HTC launched its first web tablet at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, on Tuesday, together with two new Facebook-enabled smartphones that provide single-button access to social-networking content. With the launch of the HTC Flyer tablet, HTC hopes to carve out a new market niche by leveraging Google’s Android technology that has made the company one of the world’s top-five smartphone makers.
“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 HTC CEO Peter Chou.
Taking Notes To a Higher Level
The HTC Flyer’s sleek aluminum body, which encases a seven-inch touch-sensitive color display, reportedly weighs about as much as a typical paperback book. Compact enough to fit inside a jacket pocket, under the hood the new web tablet sports a 1.5-GHz processor and high-speed HSPA+ radio.
Slated for a global launch in the second quarter, the HTC Flyer will ship with an electronic pen for writing or drawing right on the screen. Even better, the writing technology built into the device promises to lift the traditional note-taking experience to a new level.
For example, the new tablet can link meeting notes with an audio recording of the event captured by the device. If the handwritten note isn’t crystal clear, the user merely needs to tap on any word to access the exact place in the recording.
What’s more, HTC is seeking to transform the media-consumption experience for web tablets. The company plans to launch the HTC Flyer in tandem with a new connected video service that will provide direct access to hundreds of high-definition movies from major studios over the Flyer’s high-speed wireless connection.
HTC is also teaming up with cloud-based…