Engadget: Over the past couple of years, HTC has rapidly built up an enviable reputation (and bank balance) in the smartphone space with a succession of feature-rich, smartly designed, and innovative handsets. The HD2 introduced us to the 4.3-inch form factor, the EVO 4G ushered in the era of 720p video recording, and the Legend wrapped itself inside a never-before-seen aluminum unibody enclosure.
Pocket-Lint: HTC has confirmed, via Facebook, that it is rolling out the much waited Honeycomb update for its tablet; the HTC Flyer.
Engadget - US Cellular's got one and so does Sprint (albeit under a re-branded banner). So, where's the Magenta-friendly HTC Flyer we saw creep up at the FCC this June? Well, it appears T-Mobile's been offering it for some time to business customers only, but that exclusivity's come to a close. The 7-inch Gingerbread slate with AWS bands is curiously absent from the operator's own online site, but you can still snag it from HTC for $299 with a new mobile broadband plan or $454 with a contract extension.
HTC Flyer impressions.
Will the HTC Flyer be able to compete in the hyper competitive tablet market with the ill suited Gingerbread 2.3 Android operating system?
My boss has on and he calls it the "HTC Crasher". When it does work though, it's really amazing.
really like the idea of the Flyer. I hate the constant search for a piece of paper and a pen when I need to jot something down, then having to sort thru the dozens of notes to find the one with the info I need. The desire to eliminate that chaos is what prompted me to get my very first PDA. But I won't be getting the Flyer. I need a tablet with 3G. I know I could get the Evo View, but it's through Spring and they have crappy coverage where I live. Now, if they bring out the Flyer on other carriers, then it'll be a real contender.
I have to wonder what's RIM's excuse is for charging $500 bucks for the Blackberry Playbook. The Flyer at least has an active digitizer screen that you're paying for whether you get the pen or not (in the US). But the Playbook doesn't seem to have anything extra to justify the cost. RIM and HTC could have put their 7" tablets at $500 to imitate Apple's pricing structure. After all, the 3G Galaxy Tab was $600 when it came out, so putting 7" wifi tablets at $500 would be in line with that. True, the wifi Galaxy Tab came out at $350, but the specs are weaker compared to the Flyer and the Playbook, so some extra discount is warranted. I think $100 is a little much to pay for the extra portability of a 7" device, but I can't think of anything else that would justify the price.
It would have been nice if HTC had made a seperate 7" tablet without any digitzing functionality at all. Then they could sell the penless tablet for $400 and the penabled tablets for $500 with the 3G versions being $500 and $600 respectively (less, with a contract). I think a lot more people would be willing (and able) to buy.