
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 Brotherhood, NBA 2K11 and Lego Harry Potter.
I adore the aluminum unibody construction. I love that this thing packs OnLive for gaming. I’m intrigued by the stylus software. Unfortunately, there are two things that prevent the HTC Flyer from being a must-have product (for me, anyway). The 1.5GHz processor should provide ample power, but going with a dual-core chip would have aided the Flyer’s battery life. While HTC Sense will add a lot of differentiation, the base code is still Android 2.4 — a version of the OS that was never meant to run on tablets. I understand that HTC hasn’t had enough time to apply Sense to Android 3.0, but I prefer Android tablets that use an OS version that was specifically designed for the tablet form factor. Call me crazy.
Anyway, let me know what you think of this baby when you have a chance.
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So will this not use Netflix because of the processor type?
I wasn’t aware of a requirement for Android Netflix.
Qualcomm chips only as of right now. Newer versions to be exact. I was just curious since it had the movie portal on there.
This uses a Qualcomm chipset that hasn't been released yet. Also, the movie portal is probably for HTC's upcoming service. That was the other thing the company recently invested in along with OnLive.