Back in March, Best Buy announced it would have an exclusive lock on offering the Wi-Fi only edition of the HTC Flyer Android tablet, but didn’t offer any details save to say it would be available in the “spring.” Spring has apparently sprung, because Best Buy has now announced the device will go on sale at Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile retail locations on May 22…and while the company has still not disclosed any pricing information, reports have the WiFi-enabled Android tablet going for about $500.
The HTC Flyer runs Google’s Android operating system (apparently Android 2.3 Gingerbread) with the HTC Sense interface layed over the top: it features a 7-inch 1,024 by 600-pixel display, 16 GB of onboard storage, and a 1.5 GHz Qualcomm processor. The tablet sports a front-facing 1.3 megapixel webcam and a rear-facing 5 megapixel camera for photos and video, along with a microSD slot and integrated microphones.
Best Buy’s HTC Flyer doesn’t offer options for 3G or 4G connectivity: customers who need that will instead have to wait for versions of the device to launch on mobile networks. The HTC Flyer does feature 802.11n Wi-Fi for Internet connectivity, but there’s one thing that may be missing: a stylus. The Flyer is designed to be used with a “scribe stylus” that’s actually a separate electronic device that works like styli used with drawing tablets for improved accuracy and writing convenience. It’s not clear whether the HTC Flyer that will offered by Best Buy will include the stylus; however, Best Buy will be selling the stylus as a separate $80 accessory. Whether or not that accessory is just meant to be available as a replacement part for lost or damaged styli or as the only way customers can get their hands on one…may just have to wait until May 22.
