Best Buy announces Wi-Fi HTC Flyer for May 22
HTC's first attempt at an Android tablet arrives with a $500 price tag in a few short days. Will the custom user experience and optional stylus be enough to attract buyers?
Best Buy announced late yesterday that it will begin offering a Wi-Fi version of the HTC Flyer on Sunday, May 22.
The retail giant is already taking preorders for the 7-inch tablet, which sells for $499.99. The Flyer runs Android 2.3 with a tablet-optimized version of HTC's Sense UI, as well as support for an optional stylus.
While neither Best Buy nor HTC has confirmed pricing for the stylus, various Web sites are reporting that it will carry an $80 price tag.
On the hardware front, the Flyer boasts a 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, a 5-megapixel camera, and a front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera. Internal memory is listed as 16GB; however, a microSD slot allows for additional storage. Other details include support for 802.11 b/g/n, GPS, Bluetooth 3.0, an MHL port, and DLNA capability.
I'll be interested in seeing what kind of adoption this tablet gets considering it's not simply a scaled-up phone experience. Unlike the 7-inch Galaxy Tab, the Flyer was designed with specific features and functions in mind.
I was hesitant about the HTC Scribe technology until I had a chance to play with it at CTIA. I was impressed with how functional it was across the entire tablet, especially with HTC Notes and the eReader application. On the other hand, it's hard to imagine many customers being willing to shell out nearly $600 for the full experience.
Update: CNET's full review of the HTC Flyer is now available.