MWC: HTC unveils a 7-inch Android Flyer tablet

SMARTPHONE MAKER HTC will launch its 7-inch Android 3.0 Honeycomb powered Flyer tablet in the second quarter.

The Flyer will ship with Android 2.3 or 2.4 out-of-the-box, with HTC claiming that it has chosen not to wait for the release of Android 3.0 Honeycomb because it has spent a lot of time integrating its brand-new Sense user overlay with 2.3, Gingerbread.

However, the manufacturer confirmed that an upgrade to the tablet-specific Android 3.0 will be made available after release.

Key hardware features include a 1.5GHz processor, display with a 1,024 x 600 resolution and HSPA+ and WiFi connectivity. A rear 5MP camera with auto focus and front-facing 1.3MP camera will be included. Like the forthcoming HTC Desire S, the Flyer will also come with a unibody design.

HTC is touting a standby time of between 820 to 1,470 hours and users should expect in the region of four hours of video playback. The device will weigh 415g making it slightly heavier than the 7-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab.

The device will support multi-touch finger input and have a pressure sensitive stylus included to give users extra precision.

The Timemark feature looks to be one that will be particularly useful to business users as it syncs up written notes with recorded audio. By tapping on a word in the notes, users will instantly be taken to that exact place in the audio recording of the meeting, HTC said.

Notes are also integrated with the calendar so when there is an appointment a reminder pops up and the Flyer will also sync with the popular cloud-based Evernote application.

The Flyer will also see the debut of HTC's new video download service, dubbed HTC Watch. This will allow users to download HD movies on demand directly to the device.

The tablet will start shipping during the second quarter, prices are yet to be confirmed but the tablet is a high-end device and this will be reflected in the price, the firm added. As if tablets weren't premium priced expensive keyboardless notebooks already. µ